As spring advances toward the official start of summer on June 21, all things green and growing have re-established themselves in the region.

Unfortunately, that means invasive species as well as native plants.

So the Wild Rivers Invasive Species Coalition is gearing up efforts to keep these often-aggressive invaders in check. It has several events planned this month, the first set for Saturday.

That day, the group will host an Invasive Species Training for Landowners from 9 a.m. to noon at the Mission Covenant Church in Foster City. They will provide information on invasive species identification, management techniques and adaptive planning, as well as a special presentation on wild parsnip — a particularly worrisome species that contains fluid that can burn and blister skin when exposed to sunlight, so residents need to know what to look for and how to properly remove when found. A tall green plant similar to Queen Anne’s lace but topped by yellow rather than white flat flower clusters, wild parsnip can be seen growing along roadsides and in open fields throughout the region and across most of the United States. This training session is free and open to the public.

On Tuesday, June 21, the WRISC will partner with the Norway Department of Public Works to remove watercress from the stream near the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. This nuisance plant is spreading aggressively in the stream and disrupting water flow, according to the WRISC. Volunteers will be enlisted to pull the plant from the stream — so those willing to join in will need waders or boots, and gloves may be helpful. This event will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., though volunteers can arrive and depart at any point within those five hours.

Then from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, June 27, the WRISC will have a volunteer workday to remove invasive buckthorn along the new nature trail on the Bay College West campus in Iron Mountain. Again, the public is invited to join in, for as long as they like.

More events information can be found on the WRISC website at www.wrisc.org/events.

We encourage the public to become more familiar with the invasive species in the region and to assist the WRISC in any way they can in the battle to control their further spread.