Nuggets for knotweed!

Puddles the Blue Goose with
Devin Gill. Puddles is the symbol of the
Service's National Wildlife Refuge
System. Credit: USFWS

Our West Virginia field office recently teamed up with McDonalds and the Potomac Highlands Cooperative Weed and Pest Management Area to educate Randolph County residents about the negative impacts of non-native, invasive plants like Japanese knotweed on their property and on broader landscapes.

"It was a great success!" says Devin Gill, AmeriCorps volunteer with the West Virginia office. "We spoke with many individual restaurant-goers at our booth, and informational hand-outs were passed out by the McDonald's staff on food trays and in to-go bags. They had extras at the end of the day, and I've heard that they continued distributing hand-outs on subsequent days until they were all gone. A successful event and a great partnership for our office!" 

Puddles cutting a stem of Japanese knotweed. Credit: USFWS

The local paper also covered the outreach event.