Marc Imlay
Friday, October 17, 2008 - 4:00-4:30
Anacostia Watershed Society established a program to provide local groups and land managers with several models to draw upon in the region. We are assisting in developing a major 5 year work effort at each site to remove massive populations of about a dozen species. Regular stewardship projects are conducted in all seasons including winter, early spring, late spring, summer, and late summer. This high-intensity program is followed by a low-intensity annual maintenance program to eliminate plants we have missed, plants emerging from the seed bank, and occasional plants migrating in from neighboring areas. We co-sponsor the monthly projects at seven parks over 1.5 square miles. Surveys of this area find that at least half of the natural areas are salvageable with a combination of mechanical and carefully targeted chemical control and no requirement for re-vegetation. The natives return on their own since they initially covered the majority of the surface area. At the 200 acre Swann Park, where we are essentially in maintenance phase after 5 years, 17 of the 19 non-native species are eradicated or nearly so. Only Japanese Stiltgrass and Garlic Mustard remain serious. Our advice to others considering similar projects are to recognize that restoration of our native ecosystem is realistic but requires an appropriate level of work effort. The biggest challenge is to ensure that in subsequent years all the successful projects are carried on by responsible entities.
Keywords: HIGH-INTENSITY PROGRAM, LOW-INTENSITY ANNUAL MAINTENANCE