Joe Gladman looks on as Mark Dilley cuts honeysuckle.     December 2005   Boyer Park Wetlands Honeysuckle  Cleanup       FACT members spent the day at Boyer Park Wetlands in Westerville removing noxious honeysuckle.  Honeysuckle is an invasive shrub that is not native to the region, but since being introduced is threatening Ohio's natural ecosystems, including the Alum Creek Watershed.  Honeysuckle grows so thickly and spreads so aggressively that it prevents other native plant and trees species, such as Sycamore and Cottonwood, from surviving. Mike Smith and Bruce Pollard tackle the invasive honeysuckle plants. Pictured (from left to right): Norm Woehrle, David Hohmann, Heather Doherty, and Jean Woehrle.   Carol Elder at work.     This cleanup follows FACT's major  accomplishment of negotiating this project at Boyer Park as local mitigation from a company that filled a wetland near Alum Creek for development.  Companies are required by law to mitigate (or compensate) for damages to wetlands and streams by creating them somewhere else, usually a wetlands bank far from the watershed and community where wetlands were lost.    Mark Dilley led the day's volunteer effort to remove honeysuckle in FACT's continued effort to enhance and create wetlands at Boyer Nature Preserve. Shirley Cox and Liz Sullivan dispose of  honeysuckle cuttings.                     Return Home