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U.S. Forest Service


The Word is Getting Out About West Virginia's First CWPMA

By Kathleen Goodrich-Arling on Aug 8, 2010

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Sarah Foster, AmeriCorps member working on the Monongahela National Forest, assists visitors at the CWPMA booth

Visitors to a Tri-County Fair gain knowledge about invasive species

The Potomac Highlands Cooperative Weed and Pest Management Area (CWPMA) is still a very new organization. Efforts to get the word out to area residents about the purpose of the CWPMA were expanded with a recent display at the Tri-County Fair in the eastern mountains of the State. The fair, which covers Grant, Hardy, and Pendleton counties, receives thousands of visitors each August so was a perfect venue for the new CWPMA to share information with private landowners about invasive species. These three West Virginia counties, along with Augusta and Highland counties in Virginia, are within the CWPMA, which is a partnership of community associations, non-profit organizations, private land owners and federal, state, and local agencies. The group's mission is to decrease the impacts of invasive species on native plant and animal communities, public and private forests, private and agricultural lands, and local economies.

Lin James, an AmeriCorps member working with the Elkins, WV Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, developed several brochures and hand-outs about invasive species and native alternatives. She also developed an exhibit for the Fair which showcased the top 11 invasive species in the area and the work of the CWPMA. The exhibit was seen by more than 500 visitors and was staffed by AmeriCorps members, staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and members of the Appalachian Forest Heritage Area (AFHA). The AFHA serves as the umbrella organization sponsoring AmeriCorps members for the Monongahela National Forest.

Other recent CWPMA work of note includes the appointment of a coordinator position, to be located at the Elkins office of The Nature Conservancy; a TNC and USFS 2 person team which began treating non native invasives in the area, and work by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to treat Japanese knotweed on private lands within the CWPMA. Overall, the Potomac Highlands CWPMA is off to a strong start and is an excellent example of how the Forest Service is joining forces with many others to make a difference on the ground.