>At its meeting last Thursday, the Austin City Council approved up to $100,000 to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin to oversee creation of a coordinated plan for the way city employees address aggressive, non-native plant species on city managed land. Landscape restoration and invasive species experts from the Wildflower Center will develop the Invasive Plant Species Management Plan over a year to guide a coordinated approach to identifying and controlling invasive plant species that exist on city lands over the next decade.

These landscapes could range from small parcels such as landscaping at the Palmer Events Center to the more than 18,000 acres of city recreational lands, 20,000 acres of Water Quality Protection Lands, and 13,000 acres in the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve that different city departments manage. Wildflower Center staff will develop the plan by conducting meetings to receive input from city employees and non-profit and other organizational stakeholders. Participants will consider the current status of invasive plant species such as Giant reed (Arundo donax) and Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera). They will also help define priority invasive species to control and best practices for their removal.

To learn more about invasive plant species, visit TexasInvasives.org.