Spot & Stop Invasive Species Removal

Next date: Saturday, September 13, 2025 | 09:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Want to lend a helping hand to improve our local parks and environment? Sign up to volunteer in our monthly park clean-up series!

Spot & Stop Invasive Species is a city-wide educational and community science initiative designed to identify, track, report, and manage invasive species that impact our natural ecosystems, parks, and green spaces.

What are Invasive Species? 

Invasive Species are organisms (plants, animals, insects, etc) that are not native to the area they inhabit, and cause damage to local ecosystems by: 

• Spreading aggressively
• Out-competing native species
• Disrupting established ecosystems and food webs

For example, Garlic mustard (the image shown on this page) is native to Europe and Asia. It outcompetes native ground cover plants for moisture, nutrients, and sunlight. Garlic mustard roots alter the soil microbiome, hindering tree growth and decomposition systems.

Spot & Stop Series

You can help manage invasive species by joining City staff for a monthly volunteer event at Woods Lake Park (except July 19, which is at Glen Park North). We'll identify invasive species and then pull them from the park so that native species can thrive. Convenient parking and restrooms are available at the park. We recommend you bring water & a snack, closed-toed shoes, a hat, gloves, sunscreen, insect repellent, and anything else you might want to stay cool and refreshed!  

Just check in when you arrive and listen to the brief orientation at 9 a.m. before we start pulling! 

iNaturalist

iNaturalist is a nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists to map and share observations of species across the globe. Kalamazoo uses iNaturalist to help track and report invasive species in the area. You can download the iNaturalist app on iPhone or Android devices, or use it in your browser.

Track Invasive Species on iNaturalist

When

Location

Events are at Woods Lake Park with the exception of the July 19 event, which is at Glen Park North (2731 Wellington Rd).

Woods Lake Park, 2900 Oakland Dr, Kalamazoo, 49008, View Map