Blue Ridge Parkway VIP Volunteer Event

The Asheville Weed Team is a group of passionate people from many different professions who have joined together in an effort to eradicate the bittersweet vines along the Parkway. Their enthusiasm was evident while we worked alongside them at a volunteer event coordinated by our NPS partner, Nancy Fraley. The event took place on Saturday, September 25th. Around 22 volunteers donated their time and efforts. It was a good experience and we were able to talk to many people who have been in the horticulture and invasive plant removal business for many years.

After dividing up into groups and distributing tools and personal protection equipment (PPE), groups drove out to preselected sites and went to work on the bittersweet. Our site was densely tangled with vines and rose. Autumn olive also had an established presence. We did run into a bees nest at one point and were forced to move down the road and continue.

In the afternoon we were appointed a different site and worked by the on-ramp of highway 74-A where the slope was steep and the vines, thick. It was a good workout walking up and down the slope.

Citizen-times write up: http://www.thesca.org/newsroom/asheville-area-invasive-plant-fighters-pu...