Fairfax County is expanding the Early Detection, Rapid Response (EDRR) Program
Photo: Courtesy of Fairfax County Park Authority, Wavyleaf Basket Grass
In an effort to combat newly arriving and not yet established invasive species, Fairfax is hoping to find
people willing to survey parks and map certain invasive species (and when practical remove them).
Surveyors would begin by joining workdays led by FCPA staff and experienced EDRR volunteers before
having the opportunity to go out on their own or in small groups to their local parks. Some of the species
currently being actively hunted are Wavyleaf Basket Grass, Incised Fumewort, Two horned water
chestnut and Leatherleaf Mahonia to name a few. The whole list is here:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/invasive-management-area/early-detection
You don’t need to be able to recognize all of them, generally a park survey just involves looking for 1 or
2 species that have been reported in an area and recording their presence on EDDMaps or iNaturalist.
Several work dates have been scheduled: From 1:00 to 3:00 on April 10, 11, 17 & 18 at locations to be
determined.
Contact: Jas Darby: [email protected] for more information.
To sign up for one of the dates use this link:
https://volunteer.fairfaxcounty.gov/custom/1380/opp_details/179794
FMN’s can log hours under Citizen Science programs for FCPA [C109] if your time is spent mapping or under Invasive Plant Management [S108] for time spent removing invasive plants.