St. Thomas Church maintains a meditation path for its parishioners in the woodland behind their church. To provide a healthy and safe natural area for visitors, the church set out to restore and enhance their woodland to reflect a more historical and thriving Midwest woodland habitat.

Impact7G performed invasive species removal and management, primarily targeting bush honeysuckle, oriental bittersweet, and multiflora rose. By successfully managing these invasive species, we found that the following spring brought a greater presence and diversity of native vegetation due to an increase in sunlight reaching the forest floor.

Additionally, removing the oriental bittersweet vines (that girdle and kill native trees) resulted in a healthier overstory which is more resilient and safer for parishioners using the meditation path. Adaptive management solutions and regular monitoring have resulted in increased accessibility for visitors to engage with nature and increase native species diversity.