By Victoria Erhart, 2021
Last fall, I went with several MIWP board members to tour two sites recently treated for buckthorn by Bay Area Environmental Consulting, Nile Merton and Michael Sinclair…

I was struck by how much our approach to buckthorn removal has changed since those early years when we believed we could get rid of it completely. It is always a hard, dirty business, but we now have a systematic seven-year plan, we are effective and efficient, we no longer do all that very labor-intensive cutting and hauling, and our focus is more on keeping the bad stuff from spreading than on making it go away completely.

Can I do something to help? Learn to recognize buckthorn and barberry when you see them (in small numbers you can deal with them in a non-chemical way). Say yes if we ask to treat the buckthorn on your land. Be very thoughtful about making unnecessary openings in the forest; while buckthorn tolerates more shade than many plants, it can’t establish itself under a dense forest canopy. Join the MIWP, come walk our lands and see for yourself. Thank you!