The Missouri Invasive Plant Council is pleased to announce the 2025 Invasive Plant Action Award winners.
2025 MoIP Award Winner: Individual Citizen
Alan Hopefl is the winner in the Individual Citizen category, awarded to an individual for outstanding contributions to the long-term management of invasive plant species and working to fight the spread of invasive plants. Alan began volunteering in Kirkwood in 2011, and since March 2015, he has recorded 2,852 volunteer hours, averaging over 300 hours each year, focused on controlling invasive bush honeysuckle and restoring habitat in Emmenegger Nature Park) and across the grounds of Kirkwood parks. More than 2,266 of his volunteer hours have been devoted single-handedly to honeysuckle removal in Emmenegger. In 2024, he amassed 313 hours for the calendar year. This labor has allowed native seedlings to repopulate, regenerating native diversity. By removing dense honeysuckle thickets, Alan has helped fulfill the park’s mission to be a refuge where visitors find peace, solace, and education in a thriving wooded setting.
Hopefl’s efforts are certainly recognized and appreciated by City of Kirkwood officials. “By my estimates since we started removal efforts in 2013, close to 70 acres of the accessible portions of Emmenegger [Nature Park] have had the largest populations of honeysuckle removed,” said Peter Laufersweiler, Superintendent of Park Operations, Kirkwood Parks & Recreation. “Alan has been involved in almost all of that, and I estimate that over the years he alone is responsible for over 40 acres. That is a staggering number to be completed mostly by one individual.”
2025 MoIP Award Winner: Individual Organization
The Columbia Audubon Society is the winner in the Individual Organization category, awarded to an organization for outstanding contributions to the long-term management of invasive plant species and working to fight the spread of invasive plants. Columbia Audubon Society (CAS) owns three properties: Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (28 acres), Wild Haven Nature Area (102 acres), and Albert Children’s Wildlife Area (78 acres). CAS manages these areas for habitat improvement and for the ongoing removal of invasive species. Each year’s work, habitat improvement at these properties becomes ever more noticeable. Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary has benefitted from the removal of over 90% of the bush honeysuckle, demonstrating what is possible with sustained effort.
David Dittmer, Natural Resources Supervisor with the City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department, said, “CAS has worked hard to make sure this prairie and the woodlands of their nature sanctuary remain clear of honeysuckle and other invasives, long after the initial work has been completed. Their property stands as a wonderful example to the community of how healthy and diverse a landscape can become when properly managed and rid of non-native invasive species.”
About MoIP’s Invasive Plant Action Awards
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 recognize 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 attainable and very important land stewardship. Members of MoIP evaluate nominations and select winners annually.
For more information about the Awards program and other past winners, visit the MoIP Award page.
