Mt. Riga Invasive Plants

Mt Riga is fortunate in that we have relatively reduced occurrences of invasive plants in comparison with many of our surrounding areas. The following is a quote from our forester Curtis Rand: “One of the reasons that we have done some pretty serious cutting on the Riga forest is the general lack of invasive plants. It is a blessing that comes with large, intact forests with minimal disturbance from imported fill material, roads and general human activity.”

However, in recent years we have seen some invasive plants getting toe-holds on the Mountain. Over our approximately 3,000 acres in CT and 300 in NY most of the areas of observed invasive plant establishment are right along our road edges, and near our camps, or not too far off.

The Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) has engaged invasive plant specialist Dr. Todd Mervosh, who along with Curtis Rand will help with a detailed assessment of our current invasive plant populations, and also will provide options for proposed control and management practices on Mt Riga. This information will be folded into the overall forestry plan.

The ESC is initiating an inventory and mapping program to record and monitor the spread of invasive plant species on Mt Riga. The ESC invites all community members to participate in this effort, and will be providing additional information we proceed.

Again, at this point the spread of invasive plant species is relatively limited, but it is clear from what we can observes in our neighboring lands, that without vigilance, we could lose our precious native plant community balance.

Below is an initial list of invasive plants which have been observed on the Mountain. We expect to add to this list as we do our inventory, and any observations/additions from the community are encouraged.