Dedicated Resident Seeks Volunteer and Professional Help to Pull Garlic Mustard

We cover Decorah because we love it. Show your love back — donate today. DECORAH — Decorah resident Mary Lewis urged city officials to recruit more volunteers and professional support to combat the invasive plant garlic mustard in local parks, saying the work is becoming too large for a small group of volunteers to manage alone. Speaking during public comment at a meeting of the Decorah Parks and Recreation Board on Thursday, Lewis said she has spent decades helping remove garlic mustard from park land, including overseeing more than 200 volunteer hours this spring in Carlson Park alone. "I spend many hours in the spring, along with others, working on a specific invasive species, garlic mustard," Lewis said. "The work that I put in is not sustainable unless other people take it over." Lewis said she has worked for 25 years to control the invasive plant, which crowds out native species and harms forest ecosystems. "If we don't take this action, and we let it go, we lose all the diversity of the understory, and also the propensity of the trees to grow there," she said. Lewis told board members volunteers logged about 215 hours this season surveying and pulling garlic mustard throughout Carlson Park. She said some areas are now nearly free of the plant, but continued monitoring is needed to prevent it from returning. Lewis also called for additional volunteer involvement and more dedicated staffing from the parks department during the spring months. "It needs to be designated for a period of two months," she said. "That's it — just two months in the spring." She thanked parks employees, current volunteers and members of local environmental groups for helping with hand-pulling efforts. However, Lewis said the scale of the infestation requires broader community participation and professional support. Board members thanked Lewis for her volunteer efforts and years of work in Decorah's park system. Be in the know, always! The free newsletter delivers local news, features, and tips directly to you—perfect for busy readers.