Adirondack Rail Trail users invited to join the fight against invasive plants

Visitors encouraged to use ‘Play, Clean, Go’ approach to stopping the spread

By Gwendolyn Craig

As more bikers and hikers enjoy the scenic views along the Adirondack Rail Trail, officials are hoping to stop the spread of invasive species by spreading a message: “Play, clean, go.”

Brian Greene, program director of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) and a board member of the Adirondack Rail Trail, said it has been great to see visitors from far and wide recreating on the bike path that will eventually link Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. 

“It shows our beautiful Adirondack landscape, but we don’t want people to bring invasive species with them,” Greene said.

The public may be more aware of the boat-washing campaign slogan, “clean, drain, dry,” to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species. “Clean, play, go” is a slogan from the North American Invasive Species Management Association that covers how to stop the spread of invasives from all forms of outdoor recreation from hiking, to caving, to horseback riding. 

Whether you’re coming from Connecticut, New Jersey or Switzerland, Greene said, it’s important to brush off your boots or rinse down your bike before arriving. Some of these practices can help keep species that are not native to the area, and are quick to establish and outcompete native species, from arriving at the Adirondack Park in the first place.

For years, APIPP has documented several invasive species along the rail trail including bush honeysuckle, Japanese knotweed, phragmites, mugwort and purple loosestrife. The Nature Conservancy program has not discovered any new invasive species yet, but it’s something Greene is concerned about and monitoring.

So are others recreating along the rail trail. 

Zoë Smith, a board member of the Adirondack Park Agency, said at a meeting last week she has noticed more invasives cropping up along the parts of the 34-mile path. She asked Megan Phillips, deputy director for planning at the APA, what the agency’s responsibilities are for managing, mitigating and communicating about new infestations.

The agency said APIPP monitors and responds to invasive species in the park.

Smith was particularly concerned about phragmites, also called common reed grass, and mugwort near the Route 86 crossing between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.

Greene said those plants are not new along the rail trail corridor, though he was unsure about their occurrence in the location Smith provided. The species did not seem to appear on iMap Invasives, an online mapping database documenting reports and confirmed sightings of invasive species, in the area Smith had seen them.

But Greene said the two species are documented along the rail trail and are likely not new introductions.

The rail trail corridor goes back over a century and even the trains traveling from Utica to Lake Placid likely brought invasive species with them, Greene said. Invasive species also tend to thrive in disturbed areas, making the rail bed and now the trail, a good place for them to grow.

APIPP and the state Department of Environmental Conservation do some suppression and control of invasive species, especially in environmentally sensitive areas. But phragmites and mugwort, Greene said, are among a group that are too widespread for APIPP to eradicate. 

Now they’re more focused on early detection of any new invasive species. More visitors means more eyes on the trail, but it also means more potential for undesired plants.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Greene said. “That’s why having an informed public that knows about invasive species and that we’re tracking them becomes useful.”

The public is encouraged to report any invasive species sightings on the rail trail or anywhere in the state on iMap Invasives: https://www.imapinvasives.org/. 

Top photo: Phragmites is seen along the Adirondack Rail Trail. Photo by Mike Lynch