Weed-Out is a grass roots volunteer program begun in 1996 to raise public awareness about invasive weeds, improve natural areas management, educate citizens about this serious environmental threat and recruit volunteers for hands-on weed control in the Milwaukee County Park System.
During the fall months we remove woody trees and shrubs such as buckthorn and honeysuckle.
Our Fall Weed-Out events normally take place on Saturday mornings during the months of September, October and November, although if requested we will do them any day or time. The Park People organization provides all the supplies necessary for our volunteers to be effective. Each park location where we carry out the removal of invasives has a Volunteer Site Coordinator who handles on-site logistics like volunteer sign-in, tool and supply allocation and plant identification.
The Milwaukee County Park System has almost 15,000 acres, approximately half of which are natural areas. Despite being the most urbanized county in Wisconsin, this park system nevertheless includes 3 state-designated natural areas, including rare fens (alkaline wetlands), beech-maple forests, and an oak savanna. The park system is also home to over a dozen Wisconsin threatened or endangered species.
Unfortunately, the ecological health of the park system is seriously threatened by the rapid spread of invasive weeds like garlic mustard, dames rocket, buckthorn, and exotic honeysuckle among others. Equally as unfortunate is the fact that our Park System currently has little means to address the spread of invasive plants in our parks.
**Please come dressed for work with long pants and sturdy shoes or boots.
Meet near the boathouse and lagoon
