Report from Annual Meeting
Gary Fish, Maine’s State Horticulturist, was the keynote speaker at the Waldo County Soil & Water Conservation District Annual Meeting on December 14, 2023.
The focus of his talk was to explain the criteria for determining if a plant should be classified as invasive and how the process of selection works. Gary spoke and responded to audience questions for over an hour. He shared numerous slides that showed how to identify many common invasive species and the damage they cause to the environment. He covered a range of invasive plants and animals, including some aquatic species. He spoke with audience members before and after his presentation to answer specific questions related to their farms and personal property. Click here to watch Gary’s presentation.
Mr. Fish also provided copies of Maine’s recently updated “Do Not Sell Plant List.” This newly expanded list includes 30 more plants, bringing the total to 63. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry’s Horticulture Program oversees this process. You can find the list of species, and other information, here.
This popular speaker was the highlight of the evening, and the attendees were very appreciative of his knowledge, approachability, and candor.
Also at the Annual Meeting, we recognized Friends of Lake Winnecook (FOLW) as our “Conservationist of the Year”!
The meeting was held at the Town of Searsmont Meeting Room, which is an excellent facility. People enjoyed refreshments before, during, and after Gary’s talk, and the evening closed with a light-hearted drawing for various door-prizes. Special thanks go to Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, in Belfast, for donating a gift certificate to their restaurant. In order to win this door prize, contestants had to correctly distinguish NATIVE winterberry from the invasive lookalikes. In case you were wondering, it was #3 in the picture above. The others were Asiatic bittersweet and multiflora rose.
This was our first in-person Annual Meeting since before the Covid-19 pandemic. It was really wonderful to have this gathering and a chance to re-connect with Waldo County community and friends. We look forward to doing this again next year when we will celebrate our 80th anniversary!
Marianne McKinney and Medea Steinman also contributed to this article.