Invasive plants are a major issue in Kentucky and beyond, impacting a wide range of habitats from forests to grasslands.   Already there are many different invasive trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and herbaceous plants that cause problems in the state.  In addition, new plants arrive each year.  From recognizing new invasives to best practices in managing current problems, landowners and professionals need more information about invasive plants.

To increase understanding of these issues and facilitate increased communication, I organized and spoke at the Kentucky Invasive Plant Conference on Nov 16, 2021, working with partners including the Kentucky Invasive Plant Council, the Kentucky Division of Forestry, and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.  This conference was offered over Zoom. 200 people registered and 150+ attended live including landowners, land managers, agency officials, professionals, and Extension agents.  CEUs were provided to professionals (e.g. Kentucky Pesticide Applicators). 

Invited speakers from around the country presented on a range of topics, from new research into invasive plant management techniques to success stories with invasive plants. Topics included:

• Breaking Down Barriers to Proactive & Consistent Regulation of Invasive Plants
• Indiana Invasive Plant Regulations
• Native alternatives to invasive plants 
• Selecting Native Species for Disturbed Sites 
• Japanese chaff flower ID and management 
• Lesser celandine ID and management 
• Mile a minute ID and management 
• Reporting invasive species on EDDMaps 

Participants attending the conference were surveyed after the event and 99% said the conference met or exceeded their expectations and 96% said the speakers and topics were good or excellent. 94% expressed interest in attending a similar conference in future years with a mixed preference for in-person (12%) and online (53%) going forward.  All talks in this conference were recorded and are now available online as a playlist for future viewing: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPDr0WSaIO0ERCDpElPz_nQMOe2bsZnMV

Based on this positive response and high attendance, we hope to continue this conference into the future.