For Immediate Release: April 5, 2004
Contact:
Keith P. McKeever | Public Relations | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
RAY BROOK, NY - Directors of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Transportation, the Adirondack Park Agency, the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, and the Invasive Plant Council will hold a press event at 11:00 AM on Thursday, April 8, 2004. The event will take place at Adirondack Park Agency headquarters in Ray Brook, New York.
At this time, officials will renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP), as well as highlight action plans for addressing various ecological, economic, and social impacts associated with these aggressive plants.
The MOU will build upon existing partnerships, strengthen invasive plant initiatives, and secure institutional support for the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, an innovative program for invasive plant prevention, detection, and management involving Adirondack organizations and communities. The award-winning effort, recognized by the Federal Highways Administration for its environmental excellence in 2001, began in 1998 as a pilot project to assess the park-wide distribution of terrestrial invasive plants. It has since added aquatic invasive plant species to its efforts, making it a land and water-based initiative.
Invasive plant species - plants introduced to an area outside of their normal range that become dominant by displacing and out competing native plants - are a major ecological concern in the Adirondacks. Purple loosestrife, Japanese knotweed, and Eurasian watermilfoil are among the worst invaders.
Several partner representatives of APIPP also serve on Governor Pataki’s New York State Invasive Species Task Force and will bring to the event a regional perspective of this prolific problem.