Barriers in place at East Twin to thwart ‘Godzilla of invasive plants’

Rich Haupt helped install a barrier under the Isola Bella bridge, the latest step to curb the spread of invasive hydrilla.
Erica Cohn
Rich Haupt helped install a barrier under the Isola Bella bridge, the latest step to curb the spread of invasive hydrilla.
SALISBURY — In mid-April the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), at the urging of the Twin Lakes Association (TLA), placed a line of boulders at the state boat launch to prevent trailered boats from accessing East Twin from that location.
They didn’t stay put for long.
Within a few weeks, unknown individuals had moved the hefty rocks aside, “presumably to allow boaters to launch there once again,” the TLA noted in its recent newsletter, and as evidenced by tell-tale tire tracks leading to the water.
Alerted to the boulder breach by the TLA in late April, DEEP officials returned to the state boat launch on May 6 to put them back into position, this time burying them deep into the ground to deter movement.
“This launch was never intended to be used by trailers, is unimproved and has been returned to its original use as committed to the TLA in 1991 by the state, for car-top carrier boats only,” such as kayaks and canoes, explained Grant Bogle, the lake association’s president.
He noted that in 2020 the boulders were removed by the state to provide greater access for handicapped boaters, which led to a “significant increase” in trailer access and parking issues in recent years.
“In addition, we believe hydrilla was brought in via boat at the state launch,” as well as the nearby O’Hara’s Landing Marina, where patches of the invasive plant were discovered last summer, said Bogle.
The findings made East Twin the first of about a half dozen Connecticut lakes to become infested with the aggressive hydrilla variant which has been wreaking havoc on the Connecticut River for several years. Its discovery prompted rapid response by the TLA and a coalition of scientists, biologists, environmentalists and state and local lawmakers to stop the non-native plant from overtaking Twin Lakes and contaminating other bodies of water.
“Hydrilla is the Godzilla of invasive plants,” said Bogle, noting that it is the responsibility of everyone who uses the lake to become its guardians.
“It is very aggressive and will outcompete native species,” he explained. Scientists describe hydrilla as one of the “world’s worst’ aquatic weeds.
“It alters the oxygenation and chemistry of lake systems, which may negatively impact fish and other native lifeforms,” noted Bogle. “It forms thick mats that are nearly impossible for boats to traverse, and there is a risk that wildlife like bald eagles, which are present on Twin Lakes, may ingest hydrilla which may contain a neurotoxin that can be fatal.”
The state boat launch was sanctioned years ago as an entry point for roof-top vessels, and the threat from hydrilla prompted the TLA to ask the state to restore that status and return the boulders to ensure that all boats entering the lake from a single point can be monitored.
A boat launch monitoring program is now in place at O’Hara’s Landing Marina under the direction of the TLA and the town. The goal of that effort is to greet boaters and alert them to the hydrilla threat, distribute educational materials on best practices for preventing spread of the invasive weed, and make a visual inspection of boats entering and leaving the marina.
Other measures are in place this year to suppress hydrilla growth as it begins, typically in June.
TLA board members Rich Haupt and Russ Conklin recently installed a barrier under the Isola Bella bridge. The modestly lit “limno” barrier, with its neon yellow float holding it in place, is designed to keep hydrilla fragments from following the natural current from the northeast cove, where the invasive plant has been identified in multiple places, to the northwest cove.
While lake association officials recognize that the barrier, which they said will not impact natural lake rhythms, is an inconvenience as it blocks passage for kayaks, canoes and swimmers, it is only a temporary fixture until hydrilla is under control.
Earlier this month a team of scientists, joined by TLA directors, toured the lakes to assess the hydrilla threat and discuss treatment strategies. While no hydrilla was found this early in the season, there was agreement that it will begin to show itself by July.
Keith Hannon of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers noted that he is running six pilot tests of herbicides in the Connecticut, and initial data will be available by the end of the year.
Bogle suggested that those who doubt the challenges posed by hydrilla view a video released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showing the damage that it has done to significant parts of the Connecticut River as well as an article in the science journal Invasive Plant Science and Management, which offers new insights on hydrilla verticillata, also known as water thyme, taking root outside the Connecticut River including East Twin Lake.
Jeremiah Foley, an assistant agricultural scientist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) and lead author for the study, noted that “The discovery of Hydrilla verticillata and its subspecies lithuanica in the Connecticut River, and the breadth of the current infestation represent a significant ecological invasion event with potentially far-reaching implications.”
Both the video and research paper are posted on the TLA website, www.twinlakesorg.org.
Join The Lakeville Journal for a community celebration, featuring local nonprofits and businesses, festive family fun, great food, and engaging activities.
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Cobbler n’ Cream
5 to 7 p.m.
Freund’s Farm Market & Bakery | 324 Norfolk Rd.
Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Cocktail Party
5 to 7 p.m.
Douglas Library | 108 Main St.
Canaan Carnival
6 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Boot Drive
8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
North Canaan Fire Co. | 4 E. Main St.
3rd Annual Fly-In
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Triumph Airfield | 547 W. Main St.
Canaan Railroad Station Museum
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Canaan Union Station
New England Accordion Connection
9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Canaan Union Station
Canaan Carnival
3 to 10 p.m.
Bunny McGuire Park
Berkshire Resilience Brass Band
5 to 8 p.m.
Canaan Union Station
Barbecued Chicken Dinner
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St. Martin of Tours | 4 Main St.
Canaan Fireman’s parade
6 p.m.
Rosa setigera is a native climbing rose whose simple flowers allow bees to easily collect pollen.
After moving to West Cornwall in 2012, we were given a thoughtful housewarming gift: the 1997 edition of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” We were told the encyclopedic volume was the definitive gardener’s reference guide — a fact I already knew, having purchased one several months earlier at the recommendation of a gardener I admire.
At the time, we were in the thick of winter invasive removal, and I enjoyed reading and dreaming about the trees and shrubs I could plant to fill in the bare spots where the bittersweet, barberry, multiflora rose and other invasive plants had been.Years later, I purchased the 2011 edition, updated and inclusive of plants for warm climates.
On the cover of the new edition, a quote from Adrian Higgins of The Washington Post boasts, “Michael Dirr is the oracle of ornamental horticulture. I trust his judgements implicitly.”I heartily disagree with Mr. Higgins:I blame this book — and my poor use of it — for some of my worst tree and shrub choices.
I realize some readers might find this declaration inflammatory. The book still occupies a place of high regard among experienced and novice gardeners alike, so please allow me to explain.
In addition to giving the reader his opinion on the aesthetic worthiness of the woody plants included in the book, Mr. Dirr makes good on the book’s title with a review of each species’ hardiness. What makes a tree hardy?It thrives in its intended site, resisting disease with leaves and bark not readily eaten by insects and other critters.
Non-native plants make up the majority of the recommended hardy plants in the book.And here is why:Native trees and shrubs are, by evolution’s design, food source and host to our native fauna — critters large and small. There is no substitute equal to the fauna’s co-evolved flora.A native caterpillar cannot eat a kousa dogwood leaf, as it has not evolved to digest it.Non-native plants seemingly have the advantage if the lens we look through values pristine, uneaten leaves.
In the days when there were sufficient thriving ecosystems to maintain local habitats, a non-native specimen tree here and there was just fine.But where we live in Northwest Connecticut, our woods, meadows, marshes and other natural areas have, for a couple of decades, been severely compromised by invasives that have almost entirely removed the food sources for native insects. It is up to us — now — to plant native plants to save the food chain.Without insects, not only will native animals die, but human food sources will also be at risk.
The security of our food pipeline seems a worthy exchange for some caterpillar-eaten leaves — and to be clear, we’re not talking about non-native infestations such as spongy moth, but rather native caterpillars, which are the singular food source for nesting birds.
My issue is that, in being a trusted source for plant selection, Dirr’s book should give equal — if not prioritized — space to information on ecological impact.For example, it would be good to know when selecting a tree, that a native oak provides food and other ecosystem services to more than 400 native animal species, while a native tulip poplar supports fewer than 30 — though that includes the Eastern tiger swallowtail. Including information on the birds and insects attracted to a given plant would enable reader to weigh these factors in choosing what to grow.But this information is not mentioned at all.
Dirr makes no mention of the role some of these plants have played in the degradation of our natural areas — an omission that is highly relevant, as many of the plants featured in his book are, in fact, invasive culprits. Plants like barberry, porcelain berry and tree of heaven are showcased for consideration alongside native plants without recognition of the devastating infestations they can manifest. Tree of Heaven is now responsible for hosting the spotted lanternfly, which is devastating crops.
Similarly Euonymous alatus (winged euonymous) and Actinidia arguta (hardy kiwi) — two highly invasive plants touted in the book — have been banned or are close to being banned for sale from nurseries in the state of Massachusetts. To his credit, Dirr does point out the invasive nature of Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet), calling it “a terrible and devastating escapee that terrorizes floodplains, fencerows and even open fields, reducing native vegetation to rubble.” Yet Japanese honeysuckle gets an understated warning, with Dirr describing this massively invasive shrub as “bullying their way into understory and open areas.”
The latest edition of Dirr’s book devotes seven pages of copy and photos to various Berberis species, about which Dirr waxes poetic. He notes the addition of “30 new cultivars” in the latest revision and complains that “this species is under assault for its aggressive invasive nature.” He refers to Berberis thunbergii — Japanese barberry, the most invasive of them all — as “the species of major importance in garden commerce.” This plant has already been outlawed for sale in New York, Pennsylvania, New Hamphsire and Maine.A few weeks ago, a bill was passed in Connecticut recognizing the harm of a broad group of invasive plants. Under this new legislation, barberry will be phased out from sale or transport by October 2028.
In understating the invasive nature of many non-natives and de-prioritizing the importance of native species, Dirr’s widely used reference may be partly responsible for many a devastated woodland, forest, meadow and marsh in New England — if not across the U.S.Certainly, the evolution of species, and scientific knowledge about the environment, is changing faster than new editions of books can be printed. I can only hope that if a new edition of Mr. Dirr’s reference book is in the works that it will account for this criteria we now know to be vital in plant selection.
Which brings me back to that quote on the cover from The Washington Post and the larger issue it suggests:Should “ornamental horticulture” get a pass when it comes to ecological survival?I think we can agree — it should not.The consequences are simply too destructive.
Dee Salomon ‘ungardens’ in Litchfield County.
Foxtrot Farm & Flowers’ historic barn space during UAW’s 2024 exhibition entitled “Unruly Edges.”
Art lovers, mark your calendars. The sixth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) returns July 17 to 21, with an exciting lineup of exhibitions and events celebrating the cultural vibrancy of the region. Spanning eight counties and over 130 venues, UAW invites residents and visitors alike to explore the Hudson Valley’s thriving creative communities.
Here’s a preview of four must-see exhibitions in the area:
1. Wassaic Project (37 Furnace Bank Road, Wassaic)
“So It Goes” is a powerful group exhibition curated by Eve Biddle, Bowie Zunino, Jeff Barnett-Winsby, and Will Hutnick. The title, drawn from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five,” signals a reckoning with how we process the horrors of the world. Through play, reflection, and immersive scale, 43 artists respond with urgency and imagination. Installations can be seen throughout the town of Wassaic at Maxon Mills, Gridley Chapel, and Luther Barn, each space transformed by this deeply thoughtful show.
2. Foxtrot Farm & Flowers (6862 Route 82, Stanfordville)
“Queer Bestiary,” a group show curated by Charlotte Woolf, is inspired by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian’s book “Forest Euphoria.” The exhibition investigates queer ecology and human relationship to land through the work of 10 artists using painting, sculpture, textiles, and photography. The exhibit is accompanied by a variety of interactive experiences including tattoo pop-ups, karaoke, book readings, and pick-your-own flowers.
3. ChaShaMa North/ChaNorth (2600 Route 199, Pine Plains)
ChaShaMa North (ChaNorth) will have open studios all weekend and has partnered with Paradice Palase, a platform for emerging artists, to mount a site-specific sculpture exhibition featuring 20 artists entitled “Alone, You Are Heard.” On Saturday evening, July 19, stop by for Weird Music Night for an audio-visual synthesis of experimental music, performance art, and unexpected happenings. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an eclectic lineup of acts that redefine the boundaries of performance.
4. Millbrook Arts Project(3 Friendly Lane, Millbrook)
The Millbrook Arts Project is hosting a curated exhibit entitled “Generated Utility” at the newly renovated gallery at the village library. The exhibit will feature the work of artists Natalie Beall and Kathy Greenwood. Additionally, visitors will have access to 12 open artists studios across town. The weekend culminates in a free outdoor concert on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at the Millbrook Bandshell. Enjoy the Indie-Folk sounds of Strawberry Runners and She Keeps Bees.
For more information and a complete list of participating artists and locations, visit: upstateartweekend.org