GRI Celebrates Earth Day at Tryon Creek State Park

This past weekend, GRI employees and family members participated in the SOLVE IT for Earth Day Event at Tryon Creek State Park.  GRI worked with several other community volunteers and pulled out non-native English Ivy from surrounding native vegetation. Together with 7,000 volunteers across the state of Oregon, we cleared 12 acres of non-native invasive plants from 170 parks, waterways, neighborhoods, and natural areas!

English ivy has become a major issue for Pacific Northwest Forests and Parks.  This past Saturday, GRI got a first-hand look at the invasive plant species.  Thick mats of vines covered the ground surface and climbed any adjacent object, including old stumps and trees.  This becomes a problem for the native vegetation because the mat of ivy prevents significant amounts of light from reaching the forest floor, and the climbing ivy roots can potentially damage mature trees.

GRI is proud to take an active role in the local environment by restoring the native plant community to its previous state before the introduction of non-native invasive plants.  For more information on how to volunteer for the next clean-up day, visit: http://www.solveoregon.org/