http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=72711&section=homepage

EPA lab cuts herbicide, lets meadow bloom
John Myers
Duluth News Tribune - 08/26/2008
It’s an effort to add a little more environmental protection to the Environmental Protection Agency 
water laboratory in Duluth.

Staff members at the lab wanted to do more than conduct groundbreaking research into what was 
causing environmental problems. Perched just feet from the shore of Lake Superior and the Lester 
River, they wanted to fight back.

Starting in 2003, lab employees developed a plan to replace two acres of mowed grass lawn with 
native flowers and plants.

“We mostly deal with water here, but we thought it was important to do something about the land 
we’re using,” said Corlis West, an aquatic biologist who specializes in invasive species in Lake 
Superior.

The sod was removed, the soil was tilled and thousands of seeds were sown. Hundreds of flower 
starts and native grasses also were planted.

As the meadow grew, invasive plants and weeds have been eradicated, mostly by hand, instead of 
spraying with herbicides. Though the lawn occasionally looked a little rough over the past three 
summers, it is now a fully blooming “upland meadow” of native plants.

The lab contracted with Cloquet-based Boreal Natives, a division of Prairie Restorations Inc. that 
specializes in developing native plant communities. The mix of black-eyed susans, daisies, bee 
balm and several other native species is hardy enough to survive harsh Northland winters, wet 
springs and even droughtlike late summers like we’re seeing now.

“EPA preaches a lot of this stuff and now we have something for people to look at to see we are 
environmentally responsible,” West said. “It shows we walk the walk and not just the talk.”

Staff members at the lab also volunteered their own time to plant native trees like white pine, 
white spruce and white birch across the property. They added a few maples that eventually will 
shade the south-facing lab windows.

Getting rid of grass has saved taxpayers about $3,000 per year in mowing and maintenance costs, 
West said. And the once-sterile lawn is attracting wildlife like fox, deer and woodchucks. It’s also 
a magnet for birds, butterflies, dragonflies and bees.

The meadow also does a better job of soaking up and filtering water, meaning reduced runoff into 
nearby Lake Superior. There’s also almost no chemical use and no watering needed.

“That was a big deal for us, that we don’t need to keep applying herbicides and fertilizers,” West 
said. “It takes some annual tweaking for the invasives, but it’s not labor-intensive.”

The effort can be traced back to a Clinton-era executive order that set a goal for all federal 
buildings to incorporate a more “green” operations plan. At the Duluth lab, it also meant reducing 
water, electrical and energy use.

But changes outside the building are more obvious to the public.

“Some people don’t like it. They say it looks unprofessional, like we’ve closed the lab down. … But 
most people here are pretty proud of it,” West said.

Carl Richards, director of the Duluth lab, said he hopes transformation of the lab grounds can 
serve as a model.

“We hope that our upland meadow landscape and our other green efforts will serve as inspirations 
and sources of educational tools for the Duluth and Superior areas,” Richards said in a statement.

The Duluth effort won the EPA’s first ever Green Thumb Award for sustainable landscaping for 
2007.

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