Page 89 - CityofArlingtonFY26AdoptedBudget

Business Plan

Strengthen Our Communities

Foster Healthy and Attractive Neighborhoods
Project Performance Measure(s) Department(s)
Invasive Plant Species Removal Parks and Recreation

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
species such as this will eventually overtake native plants Crystal Canyon Natural Area 25
and trees and create detrimental effects to biodiversity
and forest health.

Eradication of invasive plant material can be very difficult,
time-consuming and expensive. The Parks and
Recreation Department is tackling these efforts in various
manners. The utilization of equipment for mechanical
removal has been the primary method 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 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.

FY 2026 Proposed Budget and Business Plan 83 City of Arlington, Texas