Online and in-person attendance available

TOMAHAWK – A free spring invasive species workshop open to all will take place Wednesday, April 27 at the Bradley Town Hall in Tomahawk, beginning at 9 a.m.

Hosted by the Wisconsin Headwaters Invasives Partnership, the workshop will feature five speaker presentations. Hear species updates, learn how to manage invasive species, and see how local industry leaders deal with invasive species in their daily job activities.

WHIP is a multi-partner, non-profit group dedicated to conservation in northcentral Wisconsin by managing invasive species.  Based in Rhinelander since 2010, WHIP works with  partners to provide education, monitoring, and control of invasive species, and has recently expanded to serve Lincoln County as well as Oneida and Vilas Counties.

Invasive species cost millions of dollars and threaten tourism and economic activity in Wisconsin’s Northwoods.  These non-native plants and animals can spread like wildfire once established.  For example, spotted knapweed can invade farm fields and harm the plants that livestock depend on, and also prevent native seeds from germinating.  Invasive insects like emerald ash borer hitchhiked a ride across the globe and has now swept across the state, damaging most of the area’s ash trees.  Local road crews have to avoid noxious wild parsnip along roadsides or it can burn exposed skin.  And in places like school forests, students are seeing fewer birds because Buckthorn has overrun the forest and decreased nesting habitat.

The workshop may also be viewed online; visit whipinvasives.org for the link.