The Work Never Ends

FALPS’ Board President Ralph Scarpino and Board Members Erik Landgraf and Tim Deschenes-Desmond spent some time this Holiday season doing some volunteer work in Peoples State Forests.

Ralph and Tim burned invasive Barberry on part of Barnes Lot Road while Erik cleared brush at Gothic \Window off Greenwoods Road.

Japanese barberry is deer resistant and a great competitor in understories where it forms dense thickets that reduce habitat for birds, butterflies and other animals. The dense foliage increases humidity levels within the canopy, leading to higher tick populations. If warming trends continue, the prevalence of both Japanese barberry and ticks in our natural areas can be expected to increase without efforts to reduce its planting and to control wild populations.