Crosby Farm Clean-Up

ST. PAUL - Some Twin Cities residents took time out of their Saturday to help restore one metro park. The National Park Service along with volunteers worked this morning to help clean up and restore Crosby Farm Regional Park in St. Paul.

The group focused on removing the invasive species of buckthorn. The tree can quickly crowd out native species and alter an ecosystem. It is originally from Europe, and park rangers say once it is introduced to an area it can spread like wildfire, often taking over large areas if left unchecked.

Many of the volunteers who helped rangers are familiar with Crosby Farm park because they often are in the park geocaching.

Geocaching is often called a high tech treasure hunt where participants use a hand held GPS device to locate hidden items, or caches. There are over a dozen such caches hidden in Crosby Farm Park, and today they had an opportunity to participate in a special type of event referred to as "Cache In Trash Out" where enthusiasts can enjoy geocaching while helping to clean up a park at the same time.

Large piles of buckthorn now line the park's drive, awaiting removal by St Paul parks workers, and the change is immediately noticed.

One person who said they had been coming to the park for 20 years said it was the clearest they had been able to see the nearby bluffs that were once covered in buckthorn.

Kristin Lessard, a ranger with the National Park Service says the impact goes beyond being able to see more of the forest. "It provides an opportunity for some really beautiful native plants to grow, and you'll get to see what the ecosystem would have looked like if the buckthorn hadn't invaded."

Crosby Farm Regional Park is a park owned by the City of St Paul, however it also lies in the National Park Service's Mississippi National River and Recreational Area, which is why the park service is teaming up with the city to restore the park.

The National Park Service is planning future cleanups than anyone can volunteer to help with. For more information on the cleanups you can go to www.nps.gov/miss . For more information on the sport of geocaching you can go to www.geocaching.com .