The fifth annual No Ivy Day, set for this Saturday, May 5, 2007, will bring nearly one thousand volunteers out to break ivy's grip on trees and natural areas. This coordinated assault on invasive ivy is centered in Portland, Oregon, the birthplace of the No Ivy League. However, work parties will be active at locations around the world wherever ivy's wily ways are causing the demise of trees, native shrubs, and wildflowers.

No Ivy Day was started in 2003 as an annual day to focus attention on the problems caused by ivy. Between 3500 and 5000 trees have been rescued on each annual No Ivy Day. Ivy vines are "girdled" and stripped all the way around the tree's lower trunk then pulled from a six foot circle around the tree. This technique, known as the lifesaver, makes ivy in the upper reaches of the tree die and thwarts ivy's re-growth up the tree. In addition, several hundred acres of ground ivy have been cleared during this annual event and truckloads of litter and debris found in the ivy were removed.

The "poster child" of invasive plants and noxious weeds in the Portland area, English ivy, whose botanical name is Hedera helix, turns healthy wooded areas into ivy deserts where only vermin such as rats survive. Ivy wipes out the diversity of plants in green places and wooded areas by smothering them with a viney mat thus destroying food and shelter for desirable wildlife.

Listed as a noxious weed in Oregon and Washington, ivy is identified as an invasive plant in many places throughout the U.S.A. and around the world. This botanical bully, carried to new settlements by European settlers, thrives anywhere that a mild climate provides friendly growing conditions. [On behalf of my ancestors, I'm very, very sorry about this. And starlings. And Himalayan blackberries, Scotch Broom, and a host of other nasty things, the most important being taking the land from the indigenous peoples. All these things were wrong. If you're not entirely Native American, please consider being sorry and helping fix some of the problems our ancestors caused, too. - AF]

No Ivy Day #5 will be held at worldwide sites where ivy is a problem including public and private places. Only participating public sites are being listed on the No Ivy League's web site. To the extent possible, No Ivy Day volunteers will be listed, if they wish, on the No Ivy League web site. "Ivy Commandos" who have participated in each of the five No Ivy days will be specially recognized at an afternoon celebration.

Here are great ways that volunteers can help make No Ivy Day #5 a success:

*Remove ivy from trees and the ground at a No Ivy Day work site.

For more information on No Ivy Day click on No Ivy Day! May 5, 2007, or call Sandy at 503-823-3681.