Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 05, 2004 05:01 PDT 
ENTS:

In central West Virginia and throughout the Appalachians we have a rapidly
accelerating problem with the aggressive alien plant, Japanese stiltgrass and it
is starting to look like the forest soil equivalent of AIDS.

I have been working hard for several years to make people aware of the
problem and today finally succeeded in getting some info out on a Internet
newspaper.

A couple of minor facts were messed up in the article but it otherwise paints
a fairly accurate but grim picture of what is happening.

For some photos and background on the plant go to http://www.hurherald.com  and look
at the news for today, May 5.

Russ Richardson
Invasive Species   Dale Luthringer
  May 2004
Regarding Invasives at Cook Forest State Park, PA 

Concerning the barberry... I'm hoping to rip those buggers out. There is a forest of them on the west bank of Cook Trail behind River Cabins 15&16.

 Since they're alien, non-native, invasive species they're also not very high on my priority list. I wouldn't expect any numbers on them soon. They don't give up CBH very easily either with those nasty little thorns hiding under each leaf. So, to answer your question, no, I haven't measured any of them.  I'd love to get rid of them, but I'd need an army of volunteers working all summer to do it with tractors and the like. That whole section of Cook Trail is an absolute disaster in terms of barberry. We're talking 'acres' of infestation. 

The Japanese SNOTWEED, err... knotweed, along the river corridor is another problem within the park. It's another endless task. The real worry for me is the Mile-a-Minute weed that I've observed farther downriver near Clarion. That stuff is really nasty. You're probably familiar with it, but that ground hugging, thick barbed wire shin high vine will tear your chaps or waders up in no time at all.

Dale Luthringer

Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 21, 2004 03:59 PDT 
Michele:

Good to hear from you!

Invasives are a very hot topic right now with organisms like emerald ash
borer, sudden oak death, woolly adelgid and some of the plants that are moving in
and around. There is a lot of decent invasive plant information floating
around that is coming from the Alien Plant Working Group but there is little or no
money actually available for control and under FLEP there are potential
practices that can be funded although there is some $ available for education.

The hardest thing about most invasive plants is that, generally no one pays
attention until the damage is largely done or the invasion is complete. That
is where we currently are with Microstegium, the invasion is moving along
extremely fast, manifesting itself on thousands more acres every year at a rapidly
accelerating rate. It has barely started in Ohio but there is already concern
that much of the largest NF in Ohio, Wayne NF will be lost to the stuff.

At the present time, the overwhelming majority of natural resource
professionals from all backgrounds have a pitiful record of advocacy on the topic of
invasives and it is only fanatics like myself that have even bothered to become
informed on the threats our forest understory is facing.

Russ
Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 21, 2004 07:39 PDT 
Bob:

At this time, there is nearly a complete lack of awareness on the issue of
invasives among ALL working natural resource professionals....foresters,
wildlifers, agricultural agents and every other science remotely related to our
environment. The only real exception seems to be the Nature Conservancy and their
concern seems to be getting heard by a discouragingly small audience.

Through different newsletters I write and organizations that I belong to, I
have been beating on the issue for several years. The WV DoF has started to
address the subject but timber people and foresters are slow to
react..........most of the worst problems may still be ten years from fully manifesting
themselves and a majority of my contemporaries in forestry will be retired by then.
Unfortunately, none of this concern is being actively taken up by the younger
generation of resource professionals (under age 40).

The bottom line is that so much of the damage and economic loss from
invasives is yet to happen that there is an unwillingness to address the problem of
invasives seriously until the losses start to run into the billion$.

In terms of research, much of what we need to learn about containment and
control has barely started. Generally, we have a situation where, no matter what
agency you speak to there will be an across the board declaration that
invasives is a potential problem but is someone else's problem. The other situation
I encounter that is maddening is when researchers are instructed that a
situation is to be ignored until the powers that be higher up in the chain of
command decide something is a problem.

Much of my time with researchers has been a clandestine activity on the part
of the researchers because they have been specifically prohibited from looking
into unfunded areas of concern.

If there is anything stifling the progress on invasives in WV has been the
apparent collapse of the gypsy moth invasion into the Appalachians over the past
few years. Millions were spent on research and it looks like the "stop the
spread" effort has been effective. The success of controlling the gypsy moth
spread has also led to a feeling of complacency among resource professionals.

Researchers do not even know where to start looking at the invasive problem.
I was contacted by a researcher starting a project to measure the awareness
of the general public on the issue of invasives. They were going to prepare a
blind questionnaire for property owners that was not going to mention any
specifics on the issue or even use the word invasives. When I asked why they
didn't contact natural resource professionals at the same time....the answer was
that "they should already know"...............they DO NOT! Finally, most
research is being directed at out of control invasions rather than problems that
can still be stifled.

This invasive stuff is eating up a lot of my time. I have a serious
dedication to sustainable management of the forest for all of the benefits and
commodities it can provide with timber harvesting just one facet of the equation.
Without addressing the issue of invasives the entire concept of sustainable
forestry is just a collection of letters lacking a second l to be able to spell
bull s**t properly.

In light of the environmental changes that are taking place before our eyes,
the work that ENTS is doing to document our woods is rapidly becoming
historically significant.

Russ
Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 21, 2004 03:59 PDT 
Michele:

Good to hear from you!

Invasives are a very hot topic right now with organisms like emerald ash
borer, sudden oak death, woolly adelgid and some of the plants that are moving in
and around. There is a lot of decent invasive plant information floating
around that is coming from the Alien Plant Working Group but there is little or no
money actually available for control and under FLEP there are potential
practices that can be funded although there is some $ available for education.

The hardest thing about most invasive plants is that, generally no one pays
attention until the damage is largely done or the invasion is complete. That
is where we currently are with Microstegium, the invasion is moving along
extremely fast, manifesting itself on thousands more acres every year at a rapidly
accelerating rate. It has barely started in Ohio but there is already concern
that much of the largest NF in Ohio, Wayne NF will be lost to the stuff.

At the present time, the overwhelming majority of natural resource
professionals from all backgrounds have a pitiful record of advocacy on the topic of
invasives and it is only fanatics like myself that have even bothered to become
informed on the threats our forest understory is facing.

Russ
Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 21, 2004 07:39 PDT 
Bob:

At this time, there is nearly a complete lack of awareness on the issue of
invasives among ALL working natural resource professionals....foresters,
wildlifers, agricultural agents and every other science remotely related to our
environment. The only real exception seems to be the Nature Conservancy and their
concern seems to be getting heard by a discouragingly small audience.

Through different newsletters I write and organizations that I belong to, I
have been beating on the issue for several years. The WV DoF has started to
address the subject but timber people and foresters are slow to
react..........most of the worst problems may still be ten years from fully manifesting
themselves and a majority of my contemporaries in forestry will be retired by then.
Unfortunately, none of this concern is being actively taken up by the younger
generation of resource professionals (under age 40).

The bottom line is that so much of the damage and economic loss from
invasives is yet to happen that there is an unwillingness to address the problem of
invasives seriously until the losses start to run into the billion$.

In terms of research, much of what we need to learn about containment and
control has barely started. Generally, we have a situation where, no matter what
agency you speak to there will be an across the board declaration that
invasives is a potential problem but is someone else's problem. The other situation
I encounter that is maddening is when researchers are instructed that a
situation is to be ignored until the powers that be higher up in the chain of
command decide something is a problem.

Much of my time with researchers has been a clandestine activity on the part
of the researchers because they have been specifically prohibited from looking
into unfunded areas of concern.

If there is anything stifling the progress on invasives in WV has been the
apparent collapse of the gypsy moth invasion into the Appalachians over the past
few years. Millions were spent on research and it looks like the "stop the
spread" effort has been effective. The success of controlling the gypsy moth
spread has also led to a feeling of complacency among resource professionals.

Researchers do not even know where to start looking at the invasive problem.
I was contacted by a researcher starting a project to measure the awareness
of the general public on the issue of invasives. They were going to prepare a
blind questionnaire for property owners that was not going to mention any
specifics on the issue or even use the word invasives. When I asked why they
didn't contact natural resource professionals at the same time....the answer was
that "they should already know"...............they DO NOT! Finally, most
research is being directed at out of control invasions rather than problems that
can still be stifled.

This invasive stuff is eating up a lot of my time. I have a serious
dedication to sustainable management of the forest for all of the benefits and
commodities it can provide with timber harvesting just one facet of the equation.
Without addressing the issue of invasives the entire concept of sustainable
forestry is just a collection of letters lacking a second l to be able to spell
bull s**t properly.

In light of the environmental changes that are taking place before our eyes,
the work that ENTS is doing to document our woods is rapidly becoming
historically significant.

Russ
Re: Invasive Plants/Trip reports   Fores-@aol.com
  May 21, 2004 08:47 PDT 
Ed:

There is currently available from the USFS in Morgantown, WV a very good
CD...Invasive Plants of the Eastern US, Identification and Control. On the CD
there are nearly 500 photos and information covering 97 species.

The CD is available free of charge from Richard Reardon, FHTET, USDA Forest
Service, Morgantown, WV 304-285-1566..........it can also be requested from Mr.
Reardon by e-mail at 

Russ Richardson
Re: Invasives   Don Bertolette
  May 21, 2004 21:07 PDT 
Russ-

Re "overwhelming majority of natural resource professionals having a pitiful record", we Parkies won't stand accused, as we are quite proactive...my boss is very involved in alien invaders/exotics and several co-workers have primary focuses on identification and mitigation of them...they're surprisingly pervasive, having established themselves on what we had thought might be biogeographical islands with a chance of relict status...

Hmmm...do I detect some stereotyping going on? This Grand Canyon forester
has plucked his share of invasives!

-Don Bertolette
Grand Canyon National Park

Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 22, 2004 03:28 PDT 
Don:

I do agree with your premise..........most resource professionals I have
contact with have nothing to do with NPS or recreation. If there is any bright
spot in the invasive issue it is the interest in the subject by NPS personnel.

Both the Medicinal Plant Working Group and the Alien Plant Working Group,
which have strong ties to NPS and the Plant Conservation Alliance have a strong
participation by NPS employees..........The tough thing is that there are
minimal professionals from the private sector or other public agencies involved at
this time.

Russ
Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 22, 2004 03:37 PDT 
Don:

I stand corrected. ALL was a poor word choice. Maybe overwhelming majority
would be more appropriate.

No stereotyping intended at all. I have never encountered a more daunting
environmental challenge than what we face from invasives. At this time, at
least in the East, it is only a scattering of wierdos and whackos like me and a
few others that regularly immerse ourselves in the invasives issue.

For so many others this is either someone else's problem or "the subject
needs more research".

I think that the far West and the deep South are the most active regions of
the country on this issue.........it sure ain't middle earth!

Russ

Re: Invasives   Fores-@aol.com
  May 22, 2004 03:51 PDT 
Don:

If you get a chance this is the link for the Plant Conservation Alliance and
the Working groups I mentioned.

There are a number of extremely interesting links on the site and the APWG is
very active. AND....it is sponsored by NPS..........so, please forgive my
ALL statement in my previous post....I was venting some frustration that, from
your reaction was obviously going to the wrong people.

It also might let you know how much the Nature Conservancy and NPS are
involved with the topic.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/

Russ
Re: Invasives   Don Bertolette
  May 22, 2004 08:19 PDT 
Russ-
No problem, Russ, you're easily forgiven!  I've often been the odd man out. While I have worked in the private enterprise arena, for the most part I have worked for federal, state and county land management agencies. And as you suggest many of them did not have a clue about exotics/alien invaders (probably thought they were extra-terrestrial strippers).

Things are getting better...recently, the Coconino National Forest began an ambitious exotics mitigation campaign, and oddly enough are encountering resistance from the general public. The environmental thrust of the last couple of decades has made the USFS the ogre, and insufficient trust exists when the USFS tries to do the right thing. Yes, I'm an apologist for them, I was once among them and know that some of them merit scorn, but for the most part, the rest don't deserve the stereotype.
-Don
[APWG] WEB: Yellow Starthistle Fact Sheet & Mid-Atlantic Invasives List   Plant Conservation Association
  May 22, 2004 08:44 PDT 
Hi everyone,

We've added another fact sheet to the website, bringing the total to 50!
The latest fact sheet is for Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis)
and it can be viewed at http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/ceso1.htm

If you are interested in volunteering to write a fact sheet for an
invasive, take a look at our plant list to see if there's an available
spot for a volunteer ( http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/list/a.htm ), read
the guidelines, and then send us an e-mail to volunteer for specific
species.

For those of you in the Mid-Atlantic, we've recently added a separate list
with just the species affecting the Mid-Atlantic region
( http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/list/midatlantic.htm ).

Olivia
SER/PCA
http://www.nps.gov/plants/ 

RE: Invasive Plants/Trip reports   Paul Jost
  May 22, 2004 09:44 PDT 

Invasives? Tell me about it! I spent last weekend burning previously cut
Morrow's and Tartarian Honeysuckle along with tons of common and glossy
buckthorns and then took a break while it burned out to pluck more Eurasian
invasives, mostly Mustard species like barbarea vulgaris, the
yellow-flowered winter cress. I've got another round coming up to remove
more multiflora rose. Luckily, my property is either too wet or too dry in
spots to support garlic mustard. The only places that can support it are
still too overgrown with dense buckthorn, at least for now. Eventually, it
will be the bur oak savanna that it used to be.

Someone put a list of invasive web sites out on this list earlier. My
favorites, I believe including some mentioned earlier, are as follows
(notice it even includes a NPS web site!):

http://www.invasive.org/
http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs.html
http://www.invasivespecies.gov/
http://www.ipaw.org/ Invasive Plants of Wisconsin
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/index.htm

By the way, Lee mentioned his blown down oak stand recently. My stand has
heights from 60-70' and is mostly 6-8' cbh with some up to 11' cbh. A
significant invasive in my stand is black cherry. It is probably due to the
long term combined exclusion of fire and grazing (by buffalo and then
cattle.)

Regards,

Paul Jost
Re: Invasives   Michele Wilson
  May 22, 2004 13:18 PDT 
hi russ;
remember the barberry that grows out of the front of the house?! well, it's still there...I lop it off sometimes, or ole' Warren used to. someday, when the porch is rebuilt, I imagine the plant will be dealt with completely. meanwhile, I have been telling clients for years about invasives. just one example: a current plan client has been informed about many spots of various maladies...he isn't necessarily concerned (!), a typical attitude out there. however, when I mentioned that I do have to address the issue within his plan to some degree and make a recommendation for dealing with such, of course/per usual, the next question was "so how much will it cost?"! So, it really comes down to money for the average landowner...this is how it seems, anyway, with every client to whom I recommend dealing with various invasives stuff, which is most clients these days...the world definitely needs to be better informed of the long-term ramifications of the invasives issue(s) and learn the notion of 'if don't pay now will pay later'...
michele
Re: Invasives   Don Bertolette
  May 22, 2004 13:40 PDT 

Michelle-
Hmmm, I must have composed three different starts to this post, before I
realized that your reference to Thelma and Louise was their 'dropping in' on
the lower reaches of the Park...by the way there are more than one account
that details attempts to drive at high speed into the canyon...mostly
suicidal in nature but recently Evil Knieval's son 'successfully' jumped a
downstream corner of the Canyon, just outside of the Park.
But most invasives have arrived in less spectacular vectors...vibram soles
of extreme adventure hikers (they just thought they were enviironmentally
hip, but wouldn't have thought to thoroughly clean their boots, or spray off
the underside of their cars/bikes. Cattle, deer, elk, horses, mules and
burros have all had significant effects on the native understory vegetation
as well as non-native/invasives. We have some very isolated
'biogeographical islands' that have numerous species that seem rather
improbably there. However, after a little bit of 'googling' on these once
thought to be relict sites' names, it is clear from the "trail blogs" that
such a search yields, that we have more visitors than we realize. Right
hearted folks are guiding naive hikers into our wildernesses without fully
realizing their collective impacts.
-Don