2023 Weed Wrangle
February 18th-19th, 2023 @CREW Cypress Domes Trail and Naples Preserve
To celebrate National Invasive Species Awareness Week our CISMA joined forces with the Naples Native Plant Society to hand remove invasive plants at CREW Cypress Domes Trail and at the Naples Preserve. Teams removed hundreds of caesar weeds, rosary peas, shrubby false buttonweeds, and various other species. Collaborating with the Native Plant Society was a natural fit. It was great to see the exchange of botanical knowledge between our groups. I was especially impressed with our turn out considering the short notice. We had six different organizations represented, including several new members.
2022 Invasive Fish Roundup
April 29th – May 1st, 2022 @ Bass Pro Shops, Fort Myers
The 2022 Invasive Fish Roundup was a huge success. We had more teams, prizes, activities, education, and species captured than ever before. Anglers hauled in 1,884lbs of invasive fish falling only 128lbs short of the 2019 record. Not a small feat considering that foul weather drastically limited teams time on the water during the competition period. All fish were donated to Naples Composting. Once decomposed, the remains will be used as natural nourishment for garden beds. This was a truly cooperative effort with members from nearly every local agency coming together to smoothly pull off this logistically complicated event. A huge thank you to our sponsors for providing generous prizes and for Bass Pro Shops for hosting the event again!
Click here to see Fox 4 News Coverage of the Roundup
2022 Weed Wrangle
March 5th, 2022 @ Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, Fort Myers
Our 2022 Weed Wrangle may have been our best yet. We had over 30 participants, roughly 1/3 CISMA members and 2/3 general public. Species treated/removed included earleaf acacia, melaleuca, Brazilian pepper, carrot wood, rosary pea, climbing cassia, air potato, old world climbing fern, caesar weed, bowstring hemp, and wedelia. It was great to see our members and volunteers exchanging knowledge, encouraging each other, and making a sizeable dent in the earleaf acacia infestation.
Invasive Species BioBlitz and Beverages
June 18th, 2022 @ Rattlesnake Hammock Preserve / Celebration Park, Naples
This event was a great opportunity to reconnect and for our more experienced members to share their plant identification wisdom. We confirmed 21 species of introduced plants and animals just along the trail. The bioblitz identified infestations previously unknown to Conservation Collier staff which will inform their next steps in restoring the preserve.
