[APWG] Hog weed encounter and art exhibit on invasive plants in NY

Mon Aug 22 09:21:02 CDT 2005

FYI – From the 8/20/2005 Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Dave

                     Hogweed invasion spreads in Tier
           Greene woman left scarred by incursion onto property

 BY TOM WILBER                                                             
 Press & Sun-Bulletin                                                      

TOWN OF GREENE -- Billie Lynn Begley, a waitress from the Town of Greene,
has unwillingly become an expert on giant hogweed since her painful
encounter with it last month.

 (Embedded image moved to file:        
 pic17861.jpg)[ photo ]                

 Billie Lynn Begley of Greene stands   
 between a clump of giant hogweed      
 plants near her home. Begley cut down 
 some of the weeds about a month ago.  
 She suffered severe burns to her arms 
 and legs after exposure to the weed's 
 sap.                                  

 Photos by WAYNE HANSEN / Press &      
 Sun-Bulletin                          

 (Embedded image moved to file:        
 pic20512.jpg)[ photo ]                

 Billie Lynn Begley's left leg carries 
 the scars from her run-in with giant  
 hogweed.                              

She is now enlightening state and county botanical experts about the
invasive plant towering over her mailbox and menacing her family. It can
cause burns and blindness to people who get in its way, she has learned,
and it is indeed thriving on her and her neighbor's property.

Begley is frustrated that she had to learn all this the hard way, and she
has the scars to prove it.

"Nobody knew about it. Nobody wanted to do anything about it.

Nobody even wanted to come and look at it," Begley said.

Hundreds of hogweed plants, some 9 feet or higher, are surrounding Begley's
home on Route 41. About a month ago, before she knew better, she decided to
try to pull up a few blocking the view from the driveway.

Begley, unaware that the plant has sap that reacts with sunlight, was clad
in shorts and sandals.

"I ripped and tugged away for hours, and I managed to get about three of
them broken off," she said.

Then she went back to mowing her lawn.

The next day, she said, "massive, humongous water blisters" erupted on her
legs and arms. Her doctor treated them with steroids and antibiotics. It
proved effective, although he knew nothing about hogweed. Maybe she was
having a severe reaction to poison ivy, he suggested.

She began suspecting hogweed after her aunt, Valerie Kellogg, recalled an
article about the dangers of the plant that ran in the Press & Sun-Bulletin
last month.

Begley called Chenango County Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The expert there, Rebecca Hargrave, told her she must be confusing the
plant with cow parsnip, which looks like hogweed, but is smaller and less
toxic. Hargrave sent her pictures and information about cow parsnip.

Begley said she also got an incredulous response from officials at the
state Department of Health. They eventually referred her to the state
Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Begley, with the help of her aunt and a friend, Kara Christianson, pushed
on with the investigation.

Finally, on Monday, weeks after her blisters began to settle into angry red
scars, a representative of the state Department of Agriculture drove from
Albany to look at the plants.

The assessment? Hogweed. Lots of it.

It poses a particular hazard for Begley and her children, ages 3 and 8. The
children, seeing what the plant did to their mother's arms and legs, have
heeded warnings to stay away. She also has two dogs. Their fur makes them
more resistant to the toxic sap than humans, but Begley has to be careful
they don't get it on their coats and smear it on affectionate family
members.

"I'm disappointed that our local extension didn't help her," Kennoth
Carnes, who documents the growth of hogweed and other problem plants in the
state Department of Agriculture and Markets, said this week.

It has cropped up in Kirkwood, where residents and the town are waging a
painstaking battle to get rid of it. But the hogweed on Route 41 is the
first documented case in Chenango County, Carnes said. He was unaware of a
patch that the extension removed, with the help of the state Department of
Transportation, along Route 80 in New Berlin in 2003, as reported by a
Press & Sun-Bulletin article at the time.

Now, the question is, what to do about it?

That's mostly a problem for land owners to solve, although the agriculture
extensions in Broome County, and now Chenango County, will provide them
with information, officials said.

"It's not going to be a quick fix," Carnes said. Eradicating hogweed
patches may take years of repeated pesticide application and other methods.
And then there is the problem, as Begley learned, of simply identifying the
plant.

Since the plant favors roadside ditches, drainages and other damp areas,
road crews often tend be the first ones to confront it.

"We need to be more aware of it," said Mary Brophy, an environmental
specialist with the state Department of Transportation.

The Kirkwood Highway Department hired a pesticide applicator to exterminate
hogweed populations along town roads. Highway officials from the state and
the Town of Greene may do the same.

But first, they have to know what they are looking for.

The Town of Greene has a hogweed picture posted in the highway garage, said
Brian Burt, a highway worker.

"We'll do whatever needs to be done," he said Wednesday, although at this
point, he was unsure of what that might entail.

Eradicating isolated pockets of the plant is one thing. With persistent
effort, they can be carefully dug up or poisoned. But exterminating an
infestation that spreads over an acre or more, like the one around the
homes of Begley and her neighbors, is another.

"We'll have to figure that out," Begley said. "And nobody has been able to
tell us."
________________________________________
FYI – From the 8/20/2005 Poughkeepsie Journal.
Dave

Saturday, August 20, 2005
Art exhibit to show invasive plants

CRAGSMOOR — Original artwork showing invasive plants will go on display at
the Conservation Center at the Sam's Point Preserve today.

The preserve is owned by the Open Space Institute and managed by the Nature
Conservancy. The show is also sponsored by the Guild of Natural Science
Illustrators.

The show is titled "Alive in New York — A Growing Invasion." It features
more than 30 watercolors and etchings of invasive plants — foreign plants
that run rampant in the local environment, often to the detriment of native
species.

The show also includes drawings of native plants at risk because of
invasive species, and garden plants that can be substituted for common
invasive plants.

The show will be up until Sept. 25. The Conservation Center near Ellenville
is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. There is a $7
parking fee. Call 845-647-7989 for directions.

Mary Paterson, Public Affairs Officer
USDA Forest Service Highlands Study
GreyTowers National Historic Site
PO Box 188, Milford, PA 18337

phone: 570-296-9625
fax: 570-296-9675
mpaterson at fs.fed.us

Highlands Information & Resources
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/highlands

NY/NJ Highlands Maps
http://www.crssa.rutgers.edu/projects/highlands

Grey Towers National Historic Site: http://www.fs.fed.us/na/gt
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