By GINA KINSLOW
MAMMOTH CAVE — The Mammoth Cave Rural and Community Development Council has been awarded $155,000 in federal funds to eradicate invasive species, primarily exotics and noxious woody plants such as the “tree of heaven,” Royal Paulownia, Mimosa and other species from several roadways which border Mammoth Cave National Park, Cave City and Park City.
Ruth Pike, RC&D; coordinator, made the announcement Tuesday.
“We will be starting at Cave City and moving into Park City and going around the national park to prevent (those plants) from moving into the park and to protect private woodlands,” she said.
To kill the plants, they must be sprayed, as well as cut down.
“That’s the only way to kill it. You can’t just spray it. You can’t just cut it; it’s really hard to kill,” Pike said.
The RC&D; Council initiated a woodland management plan for their area and included in that plan is a working agreement with the Resources Science Division of Mammoth Cave National Park, which has a long-term woodland management plan that initiated this proactive stance for protecting the woodlands in the park and the surrounding private farmlands, according to the Mammoth Cave RC&D; Council.
The council also said funding from the Transportation Cabinet will pay for actual removal of the species that threaten Kentucky’s woodland industry. Tree of heaven actually emits a toxin in the soil that is poisonous to valued Kentucky hardwoods such as walnut, oak, ash and maple.
Work to remove the plants will begin Oct. 2.
