The Oak Ridge Cedar Barren will undergo its annual fall cleanup at 9 a.m. Saturday, November 8.  The main cleanup activity consists of exotic invasive plant removal.

Located next to Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, the area is one of only a few cedar barrens in East Tennessee.

The barren is subject to invasion by Chinese lespedeza, leatherleaf viburnum, Chinese privet, autumn olive, mimosa, Nepal grass, multiflora rose, and woody plants. These plants, if allowed to mature, will shade out or overgrow the system’s unique prairie grasses. [Read more…]