Invasive Species Removal with the Shawnee National Forest
The registration period has ended.
Join the Friends of the Shawnee National Forest, USDA Shawnee National Forest, Nature Conservancy of Illinois and University of Illinois Extension for the third annual Non-Native Invasive Species (NNIS) autumn olive removal events on Tuesdays in November and the first Saturday of December. Autumn olive is an aggressive invasive species that has infested Garden of the Gods for close to half a mile along the road to the Observation Trail and hundreds of feet deep in some areas.
We are hoping to have 5-7 teams of 3-4 people for each event. A team will consist of one chainsaw-certified person cutting down trees, with 1-2 people removing and sometimes lopping trees and saplings, and a person applying herbicide.
If you do not have herbicide training and would like to before the event; you are welcome to join us at Rim Rock's Dogwood Cabins on October 14th at 10:00 am to receive that training.
We have made tremendous progress during the last two years of this project. With good weather and some fine stewards of the land (were looking at you), we are hoping to have most of the mature and sapling Autumn Olive trees removed by the end of this year’s events.
The NNIS removal is scheduled for Tuesdays Nov 7, 14 and 28 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and Saturday, December 2 from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Volunteers should wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and sturdy shoes. Safety glasses, gloves, helmets, and other tools will be provided, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own personal protection equipment.
Please bring water and a snack. Volunteers will also receive a free long-sleeve orange "Volunteer and Steward of the Shawnee" T-shirt.
To sign up for notifications of upcoming volunteer events, send an email to
volunteer@shawneefriends.com with your name, contact information and type of volunteer work you’re interested in. Specific volunteer opportunities include trash blasts, NNIS removal, graffiti removal, or guest relations/selling merchandise, or all the above.