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Off Shore Local Heroines

Cindy Gaskill, President, Washington Township Alliance,

Wisconsin Family Forests

Early spring had come and another all out effort to pull garlic mustard before it went to seed began for another year. Chris Jeutter and I got the word out and sought hands-on help in the woods and asked for alerts from landowners who suspected they might have it on their land.

Work began and we made daily forays into the woods, loaded with black plastic bags and gloves. We would work from the back of the infestation forward, trying to keep the infestation from moving further into the woods. We had some good help with this; especially some landowners who had the problem and worked hard to eradicate this plant so their woods would stay healthy and vibrant with new seedlings and wildflowers, while protecting their neighbors from an onslaught. Also coming to help the community were those on whose property this plant had not yet been found. Community minded folks, knowing that if left unchecked, they too would need help in pulling it.

Then, as time went on and we wondered how we were going to get all of this done, we discovered that this plant had found its way to Green Bay Road and we very much wanted to stop it there as it was a relatively small infestation; still, the project seemed large and urgent.

Enter our heroines. Off Island employees and interns began coming for the summer to work up here as so many nationalities have in years past. Natasha Ten and Galina Kuznetsova arrived from Kyrgyzstan, formerly a part of the Soviet Union. Natasha is majoring in International and Comparative Politics and Galina is a Business Administration major at an American University in Central Asia.

Lauren Reed also arrived. She is in her last year at Penn State, with a double major in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management and Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management (whew). After graduation she plans to join a friend to tackle the Appalachian Trail, before heading into the work-a-day world.

Cheery and friendly and up for a challenge, they offered their help during their free time after seeing me go off daily to meet others for “the pull”. Even Galina, who is definitely not fond of spiders, splashed a smile on her face and hopped into the truck. Rules were that we quit for the day if fatigue hit or we lost our sense of humor.

We commend these girls for their willingness and unselfish hard work to help this Township of ours sustain a healthy forest ecosystem. This is not their place but they could see our need and responded with full vigor. Too often we see people taking care of their own backyard, ignoring all else. This was such a refreshing change.

So if you see these girls as you travel through the community, shake their hands and say “thanks”.