Contractor spraying herbicide on kudzu patch on private land adjacent to Crown City Wildlife Area and Wayne National Forest

“I didn’t know it could grow this far north.”   It’s surprising, but true.  Kudzu grows in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania.  It doesn’t grow as fast in Ohio as it does in Alabama, but it manages to kill Ohio trees, hide buildings and cover plenty of acres.  As global climate change leads to more hot days in the northern states, kudzu will be able to move faster.

The partners of the Iron Furnace Cooperative Weed Management Area are working to control the kudzu now, while the populations are still scarce, so it never becomes the problem in Ohio that it has been in the southern states.

The Iron Furnace Cooperative Weed Management Area has brought together a group of agencies, private businesses and individual families with the mission of protecting a portion of southern Ohio from invasive plant species.  The biggest local landowner is Wayne National Forest, a leader in the partnership.  The Forest is recognized as an Important Bird Area and is home to the endangered running buffalo clover.

Landowners often say they’ve tried to kill the kudzu, but gave up after repeated attempts.  Effective herbicides and timely follow-up treatments make it possible to kill kudzu.  The Partners for Fish & Wildlife program hires contractors who can provide those two important elements.

In many situations, kudzu grows across property boundaries.  Because it grows so fast, a half-killed patch might be as big as an untreated patch after a single season.  Eliminating the patch requires coordination among landowners.  In Lawrence County, Ohio, the managers of a State Wildlife Area have worked to control the kudzu on their property.  On the other side of the fence, a private landowner threw up his hands after trying for years to remove the kudzu.  Private Lands Biologist Kristin Westad developed an agreement with the landowner to have a private contractor treat the kudzu.  This eliminates a problem for our colleagues at the State Wildlife Area, and for the trees on both sides of the fence.

So far, the USDA Forest Service, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio Department of Transportation, 2 families, a mining company and the Partners for Fish & Wildlife program have all participated in removing kudzu from the Iron Furnace region.  The partnership is developing plans to treat several more patches next year.  Together, we can prevent kudzu from dominating northern states.