Advocacy

If you share our deep concern about our park services and road departments' lack of response to the aggressive spread of invasive vines and other species in Montgomery County, MD, send an email to "all county council members at:"

 https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/CCL_ContactForms/ContactCouncil.aspx

Both the National Park Service and Montgomery Parks, a division of the Montgomery County Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC), are underfunded and understaffed with thousands of acres of parkland in their care. They can't do it.  The county needs a cohesive plan to fight the invasive species across the area. And park services need to encourage the communities that use these public treasures to actively remove invasive species in the parks they cannot maintain. 

If you agree, write the county council and  let them know. In general, Montgomery County has no significant program to address the explosive spread of invasive vines and other species overwhelming our area. The county needs to change policies and promote a strong community effort. 

Our Letter to Montgomery County, MD Council Members

Dear Council Members:

Tree Friends United composed of more than 150 Montgomery County residents and allied with other organizations is alarmed about the rampant spread of invasive vines and plants that are destroying our county's trees and natural habitats—and we are turning to you now for help.

The problems are acute in established parts of the county where invasives have been allowed to spread for years.  But their accelerating spread portends the future of our county's parks and lands if not aggressively addressed.

The county maintains a strong tree planting program.  Yet we do not yet offer a significant program to effectively stop the trees' destruction smothered by invasive vines such as porcelain berry, bittersweet, English ivy, and now kudzu.  Parts of our parklands, including along Cabin John Creek and Block House Point, have become thorny seas of invasive plants that threaten hikers, wildlife, and are destroying the native ecosystems. 

The NPS and Montgomery Parks' small invasive plants departments and volunteer Weed Warrior programs can only begin to address these problems. We need to far more!

What the county needs from the Council is:

•   An Invasives Program.  Create a dedicated program to promote and coordinate the removal of invasive plants so that our natural habitat can survive.

•      Funding.  Devote more resources to eradicating invasives on both park and non-park lands bordering our roads.

•      Engagement.  Change policies of park services to actively encourage county residents to remove particularly destructive invasive species such as kudzu, Japanese knotweed, porcelain berry, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry. Signs posted in parklands would educate the public and create the volume of participation required to effectively combat the problems. 

We look forward to your taking action to help restore our county’s natural habitats, and we stand ready to be of assistance.