Cut down your invasive Callery Pear tree and get an ecologically beneficial tree in exchange
Exchange day April 18 at Shoal Creek Education Center
They look pretty in the spring covered with white blooms but the Callery Pear – also known as the Bradford Pear tree is an invasive species that spreads rapidly, smells bad and suffers damage easily.
But now, you can cut down one Callery Pear Tree on your property and get an economically-beneficial tree in return.
The exchange will happen on Tuesday, April 18 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the MDC Shoal Creek Conservation Education Center at 201 Riviera Drive in Joplin.
That’s just north of Shoal Creek and Redings Mill. Supplies of new trees are limited.
To spread awareness about how the invasive Callery (Bradford) pear tree (Pyrus calleryana) causes harm to economics and environment, the Missouri Invasive Plant Council, Forest Re-leaf, and the Missouri Department of Conservation are hosting the Callery Pear Buy-back in Joplin.
Participants are invited to cut down their Callery pear tree and submit a photo of it to the Missouri Invasive Plant Council. Trees are sourced from Forest ReLeaf and Forrest Keeling nursery.
- The offer is limited to one native tree per household with photo proof of at least one cut-down Callery pear. When you register, select only one tree.
- At checkout, you will be given a link to a separate web page to submit your photo.
Please stop at the shop’s fenced lot before the education building. Click here for directions!
Learn more about the Buy-back and the problems with Callery pear trees here. For further questions, please contact Jon Skinner via email at jon.skinner@mdc.mo.gov or phone at (417) 629-3434 ext. 4543.