By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tree-of-heaven has long been adored for its fern-like leaf structure. Purple loosestrife has been coveted by gardeners as a prized perennial. Russian olive and Siberian elm were once seen as good ground cover.

While they may look good in appearance and their names sound appealing, they’re undesirable to forest experts in Ohio. In fact, nearly $1 million in federal landowner assistance funds and technical advice from a forester is available in a 22-county area in central and southeastern Ohio for woodland owners interested in controlling invasive species.

“Why grow a weed when you can grow an oak tree?” said Andy Ware, assistant chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Forestry. “Throughout southwest Ohio you’ll find that Asian bush honeysuckle is taking over the under the land and soon we won’t see native spice bushes that have a lot of value. More importantly, these invasive species squelch the regeneration of good hardwood species like oak.”

“Invasive plant” is the name given for a species that has become a weed pest, a plant which grows aggressively, spreads and displaces other plants. Invasive plants tend to appear on disturbed ground, and most aggressive plants of this kind can actually invade existing ecosystems.

Invasive plants are generally undesirable because they’re difficult to control, can escape from cultivation and can dominate large areas. Invasive plant infestations can be extremely expensive to control, as well as environmentally destructive.

And looks can be deceiving. The fragrance of the honeysuckle and the plant’s appealing orange and white flowers may seem attractive at a distance, but a closer inspection finds that these invasive plants thrive beyond their natural range of dispersal.

According to Ware, these plants are characteristically adaptable, aggressive and have a high reproductive capacity. Their vigor, combined with a lack of natural enemies, often leads to outbreak populations. Invasive aquatic plant species are included. Foresters like Ware have concluded that these invasive species are detrimental to forests throughout Ohio and action should be taken to control the invasive plants.

“We in Ohio have some of the most amazing and valuable hardwood around,” he said. “Ohio is in the middle of the central hardwoods. People purchase timber from Ohio and timber from this state goes all over the world.”

According to a recent report from the United State National Arboretum, invasive plants cause billions of dollars in damage annually to the environment, forestry, agriculture, industry and recreation.

“Tree-of-heaven, for instance, is worthless to man and wildlife,” Ware said. “When you could have a nice, mixed woods that’s providing acorns or nuts to wildlife and producing nice timber, it then makes sense to get rid of the weeds and replace them with healthy native species.”

And, Ware adds, it’s not too late to start rejuvenating forests in Ohio and elsewhere. “If you open up a forest in the right way and remove these invasive species, you’d get rejuvenation of native hardwoods,” he said.

The participating counties in Ohio include Adams, Athens, Champaign, Clark, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Madison, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Scioto, Ross, Vinton and Washington.

Annemarie Smith, an invasive species forester based in Athens, is available to meet property owners with five or more acres of wooded land in the targeted 22 counties. Smith can assist landowners with plant identification, ways to address an infestation of weedy invasive plants, including treatment and control recommendations, and on how to qualify for federal cost-share assistance funds provided by the National Resources Conservation Service through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program.
In addition to working with landowners directly, Smith and other ODNR foresters will assist landowners through education and outreach.