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Vermont Fights Invasive Plants

Burlington, Vermont - August 4, 2007

In spite of heavy rain and flooding earlier this summer, this has been a good year for corn and other crops. But favorable growing conditions also help invasive plant species. An effort is on to fight the kind of plants that are not native to the region.

"And what we have behind us is the wetland forest, the beautiful, beautiful wetland forest that we're about to enter," Lisa Coven told a small group of people Saturday. She's part of the Burlington Parks & Recreation Dept. Conservation Legacy Program.

This is one of the more wild areas of Burlington's Intervale, a floodplain not far from the Winooski River. A small group of volunteers made its way into the forest on the old McKenzie property, which borders the river just upstream from the Ethan Allen Homestead. They didn't  have to walk very far before they ran across one of the more common invasive plant species.

Japanese Knotweed, otherwise known as fake bamboo, is overrunning the forest floor. "And instead of having a variety of bio diversity of different species, you'll end up with just Japanese Knotweed taking over everything," Coven explained.

The group used clippers to cut the plants at the base, careful not to harm other native plants. The bad ones were piled onto a tarp. Cut invasive plants would easily re-establish themselves if they were just dumped. And so these went instead to the wood depot at the Burlington Electric Dept. just up the road, where they will be burned, rather than composted.

This program is run by the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department, along with the Intervale Center and the Healthy City Youth Community Farm, an organization that grows fruits and vegetables.

When asked whether trying to get rid of the invasive plant  like was kind of like trying to bail out the ocean, Coven responded: "It is sort of like bailing out the ocean.  But you know, I had a really great law professor some years ago, and his great motto was, 'If you don't try, how will you ever know if it's going to work?'"

It turns out that this effort is working. Coven continued, "Last month when we were here, it was just full of Japanese Knotweed, so it's really nice to come and know that other natural, native vegetation is actually growing back in."

Based on the progress, this group will come back to take another whack at invasive plants in September and they'll keep it up next year.

Andy Potter - WCAX News