Restoring Our Woodlands: Adopt-a-Woodland Grant Progress & Next Steps

We are thrilled to share a major update on our woodland restoration efforts at Bush Lake! Thanks to a $1,410 Adopt-a-Woodland Grant from the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District—and some incredible leadership from within our community—our half-acre woodland restoration project just north of the chapter property is officially 71% complete.

Restoring native habitat takes a village, and this initiative has become a true multi-agency and volunteer effort across our local canopy.

Leadership Spotlight: Fall Owens Inspires Action

Much of our momentum comes thanks to young Ike Fall Owens, whose inspiring advocacy rallied our chapter and partners around this 10+ Acre Project.

Restoration work officially kicked off on October 3rd, when staff from the Three Rivers Park District—including Jamie Markell, Steven Haug, and two seasonal maintenance technicians—joined forces with our team to tackle heavy-duty clearing, removing large buckthorn trunks over six inches in diameter.

Since that launch, our community momentum has surged:

• 22 Chapter Volunteers have logged 74 total hours of hard physical labor on the property.

• Massive Burn Piles have been constructed across the site, prepped for winter burning by TRPD.

• Additional October Work Days (Oct. 13 &14, Oct. 26 & 27) brought us even closer to our initial clearing goals.

With three major work dates behind us, we are well on track to wrap up primary clearing heading into our final winter session.

️ The Big Picture: A Collaborative Corridor

Our half-acre project sits at the north end of the Bush Lake Chapter grounds, serving as a critical piece of a larger regional puzzle:

• East Pond Clearing: A joint effort between the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, Three Rivers Park District, and the City of Bloomington to eradicate buckthorn surrounding the pond.

• Neighboring Lands: Adjacent private landowners actively tackling invasive species on their own properties to prevent re-infestation.

By coordinating across boundaries, we are creating an uninterrupted corridor for native plants, trees, and wildlife to thrive.

Funding Breakdown: Direct Impact

Every dollar of our $1,410 NMCWD grant is going straight into long-term ecological restoration:

Investment	Allocation
$500	Professional contractor services to cut large-diameter buckthorn
$230	Pathfinder II RTU herbicide for targeted stump treatment
$310	MNL Buckthorn Replacement Seed Mix (grasses for 1/4 acre)
$139	MNL Woodland Seed Mix (1,000 sq. ft.)
$230	Native replacement shrubs for understory diversity

Mark Your Calendar: The December Buckthorn Bust

We have one final work day on the schedule to cross the finish line for this phase.

• Date: Saturday, December 19, 2026

• Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

• Location: Bush Lake Chapter Woodland Site (North End)

Work Note: This involves moderate to hard physical labor, as we will be clearing remaining large brush and hauling materials. Please bring sturdy work gloves, dress in layers, and be ready to work up a sweat!

Cick Here to sign up for the Dec. 19 Buckthorn Bust

Looking Ahead: Multi-Year Restoration Roadmap

Clearing the woodlot is only step one. Here is how our management strategy unfolds over the next two years to ensure invasive buckthorn does not return:

Winter 2026–2027

• Debris & Stump Care: Ike volunteers finish cutting brush and treating stumps; TRPD assists with winter pile burns.

• Dormant Seeding: Soil prepped ahead of snowfall to sow the native buckthorn suppression grass mix.

Spring–Fall 2027

• Exclosure Plots: Volunteers construct 5 to 10 protected 10'x10' fenced plots to establish sensitive native shrubs and forbs by hand.

• Mid-Summer Recutting: Hand-cutting secondary sprouts to keep them under 3 feet tall.

• Targeted Foliar Spray: Fall contractor application targeting green buckthorn leaves after native trees dropped foliage.

Spring–Fall 2028

• Plot Maintenance: Ongoing hand-weeding and monitoring of native exclosures.

• Final Foliar Pass & Overseeding: Fall follow-up spray, thatch burn (if feasible), and soil prep for additional native forb seeds and shrub plugs.

Thank you to Fall Owens, our TRPD partners, and every volunteer who has picked up a saw or dragged a branch this autumn. We hope to see you on December 19th!