MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 11, 2021
The list of 33 invasive plants that it is illegal to sell in or import to Maine will be expanded sometime next year. The legislation creating the original list in 2017 also required the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to create a committee that would update the list after five years. That committee, made up of stakeholders like horticulturists and foresters, has already met several times. Gary Fish, state horticulturist and a member of the committee, said he expects the list won’t be finished before the end of this year or early next year. Fish coordinated the effort to create the original list of 33 banned plants when he was director of the Board of Pesticides Control. He said an additional 81 plants are definitely being considered for inclusion on the list this year and another 30 or so might also be considered.