2024 Year in Review
HIPP activities this past year included in-person field workdays, surveys of two Harpswell Heritage Land Trust preserves: Anna Tondreau on Great Island and Helen & Walter Norton on Birch Island, and the re-printing of our updated Invasive Control Guide.
Invasive control work took place at 18 locations in Harpswell, with a total of 326 volunteer hours. Volunteers planted over 140 plugs of native Little Blue Stem grasses at Johnson Field. Behind the scenes, our volunteers accumulated more than 100 additional hours in preparation for monthly Zoom meetings, work dates, and the administrative tasks that keep HIPP going. Our group made numerous HIPP-help visits, assisting homeowners in identifying invasive plants on their properties. With assistance from HHLT, professional treatments of dense invasive growth at Curtis Farm helped to open new spaces.
Plans for 2025
Plans for the coming year include educational programs about invasive plants and replacing the invasives with native plants. Our work dates are open to all and include a primer on identifying the invasive plants targeted for that day. Information about our programs and events can be found on our website: hippmaine.org.
Plans for 2025 include further surveys and control work on town lands and HHLT preserves. The HIPP-help team is again available to assist interested property owners in identifying invasive plants and providing well-researched advice on control measures.
Thanks go out to our volunteers and financial supporters who make this work possible. These efforts help Harpswell stay beautiful now, but most importantly, help Harpswell’s lands stay healthy for generations into the future.
HIPP Co-Chairs,
Linda Wilkins, Don Westfall and Becky Gallery