City Engineer Robert Phillips, P.E. announced yesterday that City (of Madison) Engineering will fund a second year of work to contain, and eventually eradicate, Japanese knotweed from areas bordering the SW Bike Path. (See earlier blog post on the status of Japanese knotweed along the SW Bike Path.) This year’s funding is a continuation of a two-year project begun last year using the professional restoration services of NES Ecological Services of Green Bay to control invasive plant species along portions of the SW Bike Path.
While last year’s weed control project targeted a variety of pest plant species, the focus of this year’s work will be Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) to devote as much concentrated effort as possible to start to bring this predatory plant under control.
The City’s pest plant control program has the support and encouragement of a collation of Volunteer Bike Path Stewards from five neighborhood associations along this emerging “Bird and Butterfly Corridor.” Tony Fernandez, spokesperson for City Engineering on Bike Path matters, said “It’s great that the volunteers from different neighborhoods are working together and I would strongly encourage continued coordination and organization. Whatever we can do to strengthen the public-neighborhood partnership on this path will benefit path users, adjacent residents and the overall ecological health of the watershed.”
