Parks and Recreation System Master Plan Update (2016) parks_and_recreation_system_master_plan_update_oct | Page 473

1. “Prevention of harmful new introductions by identifying and impeding
pathways for invasive species introduction and spread,
2. “Detection and eradication of invaders that elude prevention,
3. “Long-term management of well-established invasive species” (338).
Metro Parks and Recreation seeks to implement prevention, identification, and
eradication management standards for invasive species.
Invasive Species Management Practice 1: Initiate a public education campaign about the risk of
invasive species to the health of park lands. Just like riparian areas, invasive species
management must contain a public education/relations component that explains the danger of
invasive plant and animal species to Metro Parks and Recreation. This campaign will include
websites, signage, school programs, invited speakers, and other activities, which may include
guided hiking tours, interviews with local television stations, or setting up booths at concerts or
festivals held on Parks properties or throughout the Louisville metro area.
Invasive Species Management Practice 2: Implement a volunteer program for a ground-based
inventory of invasives. To complement the proposed public education campaign, a volunteer
program for an invasives plant inventory would provide Metro Parks and Recreation with an
opportunity to both educate the public about the dangers of invasives but also provide the needed
labor to identify and locate many invasive plants. A similar program has already been started in
Olmstead Parks Conservancy properties and has been very successful. To this end, in 2015, the
Natural Areas division trained five volunteer “Land Stewards” on the use of a Trimble GPS unit
in order to help map zones of invasive plant occurrences. The division maintains a GIS database
of invasive plant zones whereby it tracks annual work and progress to eradicate these invasives.
Invasive Species Management Practice 3: Allow only the planting of native plant species in all
Parks natural resource parks and other properties. As many of the existing invasive species
were actually introduced by Metro Parks and Recreation in the past, it is integral to prohibit the
future introduction of exotic and invasive species into natural resource parks and areas.
Therefore, any future rehabilitation, land easement, or other new plantings will use only native
plant species.
Invasive Species Management Practice 4: Identification of known or likely invasive plant species
in the Louisville Metro area to be used as a knowledge base for Parks employees. Besides
educating the public about invasive species, Parks employees will also be targeted. An illustrated
field guide of invasive plant species identified in Table 6 will be constructed for Parks
employees. Parks employees will be required to identify the location of known invasive species
if invasives are discovered during routine outings or field work. Parks employees will be
expected to report all invasive species sightings to the respective resource manager: Mr. Bryan
Lewis for any Natural Areas Division parks, Mr. Major Waltman for any Olmstead Parks
Conservancy and Ms. Mesude Duyar for the remaining Parks properties.
Invasive Species Management Practice 5: Identification of removal strategies for invasive plant
species. After identifying the location of invasives, a removal strategy must be chosen. Metro
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