Where did 2009 go?
I haven’t been very active on the blog this year, not because I haven’t been out and about, but more like I’ve been out and about too much. Even though I have added a few dozen wildflowers species to the photo collection, it seems I’ve spent more time this year on other activities. Invasive species, in particular.
In June several trips were made to Long Lake to plot all the yellow iris locations. It’s one of the top 5 new invasive species in Ramsey County.
In July and August I did make a couple trips to Battle Creek Park to continue the Ramsey County Plant Survey. What I found there was both good and bad. It has some of the most diverse plant life of anyplace I’ve visited so far, but it is also a haven for invasive species, and not just buckthorn and garlic mustard.
I have the dubious honor of being the first to report the invasion of Japanese hedge parsely (Torilis japonica) into Minnesota. It has a pretty strong foothold in Battle Creek Park. 
I also reported the invasion of narrowleaf bittercress (Cardamine impatiens) on Pike Island at Fort Snelling State Park. It is also a new invasive species to MN, one that the DNR seems pretty anxious about.
These invasions were reported to the Ramsey County Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA). An arm of the Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District, its goal is to partner with other agencies, organizations and interested citizens to more aggressively combat invasive species within the county. Sadly, it looks like sufficient funding has not come through to keep it going another year. So we now know about these threats but don’t know what the future holds to do anything about them.
A fair amount of time in August and September was spent collecting herbarium specimens for Ramsey County. The goal is to fill in the gaps in the official collection at the Bell Museum Herbarium. There are at least 50 species with no record, many of which are common weeds and many of those are non-native invasives: bull thistle, crown vetch, oxeye daisy, creeping bellflower. A few species, besides the Japanese hedge parsley, I suspect were previously not known to be in Ramsey County at all.
I also spent more time than usual this summer on Prairie Care duties at Wild River State Park. I took on harebell stewardship this year, but probably won’t next year. Harebell is very scattered at the park and there is a lot of walking to get to the various sites. I don’t mind the walking for sure, but it takes away time from exploring other parts of the park.
So that is the year in a nutshell. Some asters are still blooming, but they’ll be gone soon so it’s pretty much over now. I’m already looking forward to spring. 
Tags: Battle Creek, invasive species, Long Lake Park, nature, Wild River, Wildflowers
