Monitoring for and treating invasive terrestrial plants are some of the more important things you can do to take care of Vermont’s working forests and natural areas. Effective July of 2016, yard and leaf debris were banned from landfills, including material from invasive plant control.

For any questions regarding invasive plant disposal, contact the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Waste Management & Prevention Division at: (802) 828-1138, or vtrecycles.com.

A confluence of several events has renewed concerns for the well-being of hemlock trees in Vermont. Read more about why Vermonters should be especially concerned and what you can do to help.

Despite the discouraging discovery of an invasive species near Lake George, the Adirondacks have also seen some recent bright spots in the fight against invasive species.

In this article, Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester, breaks down the steps in the management of invasive species so that any landowner with an invasive plant problem can have a clear path forward. 

Walk through a hardwood forest this month and it may seem more like October than July. Trees that normally provide cool shade have bare crowns with just a hint of green. And is the bark on that sugar maple moving? This is not a trick of the light: you are, in fact, in the middle of a forest tent caterpillar outbreak.

 

The Japanese barberry tree, a popular landscaping shrub with attractive flowers, was banned from sale in the state of New York in the spring of 2015. The Japanese barberry tree is one of the 11 plants on the state’s banned invasives list, but it will soon be returning to nurseries because of research done by the University of Connecticut. The return will likely take place in the next year.

A bill recently signed into law by Governor Scott requires watercraft operators to inspect vessels for aquatic invasive species, and also requires livewells, bilge tanks, and other water-holding compartments to be drained prior to out-of-water transport. The new legislation is aimed at further reducing the spread potential of exotic pests that are deleterious to Vermont's aquatic resources.

This is part two in a three-part series on how to create an invasive plant management plan. This section will guide you through outlining the description, purpose of management, desired condition, and current condition of each site under consideration

Windham County Forester, Bill Guenther, shares a story about an attempt to regenerate a stand of white pine trees. The story features a woodlot in Westminster where a forester prepared a shelterwood cutting of mature white pine. Unfortunately, several years later, the stand of regenerated white pine was completely taken over by the invasive plant glossy buckthorn.

Residents and people traveling through Bethel, VT have been witness to a spectacular display of insect webbing.  Entire trees, chain link fences and large patches of ground cover plants are covered with silken webbing – as if someone went overboard with decorations for Halloween.  The scene has prompted calls to the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.