Honeysuckle, not a sweet deal Wes Ebert, left, and David Hemstreet, right, both of the Baird Creek Parkway Preservation Foundation, show samples of honeysuckle to volunteers who helped remove the invasion bush in the parkway on Saturday (photo by Tina Gohr). Preservationists take to the woods By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle A plant sometimes used to enhance the beauty of residential areas is threatening a stretch of natural land on Green Bay's East Side. Honeysuckle has the potential to crowd out other plants, destroying the diversity of the Baird Creek Greenway. That is why members of the Baird Creek Parkway Preservation Foundation led volunteers in the plant's removal on Saturday. Despite cold and rainy weather, friends of the forest, including high school students fulfilling community service graduation requirements, cut back branches of the honeysuckle and, with paint brushes, applied herbicide to kill the plant. The group's members, who came prepared to cover 20-30 acres in search of the plant, used the herbicide sparingly so as not to harm other plants. "Even a plant one inch away won't be affected," said Charles Frisk, the foundation's president. In addition to cutting back honeysuckle, the group pulled garlic mustard plants, a plant even more aggressive than the honeysuckle, Frisk said. Its tiny white flowers are surrounded by wide leaves that prevent sunlight from reaching the forest floor. "If you don't control it, within a few years, it's the only thing you'll have," he said. Its presence will eliminate the diverse collection of plants in the area, disrupting the entire ecosystem, Frisk said. "Everything that depends on all those other species is out of food and out of shelter," he said. Frisk said now, before flowers bloom and seeds are dispersed, is the time to pull the plants. "That stuff is just so aggressive, and if you let it get out of hand, it's just a terrific thing to try to get back," said David Hemstreet, the foundation's invasive species coordinator. "It's just overwhelming." Because of the work of the volunteers, Hemstreet said, the presence of garlic mustard plants is controlled in the area. Jenny Van Lanen, Southwest High School student, joined the garlic mustard search that spanned about 24 square yards. Van Lanen decided to remove the invasive plants as opposed to fulfilling service hours for high school in other ways. Van Lanen said she likes the outdoors and said what she did on Saturday will help preserve the area for other people. Southwest High School student April Still said she was earning credit for her biology class, and said she appreciates why the plants are being removed. "I like the forest, not the invaders," she said. Reed grass and purple loosestrife will be the next plants the group tries to control.