Parks’ commissioners discussed invasive aliens (non-native) plant species in the area at last Tuesday’s meeting, and commissioner and international plant expert Steven Foster introduced the idea of creating a policy for gardening. “We need to have a gardener or gardening program or a policy about gardening and we have never had a policy,” he said. Foster said that a developed gardening plan/policy would consciously help and encourage the public to propagate native plants.
“There is a ground-swell of information and activity in Northwest Arkansas that allows us to begin to coalesce our information and energy and actually develop a real plan going forward,” he said emphasizing that it all starts with the educational process.
Master Naturalist and former Greenpeace senior scientist Pat Costner said there are three organizations in Eureka Springs that can provide Parks and the public with knowledge about how to identify and handle invasive plants; the Eureka Springs Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists, Carroll County Arkansas Master Gardeners, and Northwest Permaculture Study Group.
Foster added that there are mobile apps the public can use to provide awareness of invasive aliens, such as WildSpotter or EDDMapsPro, which geographically map plants for early detection and information distribution.