Southern Indiana Cooperative Invasives Management has worked alongside the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to combat invasive plants and raise public awareness of the devastation caused by these non-native pests.

It became clear the problem of invasives must be addressed at the local level through local people using local resources. To coordinate efforts, SICIM and the NRCS signed an agreement to develop local Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas throughout Indiana.

SICIM then created the Indiana Invasives Initiative project to implement the agreement. Through the III project, a team of six regional specialists employed by SICIM actively work at the county level with local conservation agencies to develop new CISMAs and provide technical assistance to landowners.

Included in this technical assistance to landowners is free invasive plant surveys. Many landowners have noticed that non-native invasive plant species are overtaking their lands, crowding out native plants and making it difficult for wildlife to thrive.

The good news is you do not have to face these battles alone. Anyone who owns or manages land will have to deal with these plants. The regional specialist for your area will come to your property and identify invasive plant species, write a brush management plan and give you information on how to best control the invasive species specific to your property.

Kaila Knies, the regional specialist serving Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Gibson, Harrison, Jackson, Lawrence, Orange, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Washington and Warrick counties, is now starting to book landowner surveys for 2021.

All social distancing protocols will be followed. If you would like to schedule a survey, contact Knies by email at [email protected].