This March is the Honeysuckle Sweep for Healthy Habitat Month.
"In an effort to energize the greater St. Louis region around improving habitat for our native plants and animals, area conservation organizations join together to spotlight invasive bush honeysuckle and the need to remove it so that large swaths of land can become productive areas for native habitat, recreation and enjoyment. To that end, organizations will host public events and volunteer removal days during the month of March."
The idea is based on Missouri's very successful operation clean stream, a yearly river cleanup event that has been going on for over 50 years and involves over 2,000 volunteers. Operation Clean Stream introduces Missourians to a day of floating on a beautiful river while picking up trash and for many is a day to remember. Children enjoy hunting for beer cans in the rocks. Adults brag about how many tires they have pulled out of a stream bank and fit into their canoe. Once someone learns the value of picking up trash out of our streams, they make a habit of picking up trash wherever they go.
Honeysuckle Sweep brings the same hope of public education and responsibility. Many people do not know what a honeysuckle bush is or why it is a problem. Educating the public with this focused event will help bring the problem to the front of our minds. Once people spend a day removing honeysuckle in their neighborhood park, they will learn how to identify it and see that it also lives in their backyard. As we see invasive shrubs during our daily lives, we should do something about it by removing them. Gradually we will get the problem under control with a lot of help from our friends.
Although honeysuckle can be found in almost all public spaces it is possible to imagine a different future. The task may be daunting, but can be achieved with a concerted effort from the community. Back in 1967 the rivers of Missouri were filled with trash. Any river was a convenient place to dump whatever you didn't want, even old cars. The amount of trash was so overwhelming it was hard to enjoy a float trip. Today our rivers are clean and the public values them as beautiful places for recreation, not trash cans.
Come to the Honeysuckle Sweep. Let's make honeysuckle choked parks a thing of the past that is unacceptable in the public eye. We are going to educate the public to remove honeysuckle where they see it. Help us make the Honeysuckle Sweep for Healthy Habitat an enduring and successful event this March.
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