The Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP) is pleased to announce the winner of the 2022 Invasive Plant Action Award, Individual Professional category.
As public awareness grows about the harmful effects of invasive plants, the Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP) announces the winner of this year’s Invasive Plant Action Award, Individual Professional category to recognize outstanding work controlling invasive plant species on property in Missouri.
MoIP established the Invasive Plant Action Award program to recognize the outstanding work being done in Missouri to control invasive plant species. The MoIP Invasive Plant Action Awards celebrate exceptional effort and leadership in the field, and also serve as a way to demonstrate to the broader community how controlling the spread of invasive plants on Missouri farms, forests, woodlands, prairies, gardens, parks, neighborhoods, roadsides, and along waterways is very possible and very important land stewardship. Members of MoIP evaluate nominations and select winners annually.
A recommendation by a natural resource professional is required to be eligible. Members of MoIP evaluate nominations. MoIP is a resource of the Grow Native! program and the Missouri Prairie Foundation.
The 2022 MoIP Award Winner
Steve Cavin
Steve Cavin is the winner in the Individual Professional category, awarded to a natural resources professional who has demonstrated progress in reducing invasive plants over at least two years. Steve is the Senior Ecological Restoration Specialist at Native Landscape Solutions, Inc., based in St. Louis, Missouri. He is known among his peers as knowledgeable, passionate, and a kind-hearted educator in the world of invasive plant control. He has put forward his best efforts in his twelve years in this field.
Steve has worked tirelessly to become a master at plant identification and invasive plant control solutions. He has successfully worked on many invasive plant control projects in the St. Louis area with many prestigious names in conservation, such as the Missouri Department of Conservation, Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, Forest Park Forever, Metropolitan Saint Louis Sewer District, and the U.S. Forest Service. These projects ranged from work at the Saint Louis Riverfront Butterfly Byway and Great Rivers Greenway, to several municipalities including Kirkwood, Wildwood, Brentwood, Des Peres, Saint Peters, Saint Louis, and Sunset Hills, Ameren sites, and parks and recreation areas in Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois.
His colleague, Chuck Caverly, said, “Steve Cavin has become our go-to resource for native seeding and plant installation. We often find him on his knees next to the youngest members of our team explaining root structure and proper planting depth. Steve brings a cool knowledge base to our team, perfected and molded by years of dedication and persistence to his craft.”
By definition, invasive plants are those not native to a region whose abundance and/or rapid spread harm economic and environmental resources. The Action Awards seek to demonstrate how controlling the spread of invasive plants on Missouri farms, forests, woodlands, prairies, gardens, roadsides and along waterways is wise stewardship.
For more information, please visit our Invasive Plant Action Awards page.
