>>The most challenging invasive we have here is probably the wisteria.

It's almost like following a spaghetti noodle all the way down to the ground.

It's very hard to actually find the bottom of the vine to cut.

>>The friends of the Lower Appomattox River is a community organization.

We started 20 years ago to work on the conservation and protection of the river, to really reclaim that land for people, for wildlife, for native plants (laughing).

>>We have been facilitating the creation of a 25-mile long trail, called the Appomattox River Trail.

It will meet up with the Capital Trail, and with the Fall Line Trail.

So here we are in Petersburg, in the very middle.

>>So you still got some connecting to do?

>>Yes, we do, we've got pieces to put together.

>>Can you please tell us what we have going on here at the entrance of this trail?

>>We have a native plant garden here.

They're bustling with our native pollinators, like bumblebees.

We have monarda, goldenrod.

We leave the seed heads so that they can feed the birds with the seeds in the winter.

>>Yes, the pollinators are very happy.

They're very, very busy in this garden today.

>>Yes, I love to see it.

>>And about the trail itself, can you tell me what people expect to see here when they come?

>>On this section of the trail, you'll see beautiful views of the river.

You'll see lots of birds, wildlife.

We have some historic areas.

We're standing on the foundation of buildings that are no longer around, but you'll see stone walls that used to hold up those foundations.

>>Yeah, I understand that it's been a lot of work to be able to uncover everything that we now and can enjoy.

So can you tell us a little bit about the bad, as opposed to just the good?

>>Yes, yes, we do invasive plant removal.

Invasive plants have an advantage over our native plants due to their aggressive growth, and not having any predators.

Where a native species have lots of predators that like to chew on them, the invasive plants go by scot-free, without any predators at all.

So they can take over these natural spaces- >>Quickly.

>>And part of what we do with volunteers is we remove invasive species, so that we have higher survival rates of our natives, and help the population of the native species going all the way up the food chain.

>>Now can you show me the trail?

>>Yes, let's take a look at the invasives that we're dealing with.

>>(laughing) Yes.

I see that you have clipped something, can you explain what you have in your hand?

>>Yes, this is tree of heaven.

The scientific name is Ailanthus altissima.

It is an invasive tree that is very, very common in this area, and you can identify it from its lookalikes, by a sort of a mitten thumb on the base of the leaf.

And also by its smell.

If you crush the leaf and smell it, it has a very distinctive- >>Distinct smell.

>>Sort of like unappealing food smell, something you don't wanna eat, but kind of smells like food.

>>So it is definitely a nuisance.

And I actually see along the trail too, we've got another one, wisteria.

>>There's quite a bit of wisteria along here, and that's sort of the main plant that we've been addressing with our volunteers.

It has a habit of climbing trees, and mounding over them, and completely blocking the sunlight from getting to the tree canopy.

We cut it back so that also it doesn't wrap around the trees tightly and girdle them, cutting off that tree's circulation.

We call it freeing the tree.

>>So this is your common method of how you take care of the wisteria?

>>Yes, we would cut within six inches of the ground, and we would apply herbicide to that cut at the root, so that it would kill just the root of that plant.

We'll leave it on the tree, so that we don't pull down those branches with volunteer effort.

The volunteer effort is already good once the vine is cut and the root is dead.

We just wanna see that plant gone, but it can stay in the tree- >>Yeah, you don't want it- You don't wanna damage the tree, so it would just die off naturally and eventually fall off.

>>Yes, yes, exactly right.

>>And I'm noticing another invasive?

>>Yes, we have another invasive here, privet.

It is an evergreen plant, very common in gardening.

People love to use it as a hedge plant in gardens.

However, it is an invasive species.

It invades woodlands like this, taking up space, which would otherwise be used by a native plant to grow in that area.

They can become as big as trees as well, so they really take up a lot of room sometimes.

>>Nice, let's go see what else the trail has to offer.

>>Oh, here, look at this.

>>Oh wow, look at these sunflowers.

>>We have an opportunity for natives like this to come back into this space because of our invasive plant removal.

You see these perennials that would've been here naturally, that haven't shown up here in a long time, but they still had their seeds in the seed bank here.

And once that sunlight came back and hit them, they were ready to go, and we love to see it.

>>So it's like a new lease on life?

>>Yes.

>>That they finally got the space to breathe and rise again.

>>Yes, and it's covered in pollinators, I love to see that too.

>>Awesome.

I'm actually starting to see another thing of beauty.

You can start to see the river here.

>>Yes, a lot of the work that we do has that extra benefit of opening up the spaces for people to enjoy it more.

When the invasives encroach, they can shroud the area, block out the sunlight.

But here we have these beautiful views of the river where you can see river otters, you can see blue herons, green herons.

You can see eagles, beautiful wildlife, and beautiful water to sit by and relax.

>>Yes, it's definitely more inviting instead of having a wall that's blocking everything, and just making a dark canopy.

But this is incredible, so I do appreciate the work that you guys are putting into clearing, not only the views, but for what you're doing for the natural ecosystem here.

>>Yes, it is a labor of love.

It's an ongoing maintenance task to clear invasive species, because they love it here just as much as the natives do.

But we, by removing them, we are continually providing for the ecosystem, for the bugs, and then the birds that eat the bugs, and all the way up the food chain.

Those plants are providing for the wildlife that would be here.

>>Thank you for the tour, and I think I'm gonna spend some time and explore this trail a little more.

>>I love that, yes, please, it's a beautiful day.

>>One thing I would ask people is to not plant new invasive plants.

And if they do have invasive plants on their property, to remove them because all of these plants are prolific re-seeders.

And so if we reduce the amount of invasive species in Petersburg, or in any urban area, we can reduce the invasive species pressure in natural areas like this.

>>We've seen so much growth and interest and understanding of the importance of conserving our river, and the natural surroundings to it.

It is a big job, but the community is behind it.

And we know actually from experience that when you have access to the river, you learn it, you love it, and you wanna protect it.