Jason Tank and his company, Minnesota Habitat Management, have been working in Barsness Park over the past few weeks removing buckthorn thanks to a grant sought by Pope County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).  The company recently cleared large swaths of mature and overgrown buckthorn with a forest mulcher on the north side of Park Road.  

Pope SWCD partnered with the City of Glenwood, Park Board, County Ag Inspector and the Barsness Buckthorn Brigade on the project.  

Barsness Park, a 250 acre park located in the City of Glenwood, is a highly valued natural resource for the community.  Many of the oak savanna prairie areas in this park have been invaded by an invasive species, buckthorn.  Buckthorn is not ugly shrub/tree, however,  it does outcompete native plants for moisture, light and nutrients. If it is not managed it will choke out the native vegetation and  devastate many areas in the park.

The Pope SWCD applied for a $50,000 Department of Natural Resources Conservation Partners Legacy Grant which was awarded earlier this year.  This funding, along with private donations and funding from the city, are working to eradicate buckthorn from the park.  Minnesota Habitat Management was hired to do the work, it was stated.  

This project is funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources from the Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment.

Wayne Zimmerman, one of the organizers of a group of volunteers called  the Barsness Buckthorn Brigade that have been working in the park since 2020 removing the invasive plant called buckthorn, said he had walked the grant area on Nov 20. “The amount of work completed is very impressive. Mike, the mulcher operator, is highly skilled in dealing with difficult terrain. He has also cleaned up some areas of buckthorn that were enmeshed with windfall from several wind events. This will make management of the areas much easier, and create new recreation opportunities” in the park, Zimmerman said. “Walking in the area without being overwhelmed by large groves of berry-producing buckthorn is great,” Zimmerman added.