Knotweed No Match for Youthful Commitment

By Tami Campbell
Stewardship Coordinator

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy teamed up with some young conservationists this summer to battle invasive plants, mark trails and further protect WPC lands. Three teams of young people affiliated with Americorps lived and worked at Bear Run Nature Reserve, Fayette County, and at the WPC Northwest Field Station at Lake Pleasant in Erie County. Americorps National Civilian Community Corps is a national service program for young adults. Teams of 10 to 12 members from a pool of 50,000 travel across the United States serving communities and organizations through education, public safety, health and environmental restoration.

The Bear Run team lived on the reserve for six weeks. They posted the boundary of the 4,743-acre reserve and worked to mark and clear the 20 miles of hiking trails that follow the streams and scale the ridges at Bear Run.

Two teams camped and worked for eight weeks at Lake Pleasant. Both posted WPC property boundaries and removed invasive non-native plants threatening the biodiversity of the glacial lake and surrounding wetlands.
Americorps volunteer Nathaniel Marcum spoke of his team’s battle against the highly invasive Japanese knotweed plant, which invades habitats and chokes out native species. “It (knotweed) was our enemy for the last four weeks at Lake Pleasant,” Marcum said. “It was satisfying as I sweated and sliced down the plants to know that the fruit of our labor is the continuation of a unique habitat.”

WPC is looking for volunteers from Erie County to volunteer for further work at Lake Pleasant. If you are interested please contact Tami Campbell at 412-288-2777 or tcampbell@paconserve.org.

Go to the next story...