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<DIV>Bob:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Probably the most important thing to acknowledge is that where I live and
work, the middle of the Appalachian Mesophytic forest, is a place of
exceptionally diverse and vibrant vegetation. Unlike New England
where I grew up and spent the early part of my forestry career, this area has
never experienced glaciation. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In my work around West Virginia I have ample opportunity to encounter
vast areas with limited vegetative diversity on nearly all levels. This
limited diversity can be the result of multiple causes, including
past land abuses such as: overgrazing, rapacious timber
harvesting, extraction of minerals and fragmentation of the forest
through coal, oil and natural gas recovery activities (which
could equate to parcelization and subdivision in more urban
states) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I agree that in many locations being concerned with invasive species is a
lost cause with little hope for success. Currently, hundreds of
thousands of acres of West Virginia fall into this category. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, in my own experience as a private forester, I have also had the
opportunity to encounter exceptionally diverse and productive areas of
woodland absent of all damaging invasive species. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Being able to experience both conditions on a regular basis has convinced
me of the benefit and value of containing or controlling the spread of invasive
plant species into healthy woodland.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am glad to see that Japanese stiltgrass has a disease killing it
locally but there could also be additional problems to contend with
as several species of native plants appear to show disease
symptoms similar to those found on dying
stiltgrass. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think that it is a comforting idea to imagine that we have large
areas of Federal land like National Forests and National Parks where invasive
species may never be a problem and that examples of intact forest ecosystems of
all types will always be healthy and readily accessible. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, 100% of my work is on private property in an area with one of the
smallest proportions of publicly owned land in the nation and very little
modern information is known about this land or the unique diversity it
contains. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Many private woodland owners that I work with, upon learning about the
unique ecological diversity of their property, choose to undertake management
practices and activities that will protect the diversity of what can
rapidly evolve into an important part of their legacy. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Such a response has only served to strengthen my resolve at the
justification of the expenses incurred along the way. The beauty of
invasive species management is in the beauty created by the absence of
invasive species in an infected site. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As a point of reference. Here at Crummies Creek nearly all invasive
plant control measures are physical or mechanical. Growing medicinal
plants like Goldenseal, ginseng and black Cohosh generally makes the chemical
alternative unattractive. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Russ Richardson</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 6/6/2010 8:57:52 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rlb14@cornell.edu writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Tahoma>Hi Russ</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=tahoma>Nature has a way of restoring dynamic
equilibrium to many ecosystems. How much money did you waste trying to
eradicate this weed? How much money have others spent trying to do the
same with other so called invasive plants that will eventually find thier
niche too, How much environmental damage has been done by spraying herbicides
needlessly? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=tahoma>Bob</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr" id=divRpF394065>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> mpwg-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org
[mpwg-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of ForestRuss@aol.com
[ForestRuss@aol.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, June 02, 2010 11:39
PM<BR><B>To:</B> MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> [MPWG]
Japanese stiltgrass disease update June 2 2010<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV>MPWG:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The disease that was discovered to be killing Japanese stiltgrass,
Microstegium vimineum, in Calhoun County, West Virginia during 2008 and
2009 has spread to new sites. The first signs of disease this year was in
scattered locations starting about May 7. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In areas where the disease was active last fall there was limited
germination of stiltgrass this spring and many plants that have
developed in those areas now show disease signs. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA1.1275843580@aol.com" style="WIDTH: 480px; HEIGHT: 320px" vspace=5 width=480 height=320 DATASIZE="80178" ID="MA1.1275843580" ></DIV>
<DIV>Two years ago this road was completely dominated by stiltgrass that grew
so tall and thick that all the water bars on the road were obscured.
This area was hit by the disease last fall as the seed was starting to
set. The dominant greenery in this photo is black Cohosh and white
aster. Nearly all stiltgrass present at the site is diseased.
Within 100 feet of this photo there is healthy stiltgrass that is almost 18"
tall. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The following three photos were taken in an abandoned field area that had
become a stiltgrass savannah. The site has scattered apple
trees and deer had helped to spread the stiltgrass across the hillside.
This savannah covers more than fifteen acres and showed no signs of disease in
2009.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA2.1275843580@aol.com" style="WIDTH: 480px; HEIGHT: 320px" vspace=5 width=480 height=320 DATASIZE="86322" ID="MA2.1275843580" ></DIV>
<DIV>The trail in the foreground has a heavy cover of sickly stiltgrass.
For several hundred feet of this trail nearly 100% of the stiltgrass plants
are covered with lesions.<BR></DIV>
<DIV><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA3.1275843580@aol.com" style="WIDTH: 480px; HEIGHT: 320px" vspace=5 width=480 height=320 DATASIZE="71587" ID="MA3.1275843580" ></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In some areas the thatch from last year is still easy to find because
there is very little new growth for 2010.</DIV>
<DIV><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA4.1275843580@aol.com" style="WIDTH: 480px; HEIGHT: 320px" vspace=5 width=480 height=320 DATASIZE="90938" ID="MA4.1275843580" ></DIV>
<DIV>There are areas with no living stiltgrass plants and the natives are
taking off.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA5.1275843580@aol.com" style="WIDTH: 480px; HEIGHT: 320px" vspace=5 width=480 height=320 DATASIZE="50768" ID="MA5.1275843580" ></DIV>
<DIV>It appears that the fungus killing stiltgrass can survive a forest
fire. In early April a forest fire </DIV>
<DIV>burned over 20 acres of Crummies Creek including areas where I had
photographed the disease last year. Some Japanese stiltgrass seed
survived the fire and germinated in early May but now nearly all plants are
showing disease signs.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At this time no one has determined the vectors for spread of the
disease but a paper on some of the specifics of the "Bipolaris"
disease has recently been published by Luke Flory of Indiana
University.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Sincerely,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Russ Richardson, Certified Forester</DIV>
<DIV>Crummies Creek Tree Farm</DIV>
<DIV>PO Box 207</DIV>
<DIV>Arnoldsburg, WV 25234</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>