PARIS — The Oxford County Soil and Water Conservation District and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Oxford County will host a workshop on the ecology, impacts, identification and management of invasive plants from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at the Cooperative Extension Office, 9 Olson Road. The workshop will continue, after lunch, at a field site on Tremont Street.

Invasive terrestrial plants can overrun farms, forests, parks, roadsides and backyards, displacing beneficial native plants and reducing habitat for wildlife. They can also interfere with native tree regeneration, encroach on productive fields, impede recreational access and be a nuisance in property maintenance.

Nancy Olmstead, invasive plant biologist with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, will give an overview of why invasive plants are harmful, show which plants to be on the lookout for and discuss ways to manage them. After lunch, the group will go to a local site to see invasive plants “in the flesh,” practice identification skills and discuss management scenarios.

The course offers two pesticide recertification credits as well as three and a half hours of Category 1 Maine Board of Licensure of Forester credits. Participants are encouraged to dress for the weather.

The program is $15 a person; preregistration is required. Lunch is included. To register, for more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Jean Federico at the Oxford County Soil and Water Conservation District: 207-744-3119 or oxfordcountyswcd@gmail.com. Preregister by Tuesday, April 30.

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