Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Media inquiries: Please contact Dave Neudeck, dave.neudeck@dcr.virginia.gov, 804-786-5053.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 20, 2009
Contact:
DCR offers Phragmites control workshops for Northern Neck landowners Oct. 28 and Nov. 10
(KILMARNOCK, Va.) ? Workshops about controlling a highly invasive plant, Phragmites australis, will soon be held for residents in the Northern Neck. The first workshop will be held on Oct. 28, 2009, at the Lancaster Community Library in Kilmarnock; the second will be held Nov. 10, 2009, at the Belle Isle State Park Environmental Education Center. These free workshops are hosted by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Phragmites is a tall, aggressive, non-native plant that is rapidly replacing native marsh and forest communities. It now covers more than 1,700 acres of habitat in the Northern Neck. As Phragmites spreads, it destroys high-quality wildlife habitat, impedes water flow in drainage ditches, and poses a fire hazard.
The workshops are supported through a grant from the Mid-Atlantic Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species.
The Lancaster Community Library is at 235 School St., Kilmarnock, VA 22482. Belle Isle State Park is at 1632 Belle Isle Rd., Lancaster, VA 22503. For more information, call DCR Eastern District Manager Paul Clarke at (804) 225-2820, or Stewardship Biologist Kevin Heffernan at (804) 786-9112.
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