The sunny day welcomed the group of 20 at the Whalon Lake Preserve Volunteer Workday.
Removing Invasive Brush
The goal is to open up the woodland by removing invasive brush. This will allow the forest floor to get sunlight so native trees like oaks and hickories can regenerate.
“A healthy ecosystem is diverse, it has a variety of plants and wildlife,” said Volunteer Liaison of the Forest Preserve District of Will County, Barbara Sherwood. “So when you have these invasives come in, they just take over and it’s a monoculture. So we need to remove them, but that’s hard work and so we need help doing that.”
Help from Volunteers
The volunteers came out to help with different tasks including cutting the brush with hand tools, taking down larger ones with power equipment, and hauling brush to the burn pile.
There will be another volunteer workday in April during Naperville’s Earth Week.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
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