Volunteer: Buckthorn Buddies! (ages 14-adult, register)

For safety reasons, ages 14-adult are welcome.

2026 dates: October 24, November 14, November 21, 12-3 p.m.

Location and Registration Info

Please click here to register.

Meet at the visitor center at the start time. Leave an extra 10 minutes to drive from the park entrance to the visitor center parking lot and walk to the building.

What to Expect

Late fall can be a time to turn inward and prepare for winter. Shake off the short-day blues with soup and bread by the woodstove. Wander through the woods with new friends in search of buckthorn. What's buckthorn? This invasive shrub threatens our native forests, but you and the other buckthorn buddies can help!

We follow a simple and lower-effort method of buckthorn removal. Cut the plant near the ground with a handsaw, use a sponge applicator to put a tiny amount of herbicide on the cut stump, and walk on. We leave the plant where it falls, and are focusing on areas with lower buckthorn infestation, so the work is pleasant and the impact is high.

We'll start each of the four Buckthorn Buddy inside the visitor center. We'll provide soup and bread, good company, and all the training you need to be successful. Then we'll spend two hours cutting buckthorn in select areas. Join for one day or come to all of them.

Ticks and poison ivy are safety concerns that we will cover in our pre-work talk. We will provide tick gaiters to keep ticks from crawling up. We typically don't encounter poison ivy, but if you are very sensitive, this might not be the project for you.

What to Wear/Bring

Please wear long pants, long sleeves, and work boots. Bring a water bottle, work gloves, safety glasses (sunglasses are fine), and tick gaiters if you have them; we will provide safety equipment you don't have. Please do not bring power tools. We will provide handsaws and loppers.