Dr. Vic Ford Speaks to Hope Lions
Dr. Vic Ford brought the program to the Hope Lions on Monday. Dr. Ford served as the director of the Southwest Research and Extension Center for a number of years also served as Associate Vice-President for Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture-Extension. Currently he operates his own consulting firm.
Proprietor at Vic Ford Conservation Consulting. He also serves as a Hempstead County Justice of the Peace.
He gave a talk about invasive species. He noted $26 billion dollars-worth of impact come annually in North America from invasive species. He started with Chesnut Blight and moved on to Dutch Elm disease, starlings, zebra mussels, feral hogs, Asian carp, kudzu, the giant apple snail, fire ants, and red swamp crayfish. Other invasive species included Japanese Honeysuckle, Thousand Cankers Disease, laurel wilt disease, sassafras, and the northern snakehead fish.
He also talked about Japanese Stilt Grass and Garlic Mustard.
Dr. Ford focused on some more familiar invasive species including privet, the emerald ash borer, Asian jumping worms, hammerhead worms (which are toxic, do not touch one!), and the Bradford Pear. Other invasive species he discussed included the popcorn tree and the chinaberry tree.
The club greatly enjoyed hearing from Dr. Ford and asking questions about these invasive species.