Strawberry Hill Arboretum saw the removal of many of its invasive Japanese barberry plants on Feb. 27. The effort was made up of a coalition of volunteers from App State, MountainTrue, Transition Blue Ridge and Boone Mayor Dalton George’s ecological task force. George said that this was the “first of many” environmental projects he wants to organize as mayor.
“People love public lands, and Boone holds a lot of them. This is a good way to build community and benefit our land,” George said.
Berberis thunbergii, the Japanese barberry, is a species of shrub native to East Asia that was introduced to the United States in the 1870s and became popular in landscaping in the 1970s, according to the National Park Service. The prickly shrub’s fruits are attractive to animals, especially birds, who disperse the seeds across the country.
The shrub is not only a nuisance because of its spines. Japanese barberries are dense, humid environments that often harbor ticks, making them vectors for Lyme disease.
“By removing these roots, we’re keeping people safe from getting pricked and from Lyme,” George said. “We need to have a role in fixing this, but after it’s done, we’ll let the nature be. That’s our responsibility.”
Senior public health major Ethan Magnani was a student volunteer at the park. He found himself locked in a grapple with a few barberries and came to notice how other plants struggled to survive around them because of the barberry’s ability to thrive in nearly all soil types.
“The things around them just didn’t grow,” Magnani said. “If I bring He-Man to a wrestling match and the rest of the wrestlers are copies of me, everyone else won’t stand a chance against He-Man.”
Becca Nenow, the project manager for Transition Blue Ridge and a former member of Boone Town Council, wanted to find a sustainable use for the chopped barberries.
“We’re looking for culinary, herbal and cultural uses,” Nenow said.
Nenow said she was also interested in developing controlled burn programs in and around Boone. These burns would aid in reducing the number of invasive species and bolster the population of fire-dependent species.
Alongside being Boone’s mayor, George has a full-time job as an environmental advocate with the Endangered Species Coalition. He has served as their National Grassroots Organizer since 2024. George feels that his environmental work has gone under the town’s radar, as much of George’s work as mayor has concerned tenants’ rights.
“I’ve found that you only get one issue in local politics,” George said. “I’ve been doing tenants’ rights, but I’m also an environmental guy.”
He explained that he feels preserving the town of Boone’s natural beauty is part of his duty as mayor and as a citizen.
“If I’m not doing things around my hometown to keep it environmentally sound, I’m not doing what I need to be doing,” George said.
