2026 Weed 'Em Out Workshops

April 7 to 29, 2026

Various locations - see below

Register at no cost here

A heavy infestation of stiltgrass, dormant in the fall, in a forest.

Learn how to identify and report invasive plants early, before they become big trouble. You will learn identification skills and apply them to target species samples to distinguish them from common look-alike species. High-priority plants include: stiltgrass, Johnsongrass, swallow-worts, rough potato, Dalmatian toadflax, golden honeysuckle vine, porcelain berry, common and giant butterburs, teasels, Amur corktree, tree-of-heaven, rowan mountain ash, plus regional specialties.

Please bring your own lunch! Lunch will not be provided, and there will not be time to leave the site.

Workshop schedule:

  • Rochester: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at the MnDOT Southeast District Headquarters, 2900 48th Street NW Rochester, MN 55901.  - Registration FULL

  • St. Cloud: Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at the MnDOT Training Center (Located at the MnDOT District 3 office), 3725 12th St. N. St. Cloud, MN 56303. 

  • Duluth: Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at the Hermantown Police Training Center, 5111 Maple Grove Rd, Hermantown, MN 55811. 

  • Grand Rapids: Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center, 402 SE 11th St, Grand Rapids, MN 55744.

Verification to earn SAF and ISA CFEs is provided on request.

This program is a joint venture between University of Minnesota Extension, the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Transportation and the U.S. Forest Service. These workshops are part of Extension's Terrestrial Invasives Participatory Science program. Learn more about TIPS here. 

Contacts: Angela Gupta ([email protected]) and Hana Kim ([email protected]), UMN Extension.

Accommodations

University of Minnesota Extension is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all programs, services and activities. To request accommodations for persons with disabilities, reach out to the event contact two weeks before the start of the event. Requests received after this date will be honored whenever possible.

Image: Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus) by Chris Evans on Bugwood.org (source)