Staff photo by Fritz Busch Master Naturalists Julie and Joe Gartner of New Ulm cut buckthorn and treat stumps at South Park in New Ulm Monday. New Ulm Mayor Kathleen Backer signed a proclamation urging citizens to become educated on invasive species management last week, promoting National Invasive Species Awareness Week, Feb. 24-28.

NEW ULM — Master naturalists Julie and Joe Gartner of New Ulm were busy removing buckthorn in South Park Monday.

The work is not new to them.

“We’ve been doing buckthorn control for about 10 years at our own place and for about five years at parks in New Ulm including South Park, South Market Park (near the south end of the bike trail), and at Flandrau State Park.,” said Joe Gartner.

“We also did garlic mustard pulling for about eight years and realized it was a massive problem. We feel buckthorn has more potential to be controlled. But it will take a while. We noticed a lot of people cut buckthorn but didn’t treat the stumps, so there are all sorts of shoots starting up,” he said.

Gartner said he and his wife are trying to control berry-producing shrubs by cutting them and putting a chemical used for treating stumps on the plants.

“We’re hoping there are more people who will join us in our pursuit (of invasive species). We’re older, but we’d like to see some younger people doing this too. Maybe some Scouts,” he said.

National Invasive Species Awareness Week, Feb. 24-28 is an international event to raise awareness about invasive species, the threat they pose, and what can be done to prevent their spread. For more information, visit https://naisma.org/programs/nisaw/