What: Invasive Plant Control
When: January 11th, 2008
Where: Galloway Tract of the Imperial Marsh Preserve, Lee County, FL
Who: HSBC Consumer & Mortgage Lending Leadership Conference Volunteers  

On January 11th 2008, approximately 340 volunteers from a nearby HSBC consumer and mortgage lending conference went to work on the Galloway Tract of the Imperial Marsh Preserve. The Preserve, like many other areas of Southern Florida, is infested with the invasive non-native plant Melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia). The abundance of this invasive plant has several consequences most significant of which is the way in which it dries out an area (the original purpose the tree was introduced to Florida). As the name would suggest the Imperial Marsh Preserve contains several areas of wetland communities which have all suffered greatly from the invasion of Melaleuca and from recent climatic conditions. The enthusiastic volunteer work force took to the site and attempted to cut and treat with herbicide every Melaleuca tree encountered. In addition to this task the volunteers also took care of another problem the marsh was having; the over-population of a native plant species, wax myrtle.

The event was kicked off with a video presentation at the conference of HSBC's, The Green Report and a brief introduction to the event by Lee County Parks & Recreation Staff. Browse through the links on this page to learn all about the project and track the progress of the Imperial Marsh Preserve.