There are currently 75 non-native invasive plants on the Allegheny National Forest. These plants and the pests and diseases that threaten the health and sustainability of America’s forests continues to grow, costing the US more than $120 billion per year. One invasive species has emerged as a significant and rapidly increasing threat to Pennsylvania’s forested Allegheny Plateau region.
Glossy buckthorn is an aggressive invader and prolific producer of fruit/seeds, facilitating avian spread of the plant to new areas. This invasive rapidly overtakes the forest understory and very quickly impedes regeneration of desirable tree species and other native vegetation. There are sizable populations in the southeastern portion of the ANF – primarily in Elk and Forest Counties, with satellite populations in McKean County.
First introduced just 10 years ago, it is estimated that
approximately 50,000 acres of the region are infested with glossy buckthorn. Left unchecked, forestry professionals in the region agree that this invasive has the potential to devastate and forever change the region’s forest composition and health – and eventually all of Pennsylvania’s forestlands – and have an enormous impact on both the hardwood and tourism industries of the region and state.
The Allegheny Forest Health Collaborative (of which the AFA is a member) is working to develop a landscape level strategy to mitigate the spread of glossy buckthorn, while simultaneously working to eradicate the invasive from the epicenter of the outbreak, across the multiple private and public ownerships of the Allegheny region of Pennsylvania.
Effective treatment involves multiple reentry to impacted areas, with herbicide application, mowing, controlled burn, or other proven measures, estimated at a cost of more than $300 per acre per treatment. Professional forest managers familiar with the scope of the region’s issue and experience in treating glossy buckthorn estimate that a successful large-scale treatment project will take at least six years to complete, and cost more than $30 million dollars.
The goal of the project is to implement a cooperative, concentrated effort to identify, contain, control, and eradicate glossy buckthorn from Pennsylvania’s high unglaciated Allegheny plateau while there is still time to prevent catastrophic, long-term forest health and economic implications.
Landowners in the High Allegheny Plateau region of PA with buckthorn infestations are invited to be part of the AFHC’s treatment strategy. Reach out to us at afaaction@gmail.com if you would like contact information to learn more.