Environment DEC
From the November 2008 issue
DEC Partners with Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has signed a five-year contract with the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP), an award-winning program focused on detecting and eradicating invasive species such as garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed and purple loosestrife in the Adirondack Park. APIPP is one of New York's regional partnerships focused on the problem of invasive species, which have proliferated throughout the state's waterways, forests and farmlands.
Japanese knotweed takes over roadside areas and habitat near rivers.
Currently, more than 30 invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, garlic mustard, giant hogweed, swallowwort and Eurasian milfoil, have been found in the Adirondack region. Because they typically come from other parts of the world, invasive species such as zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil often don't face natural ecological checks and balances and, therefore, reproduce and spread at alarming rates. Their negative effect is increasing largely due to the rise in global trade and travel.
A national and state award-winning program, APIPP has made presentations, developed public-service publications, produced videos and undertaken other efforts to spread awareness about the ecological damage caused by non-native plants. Volunteers have served as monitors for hundreds of lakes, ponds, rivers and forests and have ripped out tons of invasive plants from Adirondack roadsides. With this new contract in place, APIPP plans on expanding its working boundaries and broadening its mission beyond plants.
Invasive species are one the state's fastest growing environmental threats. Recent invasions in New York State include the Sirex wood wasp, Chinese mitten crab, snakehead fish, rock snot and Asian longhorn beetle. Other invasive species, such as the emerald ash borer, are on the horizon.
