GROUNDS MAINTENANCE/Task force sets out to conquer invasive species

Hillsborough County, Fla., has created a task force to improve the county’s efforts to control invasive (i.e., non-native) plants and vegetation. Named the Invasive Species Task Force, the group consists of approximately 75 people, including representatives from county departments, state agencies, non-profit organizations and residents. The task force, which held its first meeting in February 2002, meets monthly to plan volunteer work days, coordinate the removal of non-native vegetation by county departments and formulate resident education programs.

The efforts of the task force are much needed, according to René Wiesner Brown, task force coordinator and an environmental specialist in the county’s Parks & Recreation Department. “The extent of the invasive species is such that I really can’t stress enough how bad it is,” she says. Brazilian pepper trees, lead trees, Australian pines, skunk vines and air potato vines have spread throughout the county, crowding out indigenous vegetation.

About five years ago, some residents of Ruskin, a city located in the southern part of Hillsborough County, formed The Pepper Patrol, a group dedicated to removing Brazilian pepper trees from common and natural areas. One of the group’s members began researching the county’s policy for removing invasive species and discovered that the county lacked a coordinated plan.

“Many different departments had a role in exotic removal, but [they] weren’t working together,” says Wiesner Brown. “Plus, the departments had all of their other activities that they had to do as well, so invasive removal wasn’t always a focus.”

The resident began writing letters to the county commission, requesting that it create a working group to study the removal of invasive vegetation. Approximately two years ago, the working group was formed, and it recommended that the county create a task force to organize the control of invasive species.

Since last February, the task force has held three workdays: two at the county’s E.G. Simmons Regional Park and one at a park operated by the city of Tampa. At the events, resident volunteers work alongside county employees. For example, at E.G. Simmons Park, employees cut down Brazilian pepper trees with chain saws, and the volunteers dragged the trees to chippers, operated by county staff.

Areas currently under consideration for future workdays include parks, natural areas and libraries. The task force also is hiring contractors to remove a thick batch of Brazilian pepper trees, Australian pines and Lead trees along Marsh Creek in Ruskin.

The task force is working with the Hillsborough County Extension Service to offer a homeowners’ seminar that will detail the problems with invasive species and how to control them. The three-hour seminar will debut within several months and will be offered quarterly.

The Invasive Species Task Force also has applied for a $5,000 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District to provide partial funding for the design and printing of a manual identifying exotic plant species that exist in Hillsborough County. The manual will be distributed to county workers and to homeowners who take the invasive-species seminar.

Over the long term, the task force wants to improve coordination between county departments in the removal of invasive plants. “For example, we want to make sure that if the roadway maintenance crew is trimming Brazilian peppers along a right-of-way, someone is coming behind and spraying the stumps so that they don’t grow back,” Wiesner Brown says. “You might as well handle them all at once.”