Red pine
Workers this week are expected to begin restoring an ecologically and historically important tract of oak savanna on the Mississippi River at St. Cloud State.
Employees of Princeton-based Prairie Restorations, Inc. will hand-remove invasive woody species at the University’s 23-acre Talahi Woods near Minnesota Boulevard and Ninth Avenue Southeast, according to Rebecca Tucker, project manager for Great River Greening.
St. Cloud State is teaming with Great River Greening and the Department of Natural Resources on the $84,830 project. Funding is from the Legislature through a Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council grant.
Invasive, foreign plants — chiefly the common buckthorn — are preventing native plants from growing. Among those species having difficulty regenerating is the bur oak, which is referenced in the University hymn and stylized on the University seal.
Prior to Euro-American settlement, that portion of the river’s east bank was a lightly forested grassland dominated by oak trees, notably the bur oak. An estimated 5 percent of the 50 million acres of Midwest oak savanna remain.
When the ground freezes, heavy equipment will be brought in to speed up removal of buckthorn and to take down some less desirable trees, according to Tucker.
Buckthorn leafs out early and retains leaves late into the fall, creating dense shade that helps it to displace many native plants. It was brought to the U.S. from Europe in the mid-1800s and sold as a hedge plant.
Because the removal project came in under budget, there may be an effort to seed and plant native species this spring, Tucker said.
St. Paul-based Great River Greening collaborates with public and private entities on nature-restoration projects, providing matching funds, ecological expertise, project management and community engagement.
