Jesse Wheeler, Vegetation and Program Manager for Acadia National Park, will discuss the top invasive plants found at Acadia and efforts to manage these threats over the last couple of decades, including current efforts of climate-smart native plant restoration behind glossy buckthorn removal in Great Meadow. We will visit some restoration experiments using native shrubs and graminoids to reduce glossy buckthorn cover. He will cover Maine’s list of regulated invasive plants as well as potential “sleeper species” that may become more problematic with climate change. We will also discuss what homeowners can do to keep out and manage invasive plants.
Jesse is responsible for stewarding plant resources at the park, including invasive plant management and native plant protection. He got his start at Acadia National Park working seasonally as a Biological Technician restoring native plant populations and managing invasive exotic plants. Jesse attended graduate school at Antioch University New England, where he studied Conservation Biology with a focus on vegetation. His master’s thesis work focused on invasive Phragmites (common reed) and its interactions with native plants in a restored salt marsh on Cape Cod, MA. Following grad school, Jesse returned to the National Park Service with the Inventory & Monitoring Program in 2010 where he led a crew monitoring the long-term forest health in National Parks in the Northeast. Jesse has been coordinating the park’s invasive plant program since 2015 and has been Acadia’s vegetation biologist since 2019.
The workshop is 2.5 hours and is limited to 12 people. Car pooling encouraged. It will include a short walk (1mi round trip; flat trail). We'll meet at the Sieur de Mont Springs Nature Center at 10am. Pre-registration required.
