The Haskell Wetlands, once harmed by detrimental farming practices, are undergoing a revitalization due to the Indigenous stewardship of the Haskell Greenhouse team.
More than two dozen volunteers showed up for a Haskell Wetlands Restoration Day, hosted by the greenhouse Thursday, to remove invasive species and encourage the growth of native flora.
As the land continues to recover, members of the Haskell Greenhouse hope to see continued progress through the participation and support of the whole Lawrence community.
‘The land is responding to what we’re doing’
Because of the effects of settler-colonialism in the wetlands, many invasive species have taken root. The evening’s specific targets were common teasel, cutleaf teasel and a legume called yellow sweet clover.
“We have our own legumes that grow here that can take the space of these guys, that our local pollinators have co-evolved with for millennia,” Courtney King told the volunteers.
King, Peoria and Miami, is a lab and field research assistant, as well as the manager of the Haskell Greenhouse.
She kicked off the evening by explaining that herbicides won’t quite cut it like a pair of loppers. King, who doesn’t want to introduce such chemicals to the wetlands, assured volunteers that all that’s needed is “human labor to take care of these guys.”
Teasel has a complex root system, making it more practical to cut the stalk off with loppers. King directed attendees to pull sweet yellow clover from the ground by grasping it at the base of the stalk. Since these plants are biennials, consistent removal work over a couple of years will effectively eradicate them.
King estimates that more than 3 acres have been freed of invasive species in the last few years through these methods. Where there is now a walking path multiple feet wide, she said there used to be mostly teasel and “a little trail you could barely get through.”
“We’ve been working hard just to remove them (invasive species) from the land, and the land is responding to what we’re doing,” she said.
Tyler Moore, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a 2025 Haskell graduate with a degree in Indigenous studies. He had seen photos before and after the greenhouse team began work on the wetlands and felt that the changes represent “what it deserves to be.”
Moore hopes that continued efforts will enable native species to replace invasive plants, allowing them to “maybe even spread past the wetlands.”
‘These are sacred grounds and they need to be treated as such’
When Haskell was founded and operated as a residential boarding school, “Historically, Indigenous children from Haskell Institute used to run away here … to meet their families, partake in cultural practices, speak their Native languages,” King said. “And people need to be aware of that, that these are sacred grounds and they need to be treated as such.”
Despite the significance of the Haskell Wetlands, King said she has found that many people are only familiar with the Baker Wetlands, an area that was historically also owned by Haskell.
Once Haskell gained its first Indigenous superintendent and the institution’s focus shifted to fostering Native culture in 1993, the federal government began giving away and renting Haskell’s land to outside groups.
In 1968, Baker University signed a quitclaim deed and received 573 acres of the land for free. The Haskell Board of Regents requested that Baker return the land and received no response.
Moore also said he finds that there is less community awareness of the Haskell Wetlands.
“There exists a space that’s equally as important, one that’s connected to Haskell University, that tries to even better represent wetlands itself,” Moore said.
The wetlands, though, have not always been treated with the reverence King and Moore call for. The boardwalk in the area currently sits in disrepair after an act of vandalism in May 2024 left a significant portion of it unusable.
However, King and Phillip Cody Marshall, dean of Haskell’s College of Natural and Social Sciences, were recently awarded $25,000 as part of a Heritage Conservation Council grant to build a new boardwalk on the north side of the wetlands. They are currently developing the design, which King hopes will be elevated, drivable and accessible under standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Accessibility has been top of mind for King for a few years now. As many members of the Lawrence intertribal community view the wetlands as a place for ceremony and prayer, it is crucial that they can reach the area.
Shannon Piper, Diné, has volunteered on the Haskell land for almost a year, and she likes to spend time in the woodlands that also exist on the acreage.
“Oh my gosh, this place is sacred. Like, no joke,” she said. “I come out here to just really be out in nature and just kind of let go of the things that are weighing me down.”
‘We all have a duty to take care of these lands’
Alexis Whitehorn-Coriz is enrolled in Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, federally known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, and is Santo Domingo Pueblo on her father’s side.
As a rising Haskell senior studying environmental science, she realized her passion lies in restoration work and joined the greenhouse nine months ago.
Whitehorn-Coriz hopes to see “more students interested in joining us on our wetland or restoration days, more students interested in joining the team … like freshmen coming in and even high schoolers thinking about doing restoration work.”
King similarly wants to see more Lawrencians join restoration days, as well as recurring harvesting events that are open to the whole community.
For Lawrencians like Val Anderson and Aiden Basore, who had never visited the Haskell Wetlands before volunteering together Thursday, their participation provided them with a deeper understanding of how to care for the land.
They hadn’t been aware that the yellow sweet clover is invasive, “and so now knowing to pick them whenever we see them, instead of letting them grow, is really nice,” Basore said.
“We all have a duty to take care of these lands,” King said, emphasizing the importance that all visitors treat the space with “respect and reciprocity.” She added, “It’s beautiful to see people from all walks of life come out here and just partake in these efforts.”
The USDA Tribal College Equity Grant, which funds the Haskell Greenhouse, was recently renewed for another year, according to King, and restoration efforts will continue.
Stay apprised of upcoming events by visiting the greenhouse’s new website and following them on Instagram and Facebook for updates.
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them) has been a contributor to The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They began their career in Kansas City journalism in 2021 before a stint as a bookseller in Lawrence. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.
Read their work for the Times here.
Molly Adams (she/her), photojournalist and news operations coordinator for The Lawrence Times, can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com. Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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