FOREST FIELD ASSESSMENTS

To provide the Partnership with the data needed to determine where to prioritize NFWF-grant supported invasive management work, the project carried out an extensive, volunteer-supported forest health assessment effort in spring 2024. Project consultants, Wild Ginger Field Services and Ecosystem Services, set out to delineate and map 61 distinct riparian forest management units encompassing 134 acres in Darden, Pen, and Riverview Parks.

Wild Ginger then took the lead in developing a forest assessment protocol and datasheet. RCA recruited more than 30 community volunteers with relevant knowledge and experience and created twelve assessment teams. All volunteers participated in a three-hour field training on the protocol and practiced filling out datasheets. Assessment team leaders were required to pass a test on the protocol and invasive plant identification to help ensure data quality.

In the assessments, volunteers identified which native and invasive vines, shrubs, and trees were present in each management unit at three different height levels (canopy, mid-height, and ground level). They also identified which species were dominant, and determined cover classes for the native species and for the fourteen invasive species of highest concern for the project:

SELECTING MANAGEMENT UNITS

After assessment and quality checks were completed, Ecosystem Services created maps to illustrate the coverage of native and invasive species in the canopy, mid-story, and ground level in each park. The Rivanna Forest Health Partnership used the data and maps, along with agreed-upon selection criteria, to help determine management priorities for each park.

The Partnership focused on management units in each park that had both high native tree canopy and high invasive presence in the canopy in order to prioritize areas where the existing canopy is most threatened by invasives. They also considered factors such as proximity to the river, visibility to the public, access for volunteers and contractors, and ability to protect the management unit from invasives spreading from adjacent parcels. The Committee aimed to select 12 to 15 acres, or 4 to 5 acres per park, across the three urban parks for initial management.

The Partnership also decided to use a hybrid management strategy, with contractors tackling the worst-affected areas and volunteers focusing on high-visibility areas with lower levels of invasion that have the potential to be restored over time to a healthy condition. The goal was to protect existing canopy trees and address invasive species while focusing on community benefits and education.

Next page: Maps