Where to go
for information
about invasive
species.
Story and Photos By
Chris Evans
Walking over your fields and
through your woods is one
of the greatest joys of land
ownership. But what if your
property is being attacked
by alien invaders? Believe it
or not, many landowners in
Illinois face this very real problem. You
may be walking one day along a beauti-ful
creek bed, and suddenly realize that
the array of wildflowers you enjoyed in
past years has been replaced by a bland
stand of Japanese stiltgrass. Or the trout
lilies and trilliums in your lovely wood-land
area may be overwhelmed by the
plain, smelly green of invading garlic
mustard. Perhaps your pastures and
meadows are slowly becoming impass-able
thickets of multiflora rose. What
can you do?
Managing invasive species on your
land can be a daunting task. How do
you identify the invasive species on
your land? How do you find out what
methods and equipment are needed to
control them? How can you find the
time and money to deal with the prob-lem?
It all can seem overwhelming. But,
fortunately, there are many places to go
for help in Illinois.
Nothing beats seeing these invasive
species in person to get familiar with
them. May is Illinois Invasive Species
Awareness Month, and there will be
plenty of field days and tours all across
the state to give you the opportunity to
talk with professionals and see invasive
plants first-hand. Be sure to check out
the Awareness Month Web site at
www.illinoisinvasives.org to see a list-ing
of events.
Even after May ends, there will be
invasive species-related events through-out
the year held by state park friends
groups, soil and water conservation dis-tricts,
forest preserve districts and the
Cooperative Extension Service.
Local, cooperative efforts to manage
invasive species are springing up
across the state. These partnerships,
often called Cooperative Weed Man-agement
Areas, bring local groups and
agencies together. They often have
local knowledge about the location of
invasive species and can let you know
which species are likely to be a prob-lem
for you. CWMAs also have educa-tional
programs available, can provide
free advice on the best approaches to
management and can serve as a great
place to start if you have questions
about invasive species or are looking
for direction on the next step to take.
Cooperative Weed Management Areas
can be found in southern Illinois (River
to River CWMA), Quad Cities area
(Quad Cities CWMA), East St. Louis
(Gateway CWMA) and northeastern
Illinois (Northeast Illinois Invasive
Plant Partnership).
Money always is a concern. The
good news is that cost-assistance pro-grams
are available to landowners to
help control invasive species. The best
way to start looking into these pro-grams
would be to contact your county
NRCS office or your local soil and
water conservation district. If you have
invasive species in your woodlands,
you also should consult with a DNR
forester and look into getting a forest
management plan in place. If you have
aquatic invasive species in your ponds
or streams, then a DNR fisheries biolo-gist
or the Illinois Lake Management
Association can provide information on
the methods used for control. (See
sidebar for links.)
Accessing these resources will help
you defeat alien invaders and preserve
the natural beauty and health of your
land.
Chris Evans is the coordinator of the
River-to-River Cooperative Weed Man-agement
Area and is based in Marion. He
can be reached at (618) 998-5920 or
RiverToRiver@gmail.com.
If you don’t own property but enjoy
your local public lands, plenty of
opportunities exist to get involved in
managing invasive species. Consider
joining a volunteer work day to control
an invasive plant. Often state parks, for-est
preserves and other public lands
host these events. If you prefer hiking
through the woods over hand-pulling
weeds, programs such as the New
Invaders Watch Program in northern
Illinois or the Southern Illinois Weed
Watch are always looking for volun-teers
to help survey and map infesta-tions.
Even if you aren’t involved in
one of these programs, you can still
help by reporting any invasive species
sightings to your local DNR biologist or
Cooperative Extension Service office.
Helpful Web sites for
information on Illinois
invasive species
Illinois Invasive Species
Awareness Month: www.illinois
invasives.org
Department of Natural
Resources: www.dnr.illinois.gov
Illinois Aquatic Nuisance
Species Program: www.iisgcp.org/
il-ans
Illinois Nature Preserve Manage-ment
Guidelines: dnr.state.il.us/inpc/
management_guidelines.htm
Illinois Lake Management
Association: www.ilma-lakes.org
Illinois Cooperative Agricultural
Pest Survey Program: www.inhs.
uiuc.edu/research/CAPS
New Invaders Watch Program:
www.newinvaders.org
River-to-River Cooperative Weed
Management Area: www.rtrcwma.
org
Northeast Illinois Invasive Plant
Partnership: www.niipp.net
May 2011 18 / OutdoorIllinois May 2011 OutdoorIllinois / 19
Invasives!WhatNow?
The fragrant aroma of the invasive
garlic mustard makes this a
species even novice volunteers can
assist in eradicating.
Volunteers of all ages undertake
projects to assist in the removal
of invasive species.
Ryan Campbell joined a team of
Green Earth volunteers during a
southern Illinois workday to locate
and remove invasive plants.
(Photo courtesy Green Earth.)
