BUCKTHORN THE ALIEN – AND BEAVER

Eager beavers at Riverfront Park are doing their natural thing, which is cutting down trees. The problem is that the understory is an invasive plant called Buckthorn. The Buckthorn is so thick that young cottonwoods can’t get established.

After consultation with the city Forester board members, Ross Waples and Mike Penfold have placed chicken wire around the remaining cottonwoods that beaver have not felled. We hope that a serious Buckthorn control project can be accomplished in the future by the city. The surviving cottonwoods can then be the seed source for new cottonwood groves so crucial to the environments along the Yellowstone River.