{"id":81056,"date":"2025-06-17T13:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=81056"},"modified":"2025-06-17T13:27:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:27:25","slug":"conservation-plant-management-crew-makes-progress-battling-invasives-in-pisgah-national-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/outdoors\/conservation-plant-management-crew-makes-progress-battling-invasives-in-pisgah-national-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservation:<\/strong> Plant Management Crew Makes Progress Battling Invasives in Pisgah National Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Crew leader Sam Byars, left, and seasonal crewmember Brendan Gilbert in an infestation of kudzu in the Pisgah Ranger District. Photo courtesy of The Pisgah Conservancy<\/p><\/div>\n

By Emma Castleberry<\/p>\n

The Pisgah Conservancy\u2019s Invasive Plant Management Crew is celebrating a successful first year of tackling non-native invasive species in Pisgah National Forest. \u201cThe Pisgah is the most visited National Forest in the country and it boasts one of the most biologically rich regions of the country,\u201d says Will Coffee, co-lead of the team. \u201cThe beauty and richness of The Pisgah is why so many people are drawn here annually. Invasive plants threaten this wonderful resource, and negative impacts are felt by all who live and recreate here regardless of how they do so. This is why managing the spread of invasive plants is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the invasive species that threaten the forest\u2019s health include oriental bittersweet, kudzu and Japanese stilt grass, which crowd out native plants and disrupt local ecosystems. Co-lead Sam Byars explains that the problems caused by invasive plants, if left unchecked, will slowly cascade through the ecosystem. \u201cReduced plant diversity would result in reduced diversity of insects and pollinators,\u201d he says. \u201cBoth of these factors would result in lower food quality for larger animals. Forest canopies will be affected by a lower regeneration of native trees, resulting in increased water temperatures that will negatively affect brook trout and aquatic macroinvertebrates. These changes will go relatively unnoticed by most people until it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

These environmental changes can precipitate an economic threat. \u201cBiodiversity loss would lead to a slow collapse of our billions of tourism dollars and numerous recreation opportunities,\u201d says Coffee. He uses the example of reduced fishing because of trout decline, less habitat for wildlife which means less birding and hunting, and more storm damage to our scenic landscapes. \u201cWhen our ecosystems are healthy and functioning properly, they act as mitigation tools for drought and deluge,\u201d he says. \u201cAll in all, environmental mismanagement and damage, and loss of habitat equals economic loss that reaches the diner owner, the turkey hunter, the hikers and bikers, the birders and\u2014my favorite\u2014the breweries, because you can\u2019t make good beer without clean water.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pisgah Conservancy\u2019s Invasive Plant Management Crew is a partnership program with the US Forest Service that receives support from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Naventure and donors to The Pisgah Conservancy. Coffee and Byars, along with seasonal crewmember Brendan Gilbert, have treated more than 120 acres of infested land and are in the process of surveying an additional 330 acres for treatment. \u201cSpecific areas that we will be focusing on are small, uncommon and threatened ecosystems, such as high rock outcrops and mountain bogs,\u201d says Byars. \u201cOther areas that we will be surveying and treating will be high-traffic areas where humans frequently visit. Parking lots, trail heads and campgrounds are often the epicenter of invasive plant infestations, because we unknowingly transport seeds from other areas on our shoes and vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team will also have to address aggressive seedbanks in the project areas where they\u2019ve already removed mature parent plants. \u201cWe will be dealing with an abundance of seedlings and some resprouting from extensive root systems,\u201d says Coffee. \u201cThis will require a more surgical approach of removal; hand pulling, spot spraying, using a more trained eye to distinguish native seedlings versus invasives.\u201d Byars adds that addressing invasive species effectively requires a multi-year plan. \u201cComplete eradication is impossible at this point,\u201d he says, \u201ctherefore sustainable management is our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byars also highlights the crew\u2019s ongoing work with the US Forest Service to address areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, which created new opportunities for invasive species to establish themselves in disturbed habitats. He believes that increasing the workforce and continuing partnerships will be essential to effectively managing these areas in the long term.<\/p>\n

To support the crew\u2019s efforts, Coffee urges the local community and visitors to take action by volunteering and spreading awareness. \u201cA healthy Pisgah keeps us all going around here,\u201d he says. \u201cWe invest blood, sweat and tears in this place, and it gives back tenfold.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit ThePisgahConservancy.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pisgah Conservancy\u2019s Invasive Plant Management Crew is celebrating a successful first year of tackling non-native invasive species in Pisgah National Forest. \u201cThe Pisgah is the most visited National Forest in the country and it boasts one of the most biologically rich regions of the country,\u201d says Will Coffee, co-lead of the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":81058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation","category-outdoors"],"yoast_head":"\nConservation: Plant Management Crew Makes Progress Battling Invasives in Pisgah National Forest - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pisgah Conservancy\u2019s Invasive Plant Management Crew is celebrating a successful first year of tackling non-native invasive species in Pisgah National Forest. \u201cThe Pisgah is the most visited National Forest in the country and it boasts one of the most biologically rich regions of the country,\u201d says Will Coffee, co-lead of the team.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/outdoors\/conservation-plant-management-crew-makes-progress-battling-invasives-in-pisgah-national-forest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conservation: Plant Management Crew Makes Progress Battling Invasives in Pisgah National Forest - 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