Invasives Management
On May 19th five 7th Grade science classes at the Winona Middle School took shifts pulling out leafy spurge, an extremely invasive non-native plant species that has begun to dominate segments of the Lake Winona shoreline. Led by science teachers Trisha Johnson & John Weaver, classes were bussed to Lake Winona, where the students learned firsthand the damage that invasive species can do to an ecosystem, and then played a part in repairing the damage. Native to Europe and Asia, leafy spurge is an aggressive and toxic invader that can completely overtake large areas of open land.
Joining
the 7th grade teachers in the eradication effort were members of
Healthy Lake Winona, a newly established local group of volunteers who are
devoting their expertise, time and enthusiasm to improving the water quality of
Lake Winona and the health of surrounding riparian areas surrounding the lake.
Co-sponsoring the effort were the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters and the WMS PTA, which split the cost of the buses to transport the students to the lake. Friends of the Refuge Headwaters also provided gloves for the students and advisors to use in the cleanup. Funding from the Friends came from Toyota USA, through the Nat. Environmental Education Foundation, which focuses on getting kids into public outdoor places. The City of Winona supplied garbage bags, additional gloves and disposal.
Co-sponsoring the effort were the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters and the WMS PTA, which split the cost of the buses to transport the students to the lake. Friends of the Refuge Headwaters also provided gloves for the students and advisors to use in the cleanup. Funding from the Friends came from Toyota USA, through the Nat. Environmental Education Foundation, which focuses on getting kids into public outdoor places. The City of Winona supplied garbage bags, additional gloves and disposal.
The cleanup of invasives along the shoreline of Lake Winona is one of the ways in which Healthy Lake Winona members are working to provide the Winona community with information on what can be done to improve the quality of Lake Winona, and opportunities to make those improvements.