Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

I am an aspiring, Hmong youth from Minnesota who chose to do the Apprentice Ecologist Project because I feel that, as time goes on, if we do not care about the world we live in and take the full action needed, it will be too late, the damage already done (will be done as well as) and irreversible. To take action to make a difference and help save the world, my project focused on tearing out invasive plants to make space for native plants. My project was done at Voyageur Environmental Center, a Non-Profit Organization in Minnetrista, Minnesota. The site where we worked was a small, forested area that would be used to show children the native plants that inhabited the surrounding forest. This was done so that children could easily see all the natural plants in the surrounding forest without the trouble of having to go deep into the forest (even if that is part of the fun).
During the project, I helped my fellow youth mentors tear out the Buckthorn that was shading out the native plants and dominating the area. We used tree pullers to pull the Buckthorn out from the base and then, once we could get a good grip, we pulled it out ourselves. As a safety measure and because Buckthorn is aptly named, we used safety gloves to prevent its spikes from hurting us, if poked the wrong way. After we pulled them out, we piled them all up along the road, where someone would come and pick them up and dispose of them.
The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) through the Wilder Foundation has its leadership retreats at Voyageur every year. Before YLI starts, the youth mentors go there and participate in activities that help build communication and leadership skills. After doing all of the activities, we help repay Voyageur for its kindness towards us by tearing out Buckthorn. The area my group worked on had been worked on by previous youth mentors for several years, so essentially, we were finishing up the work left for us by the youth mentors of previous years. By doing this we were leaving a legacy for future generations. It gives the future generations a chance to see the forest as it once was and it will inspire future generations to do the same, to preserve the forest so that next one will have something to see. It is important to take care of the area because that is an educational area, a place for kids to connect with the native forest, and learn about how beautiful and diverse it is. It is a place for them to learn about the natural world in its natural state, and Buckthorn destroys that natural state by preventing native plants from growing.
How can the children learn about the forest around them if there are no plants to learn about, only Buckthorn? How can they see the interactions between two trees if it is nothing but Buckthorn? By tearing out the Buckthorn, we have reduced its ability to spread to the surrounding forest and have allowed native plants to grow in the area that was once densely shaded by Buckthorn, like Red Pines and Basswood, essentially allowing the area to become more diverse like a forest normally is. The benefits of this outweigh the drawbacks as we allow the next generation to see the beauty of the forest around us. They instill awe and reverence in this environment and hopefully, that will be enough to get others to realize that our forests need help.
A forest is not born strong but rather, made strong by the community that makes it a forest. Diversity is what makes a forest strong but Buckthorn does an amazing job at making a monoculture forest by shading out its competition, destroying the diversity of a forest. We are a part of the community that makes up the forest; we put the Buckthorn there, therefore, we can also help remove it to give other plants a chance to get a grip and space to grow.
This project enriched my life by teaching me that everything in nature is designed to fight for its place in the world. That Buckthorn so desperately fought against me to survive because it wanted to leave an impact on the world, but when I tore it out, I left an impact on the world, one that would be remembered by the Red Pines and forest itself. I realized that leaving an impact is a challenge, but something I have to fight for in order to make a change in this world. I also found that a little Red Pine had sprouted under the Buckthorn, possibly a seedling from last year's cone. It surely would not have survived the dense shade of the Buckthorn, but now that there is no Buckthorn, it will grow to be one of the tallest trees in that forest. That image reminded me of a quote that was hung up in my school's hallway, "The Mighty Oak was once a little nut who stood its ground." It made me believe that even the smallest things have the potential to become something great, no matter how unbelievable or unlikely. Everything has potential, we just have to be able to give it a chance. It also taught me that everything is better when working with friends because when I struggled with the Buckthorn, they were there to help me. We also had good laughs and created unforgettable memories from this experience.