Wayne National Forest Wins Multi-State Garlic Mustard Competition!!

By Rachel Orwan on Sep 9, 2010

The Wayne National Forest took home the championship of the 2010 Garlic Mustard Challenge, for pulling over 19,000 pounds of garlic mustard!

Each spring, green Forest Service rigs can often be seen driving through the Wayne National Forest (Ohio) with the beds stuffed full of black trash bags. These trash bags contain the "green plague" otherwise known as garlic mustard -bane of the woods.

In 2009, Botantists Cheryl Coon and Chad Kirschbaum set up a friendly competition between the Forest Headquarters/Athens Ranger District and Ironton Ranger District to see which group could pull the most garlic mustard. This took place all on one day, with a trophy presented to the winning district. Ironton took the trophy in 2009. Athens Botany Techs stewed on this defeat and vowed to lead their district to a win in 2010.

The in-house competition expanded in 2010 as we learned about a multi-state effort, dubbed the "2010 Garlic Mustard Challenge". By participating in this effort, the Botany crews and volunteers viewed the whole pulling season as a challenge. On the Forest as a whole, over 19,000 pounds of garlic mustard were pulled at 50 events.

The result? Paines Crossing and Eels Run, two Special Areas, are protected from garlic mustard seeding this year. These biologically important areas are home to a myriad of spring wildflowers, with Eels Run typically featured in our Celebrating Wildflower hikes.

Numerous other trailheads, campgrounds, and day use areas, roadside stops, and trails and stream corridors are free of garlic mustard. The pulls involved a number of groups, including high school community development volunteers, university wildlife and ecology club members, and employees. These helpers saw first-hand how garlic mustard impacts an area and chokes out native species.

In addition, folks walking trails or picnicking along the Ohio River also learned about garlic mustard, as they often wondered what in the world we were doing. Hopefully all of the people we talked with and pulled with will take that knowledge home with them and "spread the word, not the weed" among friends and neighbors!

All of those results are very impressive, but, more importantly, the Wayne won the competition! Bragging rights make up the bulk of the prize, but there will also be a travelling plaque showing the Wayne NF as 2010's winner.

Not to be forgotten is Teena Ligman, of the Hoosier and Wayne National Forests, winner of the "2010 Most Valuable Puller" award for her accomplishment of pulling 1,590 pounds of garlic mustard by herself!

Once again, the Ironton District beat the Athens District/Headquarters in the in-house competition. Botany Techs in Athens have renewed their vow to win in 2011.

The 2010 Garlic Mustard Challenge was hosted by the Monongahela National Forest (West Virginia) and the Appalachian Forest Heritage Area.

Rachel Orwan was a Biological Science Technician on the Athens District at the time of this competition.