Plant Posse Searches for Invasive Plants

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge – Winona District and Friends of the Refuge Headwaters invite community members to join the Invasive Plant Posse, a group of staff and volunteers dedicated to finding and mapping invasive plants on the Refuge.

Invasive plants grow quickly and aggressively, taking over the habitat of native plants. The plants are usually introduced by people either intentionally, without knowing the result, or by unintentionally transporting seeds.

These plants have been introduced to almost every part of the 261 mile refuge making it difficult to control their spread.

Refuge managers are asking volunteers to help map the locations of invasive species so they can determine where control will be most effective. The refuge is currently looking for volunteers to help locate invasive plants on both sides of the Mississippi River from Wabasha, MN to Trempealeau, WI.

Volunteers may help by taking a picture of the invasive plant, marking the point on a GPS and sending the information to the Refuge at: uppermississippiriver@fws.gov.

For more information, call Tim Neuman at 507-494-6233 or e-mail timothy_neuman@fws.gov.