The buckthorn stops here

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
By JOY POWELL, Star Tribune
Last update: January 22, 2009 - 2:48 PM

The bane of the 'burbs, the pesky buckthorn shrub is being cut in Burnsville for biomass energy.

The whir of brush saws echoes daily through Kelleher Park in Burnsville as workers cut down the invader: buckthorn. Cropping up in thickets of prickly shrubs and small trees, this pest has been slowly choking off the undergrowth of plants and wildlife in this rare bur oak savannah. So with the help of a state grant and volunteers, an unusual forest restoration project is under way to chop down and chip up the buckthorn and haul it to St. Paul, where a biomass plant will burn it to produce electricity.

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