On Sunday February 8, 2026 the project broke ground. UF/IFAS Extension Hillsborough County and Hillsborough County Parks teamed up for a 1.1-acre woodlands restoration project at Carrollwood Village Park thanks to a grant funded by Tampa Bay Estuary Program. The day began with a short educational session about the harm invasive species do to our environment by Extension Agent, Tia Saracino. Next, Damon Moore of Oyster River Ecology debriefed the 20 Gaither High School ROTC students and Master Gardener Volunteers on tools and techniques to manually remove the invasive species.
Trees that were too large to be pulled by hand were stump cut and treated immediately with an herbicide to kill woody trees with the active ingredient triclopyr. Plant species that were removed included Brazilian pepper, Chinese tallow, Caesar’s weed, camphor and skunk vine. Park staff, Sonya Rose and Brad Lympany assisted in the supervision of the students in the removal of approximately 89 trees from small saplings to large 40′ trees with a total weight of 2,100 lbs.
We have one more day scheduled to remove invasive on Saturday March 14, 2026 from 9am – 12pm. Volunteers from the public are welcome to join and can sign up on Eventbrite. The project will be completed in Nov. 2026 where we will have a final volunteer workday to replant the area with native plants to support wildlife such as cannas, wax myrtle, and other native plants. Through the sale of their specialty “Tarpon Tag” license plant, the Tampa Bay Estuary Program supports projects to restore native ecosystems to protect the Tampa Bay watershed.
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