Volunteers seek to clear White River banks in Hamilton County of invasive plants

John Tuohy
Indianapolis Star

NOBLESVILLE — An army of Boy Scouts and other volunteers muscled out a bothersome intruder at the White River Saturday morning: invasive plants.

The workers yanked and sawed and snipped their way through a thicket of Asian Bush Honeysuckle and Garlic Mustard on 850 feet of the east riverbank near State Road 32.

Tim Stottlemyer, Noblesville’s MS4 Coordinator (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System), said the program is an effort to make the riverfront more accessible as the city develops it for recreation.

Tim Stottlemyer, manager of Noblesville's Clean Storm Water Program, explains to volunteers how to cut down Asian bush honeysuckle, an invasive species, along the White River in Noblesville, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. The removal by volunteers is part of a larger plan to get rid of invasive species and replant natives to help restore the waterway.

“It is so dense here there are parts that you cannot even see the river, much less get to it,” Stottlemyer said, estimating invasive plants stretched 75 feet from the water’s edge.

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In place of the unwanted plants, the city will likely plant Sycamore trees and other native vegetation.

A $25,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation is helping fund the effort, which is part of broader programs to reduce invasive species in Hamilton County and restore the White River so it can be used by residents.

The Hamilton County Invasives Partnership has had an ongoing program to help landowners identify invasive species and get rid of them.

Honeysuckle huge problem

HIP identified last summer identified the 10 most prevalent invasive species and top among them was the Honeysuckle, which grow almost everywhere, including backyards, said Taylor Wilson, an urban conservation technician with the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Also prevalent are Callery pear, better known as the Bradford pear, wintercreeper, Canada thistle, garlic mustard, burning bush, multiflora rose, autumn olive, Japanese honeysuckle and Japanese knotweed.

Annie Hilbert, Noblesville, with Cub Scout Pack 116, works on clearing Asian bush honeysuckle, an invasive species, along the White River in Noblesville, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. The removal by volunteers is part of a larger plan to get rid of invasive species and replant natives to help restore the waterway.

The aggressive honeysuckles grow so densely they shade out everything on the forest floor and tend to leave bare soil, Wilson said. They came from Eurasia and were introduced as ornamentals, for wildlife cover and for soil erosion control. Birds eat their seeds then spread them elsewhere.

Technically a bush, Honeysuckle grows large enough to resemble small trees, as much as eight feet tall with trunks six to eight inches in diameter, Wilson said.

"When they get that big," Wilson said, "you need to cut them to the stump, then apply herbicides."

Garlic mustard is a slender stalk that grows to about three feet but is easy to remove from the root by simply yanking them.

"That makes them a good plant," Wilson said, "for volunteers to get involved with."

White River restoration

The White River in Noblesville will play a central role in the larger White River Vision Plan to restore 58 miles of river in Marion and Hamilton counties.

Planners have identified three Hamilton County parks along Allisonville Road as a potential "extreme" recreation park with a ropes course, kayaking, swimming and quarry climbing.

The areas are between 116th and 146th streets, including land owned by Connor Prairie, said Brenda Myers, president of Hamilton County Tourism, Inc.

Scouts and others in a group of about 40 volunteers spent the morning spent cutting down Asian bush honeysuckle, an invasive species, along the White River in Noblesville, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. The removal by volunteers is part of a larger plan to get rid of invasive species and replant natives to help waterway restoration efforts.

She said the first of the plan’s nine guiding principles is to “restore the river’s environment and ecology … and adapt to a climate resilient future.”

Several groups in both counties, such as Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, have been regularly attacking invasive plants, little-by-little.

“Anytime you can get someone out there to do so,” Myers said, "it is very important to the big picture."

To get involved in volunteer activities, visit the HIP website and fill out an electronic participation form. The group will send monthly email of upcoming activities and times and dates of their community meetings.

Call IndyStar reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter and Facebook.