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Public Property Invasive Species Roundup: • Public awareness/education is a very important component of a public property roundup. Many government agencies are simply not funded to handle this. Start by urging your city council or county board to fund a full time invasive species removal and pest control crew. A figure close to$380,000 per year will fund a full time crew with equipment and the necessary supplies and vehicles. it is important that this crew include a full time project manager that deals with this project. Problems develop when then is no follow up and different individuals have different training backgrounds. So be sure to have one person in charge. Write your legislator and the governor requesting immediate funding for invasive species control directing funds through counties and cities. A matching grant program would be great! We've got a big surplus again, lets use some of it where it is needed instead of giving it all back. You need to convince your legislators of this. Check out all opportunities whether it be corporate sponsored, grants, donations or otherwise. Be sure to look into the Minnesota DNR's Conservation Partner Grant opportunities. This year's deadline for application is March 31". If you live in the Metro Area, call the Metro DNR office on Warner Road in St. Paul to get information mailed to you. The DNR is more likely to consider a grant application for buckthorn roundup on public land if it includes a component of buckthorn cleanup from adjacent private lands. A roundup of mature buckthorn or woody invasives does not solve the problem. There is necessary follow up in public lands, this is why I stress the need for full-time crews for public agencies. The year following a . removal of mature buckthorn, check for stump resprouting and treat as needed. Pulling or spraying of buckthorn seedlings for the first two years following mature plant removal is usually required. Replanting of the property may be required, but first wait one season to see what returns on its own in the year following removal. In many sites I have seen native plants return in abundance within the first year following mature buckthorn removal. In early and late summer of the year following the removal, schedule a walk through and inventory the site to determine what plants are present and which are needed (if any)for replanting. It always amazes me the amount of regrowth of native plants once buckthorn is removed. It is as if the buckthorn had held their root systems in `suspended animation." VOLUNTEERS Many corporations are now regularly scheduling a mandatory company volunteer day. If you have large businesses (often the national businesses are most apt to schedule a volunteer day), let them know of your needs. These companies want a project that shows a definite before and after effect. Have photographs showing sites before and after buckthorn clearing to give them an idea of what their company effort will accomplish. On one site this year, a company put out a large banner along the parkway the day they were working. Often the larger companies will purchase the necessary safety equipment, refreshments, etc. for the project. They may also make a donation to your project. Check out your County Correction Services for the availability of Sentence to Serve crews to assist with large buckthorn removal operations. STS crews can be called upon to handle the"schlepping"- the hauling • of the buckthorn from the cutting area out to the chippers. in many project areas, neighborhood volunteers become the schleppers if STS crews are not available. If you do not have volunteers to schlepp the cut buckthorn, your project will proceed very slowly. Volunteers really free your cutting crews to focus just on the cutting. Just tell the STS supervisors how the crews are to dress and ask STS to supply them with leather gioves.