Home
Upcoming Events
The next TN-EPPC Board Meeting will be in Crossville, TN. Date to be determined.
TN-EPPC will share an information booth with the Tennessee Native Plant Society at the Nashville Lawn & Garden Show March 1-4, 2012.
National Invasive Species Awareness Week is Feb. 26 – Mar. 3, 2012, in Washington, DC. Visit the NISAW website for more information.
News
Nolichucky Purple Loosestrife Inventory Project
The Nolichucky River is a major drainage system in East Tennessee, flowing through National Forests and farmland for 100 miles before emptying into the French Broad River at Douglas Lake. Invasive exotic forb Purple Loosestrife has been discovered along the Nolichucky in several locations, as well as in tributary streams. To get a better understanding of the extent of the loosestrife infestation along the Nolichucky, TN-EPPC is looking for volunteers to help with a Purple Loosestrife inventory along the entire 100 miles of the river in Tennessee from mid-June to mid-July 2012 when the plant is easily spotted in flower. The inventory will involve kayaking or canoeing 10-mile sections of the river to collect photos and GPS-coordinates for any loosestrife spotted along the way. Volunteers will be equipped with a map of the river section, directions to section access points, ID guides, and a field data sheet. They will be responsible for their own canoe/kayak, GPS, and camera. Anyone interested in volunteering, should email Troy Evans to be added to the mailing list. Troy welcomes any thoughts, questions, or suggestions. We will post updates on this project.
TN-EPPC Hires Research Intern
TN-EPPC is excited to welcome Alix Pfennigwerth as our new Research Intern. Alix will be leading a project to help TN-EPPC estimate the cost of invasive plant management to the state, similar to previous estimates made for California. While with TN-EPPC, Alix will develop survey protocol and gather data on how much federal and state agencies, non-profit organizations, and private landowners spend on managing invasive plant species in the state of Tennessee. This data will help TN-EPPC develop a more holistic appreciation of invasive plants’ overall impacts, economic and environmental, in Tennessee.
Alix is a recent graduate of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Tennessee. Her interest in invasive species is rooted in her field and lab research experience with the Ecosystem Ecology Laboratory, the Mycological Herbarium, and the Tropical Greenhouse at UT. She has worked as a mountain bike and backpacking guide with the UT Outdoor Program for the past three years, and served as a youth crew supervisor at Beardsley Community Farm in Knoxville in 2009.
TN-EPPC Outstanding Achievement Award
TN-EPPC received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Exotic Pest Plant Councils at the Natural Areas Conference in Tallahassee, FL, on Nov. 3, 2011. It was the third annual award presented by NAEPPC to an EPPC organization for extraordinary service in furthering the goals of NAEPPC. 
TN-EPPC was the fourth EPPC to form (in 1994), was one of the four founding NAEPPC organizations, and provided framework and support for the formation of SE-EPPC in 1999. Florida EPPC and California IPC were the award’s first two recipients.
US Forest Service Invasive Management Directive
The US Forest Service has just published a “national-level direction on the management of invasive species across aquatic and terrestrial areas of the National Forest System.” According to US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, “Invasive species cost the American public an estimated $138 billion each year. They deplete water supplies, destroy recreation opportunities and damage landscapes across the country. We are taking this bold approach to better protect our nation’s forest and water resources from the threat of invasive species.” The Forest Service has had an invasive species program, but this policy “adds new requirements for agency-wide integration of invasive species prevention, early detection and rapid response, control, restoration, and collaborative activities across all National Forest System lands.” This will allow them to “more effectively manage invasive species in the context of environmental issues such as adaptation to climate change, increasing wildfire risk, watershed restoration, fragmentation of habitats, loss of biodiversity, and human health concerns,” says USDA Undersecretary Harris Sherman. Download the new Forest Service Invasive Species Management Policy.
TN-EPPC’s Potentials List
TN-EPPC is assembling a list of potentially invasive nonnative plants not currently recognized in Tennessee. We encourage people to report any sightings of Elaeagnus multiflora, Ficaria verna, and Youngia japonica to EDDMapS. These species will be examined for addition to TN-EPPC’s Invasive Exotic Pest Plant List at the next revision. Contact us with any additional species recommendations for the Potential Invasive Species Watch List on our Initiatives page.
Japanese Chaff Flower Watch
Flood waters can spread invasive species. Plants such as Achyranthes japonica, Japanese chaff flower, could move downstream from its current center of infestation in Kentucky & West Virginia. Mississippi Embayment states, including West Tennessee, are asked to be on alert for occurrences of this plant in bottomland forests and along riparian corridors. Detailed plant information and photos are available by clicking on the plant name in the adjacent Alert box.
Tennessee Naturalist Program
Tennessee Naturalist Program’s (TNP) pilot course began last fall at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary. TNP is a 10-class adult course on Tennessee’s natural history. A second session is underway at Owl’s Hill, and other locations are beginning chapters across the state. To learn more contact Margie Hunter.
Download the Wildland Weeds Insert of TN-EPPC’s Revised Plant List
 |
TN-EPPC Plant List from Wildland Weeds |
Wolf River Conservancy Win’s Restoration Grant
The Wolf River Conservancy was awarded a $28,000 Five Star Restoration Grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to improve two urban sites in Memphis, TN. One site is owned by Memphis City Schools and the other is part of the Wolf River Greenway being developed by Memphis parks. Objectives are to clean both sites, remove invasive species (including privet), and replant native vegetation. The sites will become part of an environmental education curriculum and community-based stewardship program. TN-EPPC wrote a letter supporting the grant application and will serve as a project partner to offer advice and expertise in the restoration of these habitats. Wolf River Conservancy
TN-EPPC in Tennessee
Our mission is to improve public awareness of the serious threats invasive pest plants pose to natural areas and provide solutions to manage those threats. TN-EPPC is a chapter member of the Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council and the national organization, National Association of Exotic Pest Plant Councils.
Become a Member of TN-EPPC.
Wildland Weeds Available Online
Wildland Weeds, the official quarterly publication of the Florida and Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Councils and all affiliated chapters, is now available online, including all back issues dating to 1997. Articles cover current research, invasive plant biology, ecology and control methodology, taxonomy, impacts of exotic pest plants, and case studies. Wildland Weeds Library