very small scale forest work

[Gabe Ayers]

There is no question that poison may be the only option for dealing with alien invasive botanical species. Having been a lifelong organic farmer, this is a big statement. I hate the thought of using this stuff anywhere….but we have no other choice in battling the displacement of native vegetation in our forest. I would say the the hand application of this material is less damaging to the entire ecosystem than sloppy spraying everywhere. Caution should be used by any applicator of these materials. Follow the guidelines, read the instructions and keep the use of this material specific and targeted to the intended plants.

This is a very important issue for rural America. I recently wrote an editorial to be submitted our local paper about this and will submit it below:

Bio-Terrorism, It’s Already Here!

This story is not about anthrax – that we still don’t know where it came from, or lead in children’s toys, poison toothpaste or even bugs that kill trees brought in by harboring in untreated pallets from China or Asia.

This terrorism is probably benign in origin or at least from ignorance. The Bio-Terrorism I worry most about is from Alien Invasive Botanicals. These are already here and aggressively displacing native vegetation at catastrophic rates.

This displacement of our native vegetation is extremely threatening. The forest is particularly damaged by the presence of these plants. They literally can stop the forest from regenerating itself naturally. Since so much of our region is forested this is very important to all of our futures and our children’s futures.

The particularly bad and already common invasive botanicals in the northeast end of the county are Oriental Bittersweet, Privet, Japanese Ladder Grass, Autumn Olive, and Garlic Mustard, to name a few. Many of these plants were brought into the country as horticultural products and the forest has plenty of volunteer shrubbery contributions where valuable trees could be growing.

The problem is that these plants are all disturbance dependent, meaning ground disturbance, as in soil being exposed and natural conditions altered. So many human activities promote their spread.

While speaking to a group of USDA forester’s in Washington recently they asked what I thought we should do about it. I don’t have a clear answer, but my suggestion was to put a bounty on these plants have people pull them up and dispose of them for a modest fee. Humans brought them here and may be the only way to safely battle them.

You may visit the web site below and read more about Alien Invasive Botanicals. You may also visit our web site and read about our local restorative forestry non-profit that promotes the best forestry we know.

We can battle them, limit disturbance and fight to protect our land, but it will be a war. The plants have a head start on us and lots of allies. Let us know if you have any ideas.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/ALIEN/pubs/index.htm

http://www.healingharvestforestfoundation.org

Jason Rutledge
Ridgewind Farm
Copper Hill, Va.
540-651-6355

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