LA CROSSE, Wis. — With the help of volunteers, the Mississippi Valley Conservancy is making progress clearing invasive species from prairies along the La Crosse Blufflands.

Since November, the agency has offered several opportunities to volunteer for woodland restoration.

Levi Plath is the land manager for the Mississippi Valley Conservancy. During recent work, he spent the day cutting off honeysuckle with hand pruners.

Plath also applied an herbicide to make sure they don’t grow back. He said honeysuckle is an invasive species to the La Crosse Blufflands.

“This is just kind of the easiest for us to get rid of this honeysuckle to allow more sunlight to impact the forest floor to allow more native species to grow,” said Plath.

The honeysuckle has overcrowded the prairies in the La Crosse Blufflands. That’s why Plath is thankful they have the help of volunteers.

“Currently we have three staff dedicated to doing fieldwork on a regular basis on our nature preserves, so we like to involve volunteers wherever we can to maximize our impact on the land,” said Plath.

Vanessa DaughterofLois is one of those volunteers.

She said she often helps the Mississippi Valley Conservancy because she takes pride in restoring the land in her community to its original form.

“I think that ecosystems will help take care of itself and then will help take care of us too,” said DaughterofLois.

Plath said it is also an opportunity to make the La Crosse Blufflands easier to navigate.

“The importance of clearing this understory of vegetation and releasing some of the oak trees in this forest so that they can produce acorns and regenerate for a new generation of oak trees,” said Plath.

Plath said there is a long way to go but looks forward to continuing doing the work necessary to maintain the natural beauty of the Driftless area.

The Mississippi Valley Conservancy offers volunteer opportunities throughout the year. For more information, click here.