Joe Devine of Grand Rapids holds a mass of garlic mustard, an invasive species he and other volunteers were removing on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
Volunteers spread out over the 5-acre Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township on Saturday, May 13, 2023, to remove garlic mustard from the wooded duneland in an event coordinated by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. Their three hours of work in the off-and-on rain netted nine bags of the plant that were properly disposed of by the conservancy group.
Garlic mustard is from Europe and Asia. It spreads quickly and crowds out native plants.
Elena Kroll of Byron Center collects garlic mustard, an invasive species she and other volunteers were removing on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
The Castle Park Reserve, established in 2003, protects nearly 400 feet of undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline in a designated critical dune area, according to the conservancy’s website, naturenearby.org. Together with Dune Pines Nature Preserve, 4574 S. Audubon St., and an adjacent privately held conservation easement, Castle Park Reserve is part of a natural area that protects more than 50 acres of lakeshore habitat.
The only public access to the Castle Park Reserve is from the beach. The closest public access is from Laketown Beach about a mile south of the reserve.
Those who spent three hours picking the invasive garlic mustard on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. The black bags are filled with garlic mustard. Front from left: Joe Divine and Elena Kroll. Back from left: Han Meadway, Charles Kroll, Charles Day, Ian Day, Ian Snyder, Jason Googins and Max DeLeau.
The event was led by Jason Googins, stewardship technician from the conservancy. Participants were Charles Day, Ian Day, Max DeLeau, Joe Devine, Charles Kroll, Elena Kroll, Han Meadway and Ian Snyder.
Jason Googins, stewardship technician with the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, shows volunteers on Saturday, May 13, 2023, how to properly pull garlic mustard from the dunes at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township before a volunteer event organized by the conservancy.Charles Day of Grand Rapids works on the steep slope of a dune on Saturday, May 13, 2023, to remove garlic mustard at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.Ian Day of Grand Rapids removes garlic mustard on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. Day volunteered as part of a community service project for the Boy Scouts out of LaGrave Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids.Ian Snyder of Grand Rapids moves through a wooded area on a steep dune on Saturday, May 13, 2023, to remove garlic mustard at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.Volunteers Elena Kroll, Joe Devine and Charles Day remove garlic mustard on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.Volunteers carry bags of invasive garlic mustard removed from the Castle Park Nature Reserve in Laketown Township on Saturday, May 13, 2023, in an event organized by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
