Invasive Species Pose Risk to Tennessee Forests

With the Tennessee wildfire season now over, The Department of Agriculture (TDA) now turns its attention to a different threat: Invasive species.

TDA Commissioner Jai Templeton said identifying potential warning signs of invasive species is important.

“For example, if you see an otherwise healthy tree beginning to defoliate or you see pine needles turning brown at the wrong time of year,” Templeton said, “I highly recommend contacting the [Crossville Work Center].”

“It could just not be any issue at all,” Templeton said, “but we still want to make sure we don’t have something going on in Tennessee forests that we perhaps can control.”

Templeton said preventing the spread of invasive species can help the forest products industry.

“Over half of Tennessee is forested,” Templeton said. “We continue to want to have good, healthy forests and meet the demand for wood products.”

According to the TDA, two common invasive species in the state are imported fire ants and zebra mussels.

TDA released a list of counties under quarantine for fire ants in 2018. DeKalb, Cannon, Cumberland, Van Buren, Warren, White, and portions of Morgan County are all under quarantine.

Zebra mussels first came to Tennessee from Lake Erie in 1991 and have been found in parts of the Cumberland River. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency advises people to inspect all exposed surfaces and to dry boats, trailers, and decks to prevent the mussels from spreading.

Anyone with questions or invasive species concerns can contact the Division of Forestry in Crossville at (931) 484-4227.