Open Letter to Congress: Control of Asiatic Wavyleaf Basketgrass, Oplismenus hirtellus undulatifolius

Asiatic Wavyleaf Basketgrass, Oplismenus hirtellus undulatifolius
Habitat Conservation
Wildlife and Heritage Service
Maryland Department of Natural Resources

We, Alan Ford amford@acm.org 703.732.5291, Virginia Native Plant Society, and Marc Imlay, Conservation biologist, ialm@erols.com 301-283-0808h, 301-442-5657c Maryland Native Plant Society, on behalf of the organizations and their members listed below, request $5-10 million funding to detect and treat Asiatic Wavyleaf Basketgrass, Oplismenus hirtellus undulatifolius in Maryland and Virginia. The only hope we have to save 10% of the natural environment in 1/4th of the United States is emergency federal, state and county legislation and non-profit funding. It is spreading very rapidly this year and covers all our woodland habitats like astroturf, killing all the other herbaceous plants. It is far worse than Japanese Stiltgrass which already is a monoculture over 10% of the national parks in this region. It forms a dense carpet of hundreds of acres after 5-10 years if not controlled. So far it is only in Maryland and Virginia so we still have a chance to contain it. 

The funds could be administered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, State of Virginia, and U. S. Department of the Interior for detection and removal of Wavyleaf Basketgrass by Federal, State and County agencies and on private lands such as Piedmont Environmental Council and The Nature Conservancy at the known sites and other sites in Maryland and Virginia.

We request that a portion of this funding be included in the current Virginia, Maryland and Federal omnibus spending packages. We request additional funding be included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The next stimulus package is a good option since the proposal is ready to go for work starting in April each year.  Please contact Alan Ford amford@acm.org 703.732.5291, Virginia Native Plant Society, and Marc Imlay, Conservation biologist, ialm@erols.com 301-283-0808h, 301-442-5657c Maryland Native Plant Society for more information,

Adkins Arboretum

Anacostia Watershed Society

Ancestral Knowledge

Appalachian Cherokee Nation

Chesapeake Natives, Inc

Community & Environmental Defense Services

Earth Charter

Earth Sangha

Friends of Lower Beaverdam Creek

Friends of Patapsco Valley & Heritage Greenway

Herring Run Watershed Association

Invasive Plant Control Inc

Maryland Academy of Science

Maryland Alliance for Greenway Improvement and Conservation (MAGIC)

Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Maryland Conservation Council, Inc. 

Maryland Native Plant Society

Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council,

Patuxent Riverkeeper

Piedmont Environmental Council

Reston Association

Southern Maryland Audubon Society, Inc

Straughan Environmental Services, Inc.

Virginia Native Plant Society

Washington Quaker Workcamps

William Penn House

Please contact your local, state and federal senators and representatives for Maryland and Virginia and surrounding states from South Carolina to Massachusetts, west to Missouri and Minnesota.

Contact information for Maryland:

Senator Benjamin Cardin

PHONE: 202-224-4524 (DC office)
FAX: 202-224-1651 (DC office)

Senator Barbara Mikulski

PHONE: 202-224-4654 (DC office)

FAX: 202-224-8858 (DC office)

Bartlett, Roscoe, 6th

Phone: 202-225-2721

Fax: 202-225-2193

Cummings, Elijah, 7th

Phone:   202- 225-4741

Fax:   202- 225-3178

Edwards, Donna F., 4th

Phone: 202-225-8699
Fax: 202-225-8714

Hoyer, Steny H., 5th

Phone: 202- 225-4131
Fax: 202- 225-4300

Kratovil, Jr., Frank M., 1st

Phone: 202-225-2721

Fax: 202-225-2194

Ruppersberger, Dutch, 2nd

Phone: 202-225-3061

Fax: 202-225-3094

Sarbanes, John P., 3rd

Phone: 202- 225-4016
Fax: 202- 225-9219

Van Hollen, Chris,8^th

Phone: 202- 225-5341
Fax: 202- 225-0375

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