pepperweed pullers

Invasive Species East mentions the pepperweed pullers of Plum Island/Parker River National Wildlife Refuge this week. I keep forgetting to blog the observation that in the last two years the buzz around the refuge and the volunteer recruitment effort is much more focused on the pepperweed eradication project than on protecting piping plovers and least terns. This shows you how far the piping plover recovery program has come. It's time for invasive plant removal to have its 15 minutes of fame. I stopped in at the Visitor Center during the pepperweed training two weeks ago -- not to attend the training but to umm use the facilities -- and happened to get a chance to see another anti-invasive plant measure, the purple loosestrife eating beetle. Somehow I expected it to look more dramatic or something. It's just a little beetle.