Happy Holidays from the New Jersey Invasive Species Strike Team

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday and Healthy New Year!

Thanks to everyone that has donated to the Strike Team this month! If you haven't made a donation yet, please consider a year end donation to support our efforts to nip invasive species in the bud!

Donate Today!

A Decade of Accomplishments:

750,000 Acres Searched, 10,000 invasive species documented, over 2,000 eradicated!

The Strike Team turned 10 years old this year –

help us keep up the fight to protect our natural heritage by eliminating invasive species!

It’s been quite a ride these last 10 years! We’ve always felt that we had the right idea – effective and efficient invasive species management through thoughtful early detection and rapid response to new invasive species – but without the heroic efforts of former Executive Directors, board members, staff, and dedicated volunteers we wouldn’t still be here now. They moved an interesting idea into concrete and measurable conservation outcomes - they defined the Strike Team and their steadfast commitment to the mission continues to define our work today.

Very special thanks to the Strike Team’s former Executive Directors - Melissa Almendinger and Susan Brookman, Board President Jon Wagar, Board Members Emad Abou-Sabe, David Donnelly, Keri Green, Ken Klipstein, Alda Krinsman, Richard Pirrello, Randy Santoro, Theresa Trapp, and Suzanne Treyger and staff members Chris Frost, James Hanson, Rachel Mackow, Melissa Mitchell Thomas and many dedicated seasonal interns.

Now that the Strike Team has settled in its new home under the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, we’re ready to move - along with our many partners - to the next level of protecting New Jersey’s biodiversity through strategic invasive species management. Please take a moment to click through the links below – learn about who we are and what we’ve been up to lately!

As we enter this new chapter in our development, we become more reliant on the efforts of new volunteers and donors.

We cannot do this without your support!

PLEASE BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

Donate today!

Michael Van Clef, Ph.D. Lisa Wolff

Strike Team Program Director FoHVOS Executive Director

Our Mission:

Our mission is to protect special places and rare species by working with the public and our conservation partners to prevent the spread of invasive species across New Jersey.

The Strike Team in a Nutshell

Overarching Goal: Protect New Jersey’s biodiversity

How We Prioritize Our Work:

Eradicate emerging invasive species where ever they are found
Protect rare species habitat and lands with highest conservation values

What We Do:

Serve the entire conservation community by acting as a statewide clearinghouse on invasive species knowledge and tools
Provide outreach and training
Detect and eradicate invasive species

Who We Are: See below for Staff, Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Committee

Our Partners: Nearly 200 organizations with missions that overlap with the Strike Team – we regularly interact and support each other’s efforts to control invasive species. The Strike Team accumulates their individual experiences and knowledge and distributes it across the state to all other partners and the general public.

Start Your Own Strike Team!

One of the Strike Team’s ‘emerging’ strategies is to assist with the establishment of local Strike Teams that are dedicated to the protection of single sites or municipalities. We’ve always offered lots of information about how to identify and treat invasive species. We’ve always provided presentations and outreach events. And we’ve always produced invasive species management site plans. But we’ve never really put it all together with local people dedicated to protecting their beloved natural areas – people ready and willing to implement plans to combat invasive species.

Its incredible to see the amazing results of our partners. In the Strike Team’s early days, we visited and exchanged information with the Friends of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Today, they now have an incredible crew of Refuge staff and exceptionally dedicated volunteers doing phenomenal work. And then there is the unbelievable work of Theresa Trapp of the Hilltop Conservancy along with Essex County Parks - We’ve been consulting and contracting with them for many years, but we had nothing to do with their treatment of over 25,000 stems of Japanese Aralia this past summer – AMAZING! We’ll be highlighting both of these success stories in upcoming newsletters.

This year, we provided a couple of training sessions at the Watchung Reservation to support a partnership with Union County Parks, Rutgers Cooperative Extension and dedicated volunteer Maggie Southwell (she’s knocked out countless invasive species over the years!). They’ve now started their own volunteer Strike Team and are planning a dramatic expansion of invasive species control activities to protect their very special forest. They’ll be developing a strategic invasive species management plan in 2019, which will help guide their efforts moving forward.

Feeling inspired? Please reach out to us, we’re ready and willing to help you start your own Strike Team!

Stay up to date on our website!

Visit the linked topics below for more details

Our Current Projects

United States Forest Service – Developing effective and efficient invasive species management plans with numerous partners and 50 private forest landowners located in New Jersey’s best forests.

Victoria Foundation – Developing effective and efficient invasive species management plans with numerous partners and helping to encourage the next generation of conservationists with the Trust for Public Land and Newark-based United Parks as One.

Morris County Parks – Protecting valuable Highlands forests from our worst newly emerging invasive species.

Morristown National Historic Park – Keeping their minimally invaded forest areas from becoming infested.

Kudzu Eradication Project – Assisting partners toward the eventual statewide eradication of kudzu.

Our Interactive Map

View or download our database for the entire state or any site of interest that has a survey.

Our Info Center

Learn about the invasive species problem and how to identify and treat any invasive plant that you can find in New Jersey.

Outreach and Events

Find out where we'll be next and consider requesting a presentation or workshop tailored to your group.

Get Involved

Together, We Can Nip Invasive Species in the Bud!

Please make a contribution today!

Become a member!

Visit our Website