You are invited to celebrate Stewardship Virginia at Sky Meadows State Park’s Invasive Species Removal Day May 5, 2012 10:00 am to 2:00 pm!
Volunteers at Sky Meadows State Park removing invasive garlic mustard
Invasive plants may escape cultivation and displace native plant species
Come to the park for a day of volunteering and stewardship. Community members who are looking for a way to give back are encouraged to come out to the park and get involved in our Invasive Species Removal Day. Meet one of our park rangers at the Historic Mount Bleak House back porch at 10:00 a.m. He/she will talk briefly about the invasive species in the park and give instruction on proper plant removal. Then, you’ll spend the afternoon in the park removing some of the invaders while enjoying the beauty of Sky Meadows.
Stewardship Virginia is a statewide initiative that takes place twice a year to help citizens enhance and conserve Virginia’s natural & cultural resources. Our springtime Stewardship Virginia campaign started April 1st and runs through May 31st, 2011; the fall campaign will start September 1st and will run through October 31st. Stewardship Virginia focuses on projects that; enhance water quality, help control invasive species, improve recreational resources, preserve historical & cultural resources, conserve natural heritage resources, offer environmental education, and improve wildlife habitat, and tree cover.
Sky Meadows State Park will be focused on Invasive Plant Species Removal. Invasive Plant Species also known as exotics, non-natives, or non-indigenous plants, are species intentionally or accidentally introduced by human activity into a region in which they did not evolve. Many of these species are well known and are economically important in agriculture and horticulture, such as wheat, soybeans, and tulips. Most species do not become established outside of cultivation and, if they do, they usually have few impacts on natural communities.
Invasive plants, however, escape cultivation and displace native plant species, reduce wildlife habitat, and alter ecosystem processes. Across the country and around the world, invasive plants and animals have become one of the most serious threats to native species, natural communities, and ecosystem processes. They also exact a costly toll from human economies that depend on resources and services provided by healthy ecosystems. Examples include destruction of vast areas of western rangelands, clogging of important waterways, and increased costs in maintaining open power-line rights-of-way.
The two invasive plant species that Sky Meadows State Park will be focusing on are Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculata). Garlic Mustard also known as Garlic Root, Hedge Garlic, Sauce-alone, Jack-in-the-bush, Penny Hedge and Poor Man's Mustard; is a biennial flowering plant in the Mustard family, Brassicaceae. It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa, Iberia and the British Isles, north to northern Scandinavia, and east to northern India and western China (Xinjiang). It was introduced into North America as a culinary herb in the 1860s and has become an invasive plant species in much of the region. Garlic Mustard has been listed as a noxious or restricted plant in the following US states; Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia, and Washington since 2006.
Oriental Bittersweet also commonly called Oriental Staff Vine, Japanese Bittersweet, or Asiatic Bittersweet; is a woody vine that is native to East Asia. It was introduced into North America in 1879. It closely resembles the North American native species, American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), with which it readily hybridizes with.
Interested yet! We would love your help on May 5th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm; enjoy the park while helping make a difference. Both of these species are having extensive impact on local ecosystems; displacing native plant species, and reducing native wildlife. Come learn what you can do to help curve the effects of invasive plant species in your backyard and help clean up ours. The first 50 participants will receive a certificate of appreciation from Stewardship Virginia.
Map and Driving Directions to Sky Meadows State Park here.
Drive time to Sky Meadows State Parkis: Northern Virginia, 45 minutes to one hour; D.C., over one hour; Richmond, two hours; Tidewater/ Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, three hours; Roanoke, two and a half hours. We hope to see you there!