Page 314 - CityofArlingtonFY26AdoptedBudget

Champion Great Neighborhoods

Goal 2: Expand and Enhance the City’s Image
Objective 2: Develop a Sense of Place
Project Performance Measure(s) Department(s)
CGN Invasive Plant Species • Acres cleared Parks & Recreation
2.2.2 Removal Initiative • Rate of Success
• Overall Satisfaction of Eradication
Summary:

Organic invasive plant material, mainly Chinese Privet Location Acres Acres
(Ligustrum Sinense), is prevalent on hundreds of acres Cleared
within the park system. Left unaddressed, invasive Randol Mill Park 40 0
species such as this will eventually overtake native Crystal Canyon Natural 25 0
plants and trees and create detrimental effects to Area
biodiversity and forest health.
Update:
Eradication of invasive plant material can be very The second phase of goat landscaping land management in
difficult, time-consuming and expensive. The Parks and these areas was completed in January 2025. Staff are now
Recreation Department is tackling these efforts in reviewing its effectiveness and will determine the scope of
various manners. The utilization of equipment for additional clearing operations planned for August–
mechanical removal has been the primary method September.
employed to date. This method is very costly and takes
multiple applications over a multi-year period. This
consists of initial removal with heavy machinery, then
subsequent mow cycles every 12-18 months. This
along with targeted herbicides has had moderate
success.

Recently, Parks and Recreation has utilized grant
funding and employed the use of goats to remove
invasives organically. The goats eat the vegetation,
that spreads the plant and destroys the shoots, which
makes it difficult for them to survive. This method is
also a multi-year effort, with early signs of success. The
advantages to the goat method are restoring strong
nutrient-based soils, accessing areas mechanical
methods cannot and curtailing the use of herbicides.

20