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Provides grants available from agencies, groups, organizations, and individuals to fund invasive species projects in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Invasive Species Council identifies the following plants, insects, aquatic animals, pathogens, and other species as most invasive and having the greatest potential negative impact for Pennsylvania.

See also: Noxious, Invasive and Poisonous Plant Program Publications for more hogweed resources

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has added ravenna grass, glossy buckthorn and common buckthorn to a list of noxious weeds — plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state. The non-native plants spread aggressively into wooded areas and fields, crowding out beneficial plants and disrupting native ecosystems. The ban on sale and cultivation will take effect April 5, 2022 with enforcement phased in over the next year.

Recent surveys by the PFBC and partner organizations have detected New Zealand mudsnails, roughly the size of a match head, in several popular cold-water trout fisheries in central and eastern Pennsylvania. In some infested waters, New Zealand Mudsnails have the potential to reach densities of hundreds or even thousands of snails per square foot. These snails are not harmful to humans but can compete with and negatively impact native freshwater invertebrate species, such as other snails and aquatic insects.

Until recently, New Zealand Mudsnails were known to occur only in Lake Erie, Erie County; Spring Creek and Bald Eagle Creek, Centre County; and the Little Lehigh Creek in Lehigh and Berks counties. Surveys during 2020 revealed populations of snails in Trindle Spring Run, Cumberland County; Codorus Creek, York County; and Valley Creek, Chester County; prompting expanded surveys. Members of the public who observe suspected New Zealand Mudsnails or other aquatic invasive species can report sightings of aquatic invasive species to the PFBC using its online form.

Northern snakeheads can be confused with native Pennsylvania species like the Bowfin and Burbot. For help telling them apart, refer to various identification guides.

The Pennsylvania Governor’s Invasive Species Council shared findings from the first statewide survey of impacts from invasive plants, insects, pathogens and animals, and announced that a pilot test of a regional invasive species management program will launch this summer. The Governor’s Invasive Species Council conducted the Pennsylvania Invasive Species Impacts Survey last fall to hear directly from Pennsylvanians about impacts they’re experiencing from invasives.

The Department is required by the Pesticide Control Act of 1973, as amended in 1987, to educate all pesticide applicators about Integrated Pest Management (IPM) control methods as a part of license recertification requirements.

In addition, Pennsylvania is a signatory party to the Chesapeake Bay resolution which encourages the promotion of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to citizens as a method to reduce toxics in the Bay.

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced that the department is launching an effort at nine state parks this summer to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, and get boaters involved in invasive species detection. "Boats, motors, and trailers have ideal hiding spots where species may attach, and be transported to new locations," Dunn said. "Boaters must be involved in helping us protect state park waters from invaders, to benefit our environment and avoid very costly measures to treat lakes once these non-native species take hold." Starting this week, DCNR staff will be doing voluntary boat and trailer checks at boat launches on park lakes, handing out informational brochures and demonstrating how to do an inspection.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture added Callery pear, or Pyrus calleryana, commonly called Bradford Pear to a list of noxious weeds — plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state. The popular, non-native, flowering fruit tree naturalizes, spreading from planted landscapes, crowding out other plants and disrupting native ecosystems. The ban on sale and cultivation took effect February 9, 2022 with enforcement phased in over two years.

The PA Department of Agriculture added Japanese Barberry, or Berberis thunbergii, to a list of noxious weeds — plants that cannot be legally sold or cultivated in the state. The popular, non-native, ornamental shrub forms dense, prickly thickets that crowd out plants and disrupt native ecosystems. It is also thought to harbor black-legged ticks that spread lyme disease. The ban on sale and cultivation took effect October 8, 2021. Enforcement of the ban will be phased in over two years to allow time for nurseries to eliminate it from their stock, find non-harmful alternatives, and develop seedless, sterile varieties that pose less threat to the environment and agriculture. Landscape and nursery businesses will receive notices of the timeline, procedures and exemption process for sterile varieties. Property owners should consider eliminating the shrubs on their land.

Effective October 8, 2021, the department added two other plants to the noxious weed list: garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, and Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum. These plants are generally not sold in nurseries but are invasive and common in Pennsylvania. Landowners with these plants on their property are encouraged to remove them.

An $800,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will support a two-year effort to control and prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species across Pennsylvania, with an emphasis on the Lake Erie Basin. The funding, through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, supports efforts to implement Pennsylvania’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Management Plan. It will directly support nine field projects to prevent or control the spread of aquatic invasive species, including: targeted control of Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) in Pymatuning Lake; the removal of red-eared slider turtles from Presque Isle Bay; and surveys of Natural Heritage Areas within the Lake Erie watershed.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has issued a strong advisory to encourage anglers who catch invasive Northern Snakeheads in the lower Susquehanna River, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth, to report and dispose of any fish caught. This advisory follows multiple Northern Snakehead captures in Conowingo Reservoir by anglers and natural resource agency biologists this summer, including the first evidence of Northern Snakehead reproduction in the reservoir.