McCarty Woods Restoration

Our next McCarty Woods Restoration event will be Sat., May 31, 2025, 9:00-10:30AM.  

There will be more things to plant and plants to label.  We will also be removing invasives and putting down pinestraw.

Usual place – NE corner of the woods by the new picnic table.

Please dress appropriately and bring water and gloves if you have them. We will again bring water, gloves, garbage bags, loppers, small hand saws, and doughnuts!

Thanks, and please pass the word!  Fun will be had by all. All ages and skills levels welcome. Come for whatever time you can.

Doug, Pam, Matt, Lucas

Sat., May 31, 2025, 9:00-10:30AM.  Happy Earth Day!

We are very fortunate to have many wonderful volunteers. To celebrate Earth Day, we want to show our appreciation to some of our volunteers who have gone above and beyond with consistent service over the past several years (in some cases since 2021). Some of our winners are listed below. Each will receive a McCarty Woods hat, pictured below. To receive your hat, stop by Dickinson (please let us know you are coming) or just come to the next restoration event (May 31)!

Doug, Pam, Matt, Lucas

Family awards

Majure family
Hannah Vander Zanden and kids
Naylor family

Post–docs

Makenzie Mabry
Shengchen Shan

Graduate Students

JT Miller

Lab awards

Scott Robinson and his group…water every Monday

Forestry

Alex Gaskins – west side watering week after week

Never-miss award

Tom Webber
Meryl Klein

Undergrads

Sebastian Fernandez
Tyler Radtke
Cameron McMullen
Sydney Barfus

2024-2025 Intern Awards

Katya Kaspryzak
Colin Connealy

Staff – lunchtime warriors

Gifford Waters
Jerald Pinson

Grounds and Administration

Linda Dixon, Administration support
Tom Schlick, Grounds support

April 12, 2025 We had a great double header on Saturday. 150 undergraduate volunteers helped remove invasives (coral ardisia and tuberous sword fern) from Harmonic woods. Another 30 volunteers worked in McCarty.  88 garbage bags of invasives were removed Saturday.

A special thanks to Chris Dutton for encouraging his undergraduate students to participate. Another special thanks to Makenzie, Thomas and Cameron for helping lead the charge in Harmonic Woods. 

Next event will be end of May- stay tuned.

March 30, 2025 It was an impressive turnout on a rainy day. There was much accomplished by our great volunteers, including members of Alpha Zeta, CALS professional fraternity in agriculture…thanks for hanging in there during the rain!!

Bark was spread at the old north kiosk and more spread at main south entrance.  More plants were put in on the east side and pine straw put down on NE corner…and more plant labels placed throughout woods. 

February 15, 2025 Another awesome turnout at McCarty Woods. Thanks to all the volunteers who participated.

A special thanks to SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Florida Chapter) for their efforts!!

It is spring in McCarty Woods. The The red buckeyes planted over the last two years are leafing out.  They have really grown.  

The bark on the south side looks great – importantly it will reduce erosion. The new signs look great. There are lots of new plants in the ground on the east side and lots of watering too.

Several photos are courtesy of Mariella…

New McCarty Woods Study: Genome Project on pignut hickory.

Saturday, January 18,2025 Thank you for all who came and work so hard …. and on such a cold morning!

Plus we had help from our new volunteers – AmeriCorps volunteers!

Much was accomplished and the battle of the weeds continues.

Follow our progress on BlueSky@soltislab.bsky.social.

Saturday, December 7, 2025 Thanks for another great turnout ….and on a cold morning! Lots of watering, cleanup and plant removal. Bark was placed all around the picnic area and trails—they look great! The fencing team volunteers planted a tree on the east side—the first black cherry. 

Bucket man was sited during the workday.

Thanks again everyone for a great year in restoring McCarty woods – we accomplished a lot.

Happy holidays!

 Doug, Pam, Matt, Lucas

Sunday, November 17, 2024 Wow what a great turnout today- one of our largest. THANKS!!

The 100 free t-shirts went very quickly. 

We were able to get so much accomplished. The north trail along the parking lot was reopened and then bark put down. Bark was also put down on the main north – south trail and the trail coming in from the east side – looks great. 
A lot of new plants were put in on the east side, the south side, pine straw put down in both areas and lots of Guinea grass was removed. 

Thanks everyone for an amazing day. 

Stay tuned for announcements regarding the December event date

Sunday Oct. 27, 2024 Just a quick thanks to all for a huge turnout on Sunday…. several hundred people. WOW!!!  We ended up providing 15 dozen donuts to the volunteers. We accomplished a huge amount of work. 

FLMNH provided a tent for a special event with additional activities after the restoration work was finished which included:

♦Family-friendly biodiversity activities
♦A guided nature walk
♦Making a backyard biodiversity collage
♦Learning to use a plant press
♦Identified plants and birds with simple phone apps

Here is a link to the full web gallery of photographs courtesy of our excellent museum photographer Kristen Grace.  Some great photos here! https://public.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/mccartyoutreach/

Hurricanes Helene and Milton storm update.

McCarty woods held up pretty well during the hurricanes. Some big branches down at the south entrance…including several from the huge sweetgum. No major tree falls.

Several Carolina plums snapped off and one was blocking the east – west trail near the east entrance— we have removed several limbs and opened up the trail.

This is also a special opportunity to donate to the McCarty Woods Restoration Effort: Link to giving page: https://affinitygiving.ufl.edu/campaigns/flmnh-mccarty-woods-campaign-2024-1/?appeal_id=66edb14647f570246bd025fc

Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 Another great turnout with help from all folks of all ages. We accomplished a lot, removing some deadfall and cleaning up the picnic area. We put a great deal of effort into the east side – removing weeds, putting down pine straw, and planting a number of new plants…it is looking fantastic. 

We also have a gorgeous new kiosk sign (artwork of Kasey Pham) on the east side.

The great photos in the Gallery are courtesy of Mariela.

Saturday Aug. 24, 2024 Another great turnout for McCarty woods restoration…thanks everyone as we marked three years of monthly restoration events!

The next event will be Sunday, September 15, 9:00-10:30AM. Save the Date!!

July 13, 2024 A great turnout on a hot day—a number of new volunteers. Thanks!!!  Lots of great work accomplished- the planted area on the east side was weeded and then more pine straw put down—it looks great (see attached).  A number of new plants also added to the east side as well.

Stay tuned for August restoration date—it will be after the new semester starts

Check out our new kiosk and poster on the north side of the woods!  Many thanks to the Flanagan Co. The east side kiosk poster will be ready in a few weeks.

June 8, 2024 A good turnout braved the heat on Saturday to water, remove lots of Guinea grass and to plant more native plants and lots of watering. Thanks everyone- McCarty Woods is looking great. If you haven’t visited the woods in a while, there are a lot of changes: new kiosks and the east side has been planted.  Thanks to all volunteers and donors!

May 25, 2024 New Kiosks finished, courtesy of Flanagan Corporation.

We focused on removing some of the invasives on the east side, mulching and watering.  

May 14, 2024 McCarty Woods-frames for new kiosks!

The structures taking shape at the east and north entrances of the woods are the frames for new kiosks, constructed via the courtesy and kind donation of Flannigan companies with the help of UF grounds.

April 20, 2024 Thanks for a wonderful turnout today – the biggest ever (over 200 people)! Folks patiently waited in a long line to sign in and get a shirt and doughnuts (we quickly gave away 100 shirts and 10 dozen doughnuts; we will order more shirts). With so much help we quickly planted over 200 plants filling in most of the east side on both sides of the supports for the new kiosk. A special thanks to Hannah Vander Zanden for providing the opportunities for so many students to attend. A lot of museum attendance today as well. Priscilla came all the way from Georgia to participate!! Thanks again to Katya and Colin who helped get things prepared for today. 

We’ve come a long way folks. The east side of the woods is now home to many native plants, many in flower – quite a contrast to the condition it was in two years ago. 

You can follow McCarty Woods activity on twitter:  Soltis Lab@ UF

Thanks everyone for all of the help and Happy earth day! 

March 2, 2024 Thanks for a great turnout today folks – especially on an overcast  morning

Lots of wonderful help. We planted more buckeyes on east side. Put a few species in the woods for the first time- hearts a bursting, red mulberry as well as some red salvia on the east side.  More Cherokee bean, trumpet creeper and native honeysuckle planted as well as more iron weed and beauty berry.  And another dogwood near the bus stop!  And cats claw removed! 

We were powered by 6 dozen 🍩!! 

Next event will be a special earth day event on April 20. Stay tuned and also follow McCarty wood’s updates on twitter… Soltis Lab @UF 

February 3, 2024 Another great turnout and a great job. Thanks everyone!  Special thanks to Hannah Vander Zanden for pointing Intro Bio students to the Restoration Effort. 

So many things accomplished. We planted trees, herbaceous perennials, watered plants, removed invasives—lots of cat’s claw was removed. Cleaned trails and replaced/improved flagging on things planted the last two years.

There were important discoveries: 1) one older red buckeye was discovered still surviving in McCarty; 2) there is a use for cat’s claw tubers…they are good for juggling.

January 20, 2024 THANKS!!  Despite the cold a huge group showed up Saturday morning to help with McCarty woods recovery. Coffee and donuts were enjoyed by all.  14 trees and understory shrubs were planted as we continue to focus more attention on the west side of the woods. The fun of removing cats claw was shared by both newcomers and McCarty pros. The east side was cleaned up and invasive grasses removed.  Great progress! 

December 9, 2023 McCarty Woods Dec Restoration–Success!

Another great turnout and a wonderful day in the woods –19 new trees placed in the woods including ash, muscle wood, swamp chestnut oak, redbud, and fringe tree…we continue to fill in gaps in the canopy and rebuild the understory as we move westward through the woods. Cats claw removed—large to small. A very fun day today. 

Thanks for your help.

Doug, Lucas, Matt, Pam

November 18, 2023 Another great day in McCarty woods.  Lots of new plants (goldenrod, beauty berry) added, invasives removed (Guinea grass and cats claw and more). Thanks!

October 21, 2023 Thanks for a great turnout on Saturday. We accomplished a lot!!!   Many new cool plants were planted on the east side and several areas blocking the trails cleaned up.

Thanks as well to the film crew taking photos of the large group of volunteers in action!

September 10, 2023 Another fine turnout for McCarty woods restoration…thanks for your help! 

More Coreopsis planted (several plants planted in August were flowering!). Much of the sweetgum that blocked the east-west trail was sawed up with handsaws and removed. Lots of cats claw and Guinea grass removed. Any lots and lots of watering!

August 27, 2023 THANKS! Great turnout today everyone! Wow what a great way to start out the new semester. Fun was had by all. We accomplished a lot – more invasive species removed and more plants put in the ground; plus lots of watering!  Our next effort will be early September- stay tuned.

July 8, 2023 A great workday from a valiant group of volunteers who braved the heat to remove many of the large limbs resulting from the severe storm damage of several weeks ago.  There are two large piles of hand-trimmed branches from downed tree limbs –largest one on NE side and another one on SW side of woods.

More native plants (Eragrostis and Pityopsis) planted on the eastern edge of the woods.

Thanks for the hard work, folks!

Other News:

Wow you made chromosome counts…good for you! We’ve had trouble with DNA sequencing facilities—good luck on that. Keep after them.

The niche modeling might be something we could help with here if interested-we have some talented undergraduates looking for projects. This would be a good one. 

June 11, 2023 Another great effort despite the heat… Wow! Several shifts of dedicated volunteers helped plant numerous small plants of Sensitive Pea and more native grasses on the east side while also removing invasives, checking plant labels, watering new and recent plants, bagging trash and more. Thanks to the group for working to help our many new native plants get established. Lots of pollinators on that side which is a good sign.

May 13, 2023 Thanks for the wonderful help in McCarty woods today! Another great effort. This was a rare afternoon restoration effort. 

Our focus was removing invasive grasses on the east side. We also pruned, watered and inventoried/recorded the many plants put in this year. Things are looking good!

April 22, 2023 What a massive turnout to celebrate Earth Day – WOW! … thanks again to everyone.

We really accomplished a lot today – more plants in the ground – a fantastic effort removing Guinea grass and putting in lots of native grasses on that east side. More trumpet creeper…a once common native vine returns… instead of cat’s claw.

2023 Champions for Change Award Recipient – Congrats!

Lauren Stefan, Design & Marketing Assistant
Office of Sustainability, University of Florida

The Champions for Change awards ceremony to recognize recipients and celebrate their success took place on Tuesday, April 18th.

These awards are presented annually to those in the university community who have made significant contributions in the areas of sustainability and health during their time at UF. Nominations are judged based upon the uniqueness of the achievement, the level of effort required, the commitment to sustaining the achievement and the significance for personal growth of the impact or the achievement on the UF community.

The University of Florida’s Office of Sustainability and the Healthy Gators Coalition recognized seven individuals and groups for the annual Champions for Change awards this year. Among the winners was the McCarty Woods Restoration team, led by the Florida Museum’s Douglas and Pamela Soltis, Lucas C. Majure and Matthew Gitzendanner.

McCarty Woods is a 2.9-acre forest in the heart of campus at the University of Florida. The woods were designated as a conservation area in 2000, but the university’s 2020-2030 master plan redefined the forest’s boundaries. Had the plan been enacted as originally written, most of the trees would have been cut down to make way for a new building, but a public outcry from students, staff and faculty convinced university administration to reverse course.

Researchers at the Florida Museum used the victory’s momentum to focus efforts on restoring the woods. Florida is a hotbed of invasive species, and the natural areas on campus are no exception. Tree canopies are crowded out by the fast-growing, light-hoarding cat’s claw vines (Dolichandra unguis-cati), outcompeted by proliferous, shade-tolerant paper mulberries (Broussonetia papyrifera) and hemmed in by evergreen wax-leaf privet (Ligustrum lucidum).

Restoring the delicate threads that tie this ecosystem together requires the continued effort of ardent volunteers. Each month, the restoration team organizes cleanups in which invasives are weeded out and native plants are added back in. During the dry season, additional volunteers head out to water the new saplings that don’t yet have a deep enough root system to withstand prolonged drought.

After nearly two years of work, the results are easily noticeable even to those without a discerning eye for plants. More light streams in through the canopy in the absence of invasive vines, and the previous blanket of cat’s claw and skunk vine (Paederia foetida) along the forest floor has been rolled back. The dappled understory now supports a diverse mosaic of native species, and a clearcut along the woods’ eastern flank — which occured when a groundcrew unintentionally felled trees inside the conservation area — has been effaced by a layer of juvenile trees and shrubs.

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/mccarty-woods-restoration-team-receives-uf-champions-for-change-award/

March 25, 2023 Another great day of work in McCarty Woods. Redbud was reintroduced after a long absence. Other trees/shrubs planted. Plus, a great turnout and tour of the woods with the Garden Club.

February 12, 2023 Neither wind, rain, nor cold will still our great team!! Another great turnout and a lot accomplished. Many new trees, shrubs vines and other natives were planted. Thanks to our great volunteers! 

We also devoted time to our sister project: Harmonic Woods where we removed coral ardisia.

January 29, 2023 Another great turnout wow!

We continued getting trees and shrubs planted, including elm, one ash (hard to find), several oaks, hickory and more. 

Some firsts –First planting of native pawpaw and of our native honeysuckle. Signs of wildlife were detected. Much fun was had by all!

December 11, 2022 Great turnout and wonderful job today in McCarty Woods!!! We got two group photos because many people arrived after the early photos with the new plants.

We planted 14 trees and shrubs. Some of these are species that were once present in the woods but have disappeared – so these will be the first replanting of these species! Through the help of a great team, several of the species were returned to the woods – fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), Schumard oak (Quercus shumardii), and southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). The team also planted Aluchua buckthorn (Sideroxylon alachuense, more sweetgum (Liquidambar styracifula), hickory (Carya glabra), hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) and red buckeye (Aesculus pavia). Plus there were some cool discoveries by Lucas — a few small trees of Sideroxylon lanuginosum (wooly buckthorn) are still present in the woods and a small tree of live oak (Quercus virginiana)—the first report for the Woods!

One of the red buckeyes we planted last winter has already broken dormancy and has leaves…. way too early; clearly a confusing winter in terms of weather.

Austin has made great progress in removing cat’s claw…there are now a few more places where it is absent (shock!).

Moss man was spotted again.

October 16, 2022 Thanks for the hard work today folks! A large tree that was downed by Hurricane Ida as well as a smaller one were cut (by hand saws) and removed; our newly planted trees/shrubs watered and more removal of Cats Claw and Guinea grass. We spent time using iNaturalist as we try to catalog everything we can in the woods.

September 11, 2022 Great turnout and great job today folks! We removed a lot of invasives. Many of our plantings that we put in this past winter seem to be doing well – some photos are included of ash, persimmon, and musclewood. We also found more Bignonia capreolata (cross vine) – a good sign!

June 18, 2022 Another successful (and hot!) morning in McCarty Woods. Thanks to a hardworking group we removed invasives and generally cleaned up the east and north sides. We watered native species and removed invasives – privet and paper birch are under control now, but some are growing back. Cats Claw continues to be a problem!

May 15, 2022 Thanks for the good summer turnout folks. Most of the effort was focused on watering and weeding. Plants watered, more cats claw removed, and privet and paper mulberry that were growing back were removed. A few rare swamp privet were planted.

April 10, 2022 Great job everyone! Thanks so much for the large turnout. A special thanks to our many student volunteers who really have made so much of the progress possible. The mulch on the north side and trail looks great. More new plants were planted. It is even getting hard to find large cats claw vines to cut…wow!

March 30, 2022 Many of you worked hard to clear the north edge of the woods of Cats Claw…many hours removing one plant at a time. Well good news. We surveyed what is now the north edge of the Woods and there are remarkable signs of life where the Cats Claw was removed. Ash seedlings, our native honeysuckle and Ipomea, a seedling of an oak (Q. velutina) and black cherry – neither had been previously reported from the woods. We found two elm seedlings (we have several large elms but we had not found any seedlings previously), small plants of our native mulberry and a resurgence of violets. Help give the woods a chance and there will be recovery!

March 20, 2022 Thanks all for a great turnout and another productive day in the Woods! More shrubs/trees were planted and lots of Cats Claw cut and removed – we could spot them in flower which helped us target some large vines we had missed previously. Many of you commented on how much progress we’ve made since last August. Hard to believe how hard it is now to find privet. We removed 10 that were growing back-that was it. The plants we put in last month look good!

We watered the plants that were put in during our February outing (they look great). Plus a few more small trees and shrubs planted. Also, a kiosk sign was replaced and the plexiglass front repaired.

March 5, 2022 Just a quick update that our small trees/shrubs are doing well. Some photos of new leaves on plants breaking dormancy.

February 12, 2022 Thanks for the great turnout today!

As several students pointed out, this was historic – after six months of taking out plants that don’t belong, we began putting in ones that do!  Lots of neat shrubs and understory trees planted and watered today. For some folks these were the first trees they had ever planted – very cool! All plants were noted on iNaturalist thanks to Meryl (link below). Emilio tagged everything as well so that we can continue to monitor these plants.

 We have some great trees to plant: persimmon, red buckeye, pignut hickory, green ash, possum haw, sweet gum, swamp chestnut oak, beauty berry, muscle wood (blue beech) and more.

Stay tuned for more updates- many of you signed up to be part of the water brigade. That will be critical in the weeks ahead.

If you want to check out some of the species recorded recently in the woods check out the awesome iNaturalist site for McCarty Woods: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mccarty-woods?tab=species

Our plantings today can be found at: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?created_on=2022-02-12&on=2022-02-12&place_id=any&project_id=mccarty-woods&subview=map&verifiable=any&iconic_taxa=Plantae

The link to give is: https://givingday.ufl.edu/campaigns/mccarty-woods-and-campus-natural-areas-fund#/

January 30, 2022 Thanks again for a great turnout on such a cold day. GREAT TO SEE SO MANY NEW FACES! 

Great progress! Narrow east-west side trails put in by hand. More invasive trees found on the west side (Camphor, Citrus, privet) were removed. Plus, we held a great Cats Claw competition for the largest tuber – fantastic! Some nice discoveries as we remove the Cats Claw jungle- several more hophornbeams, small hickories and ash trees. A sideroxylon was located – so two remain in the woods!

Our next effort will be February 12– so please mark that on your schedules. We plan to put native trees in those areas cleared of Cats Claw today.

Two links have been set up by some of our wonderful volunteers.

1. Here is a link to a McCarty Woods collection project in iNaturalist. This will be a useful means to track species in the woods – https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mccarty-woods\
2. Here is the link to a gofundme for the Woods: https://gofund.me/42bcbf19. This will be used to purchase plants (we will need a lot!), signage, etc in our efforts to restore the woods.

December 12, 2021 What a great effort from the group today!

Another huge pile of invasive trees was removed from the west side. These are about the last of the larger invasive trees in the woods—what progress!!! A huge area was cleared of Tradescantia and Ardisia. We also cut and treated dozens of Cats Claw vines!

During the cleanup today we also saw some encouraging signs – some young ash and sweet gum trees as well as 4 or 5 Ostrya (hop hornbeam). There are 4 or 5 large ash trees in McCarty – the one in the photo might be the largest on campus.

November 20, 2021 Thanks everyone for another great turnout…~50 people plus one helpful dog (McCarty’s Best Friend). Wow, so many helpers just before Thanksgiving! It was very impressive that so many took the time to help.

We cleaned the kiosks and put in new signs. We made great progress removing more invasive trees and took out lots of Cats Claw. With the materials provided by UF Grounds and Natural Resources, we were able to immediately treat the trees and vines that we cut so they will not grow back. We opened up an old trail — with more work in December it should be ready for use. We also tagged some native trees on the edge of the woods that we want to make sure are protected (soap berry, red bay, tilia).

As background, we met with the LVL committee to request permission to begin reintroduction of native plants to McCarty woods. They will grant permission if we can get enough people to show that we have a lot of volunteers willing to help water these new plants for a few critical months early next year.  And if it rains that makes it even easier!  

October 17, 2021 Thanks again for the great turn-out. October was a huge success, our biggest group to date! 

Our focus will continue to be removing more invasive plants. Given our success so far, we are now moving more into the west side in addition to our initial focus on the east side of the Woods. We have made great progress so let’s keep it up!