Williamo’s Blog.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Kudzu is a very pretty, very invasive plant that is native to southern Japan and was brought to the southern United States in the late 19th century as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. Since then, Kudzu spread wildly, as the conditions in the southern US are near-perfect conditions for it to grow out of control.

Luckily (which is a very relative term here), the Kudzu overgrowth has been “contained” to the southeastern US…until 2000, when it was “rather inexplicably” found in Clackamas County, Oregon (notice the itty-bitty green dot of it in Oregon on the map above).

Kudzu is now common throughout most of the Southeastern United States, and has been found as far northeast as Paterson, New Jersey, in 30 Illinois counties including as far north as Evanston^[16], and as far south as Key West, Florida.^{[citation needed]} It has also been found growing (rather inexplicably) in Clackamas County, Oregon in 2000.^[17] Kudzu has naturalized into about 20,000 to 30,000 square kilometers of land in the United States and costs around $500 million annually in lost cropland and control costs.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu#Invasive_species)

Here’s the info from the Oregon Department of Agriculture:

August 3, 2000…Kudzu, a serious and potentially devastating noxious weed that has caused considerable problems in the Southeastern U.S., has been discovered for the first time in Oregon in an area of Clackamas County south of Canby. This also marks the first reported case of kudzu infestation west of Texas.

The quarter acre site, part of State of Oregon right-of-way along U.S. Highway 99E, is being further evaluated as officials with the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Weed Control Program try to determine the extent and source of the infestation. ODA and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) are working together in developing an aggressive management plan for treating the noxious weed. It is not known how the kudzu was introduced to the area. It appears the current infestation is relatively new, establishing perhaps within the past two to three years.

Kudzu is a creeping, high-climbing viny plant that often completely covers trees in rapid fashion. Its leaves are much larger than those of ivy. Unlike the slower-growing ivy, kudzu’s vines can grow as much as 60 feet each year. The weed overwhelms native plants, literally smothering other species, and is a threat to riparian areas and watershed health. Kudzu, with a deep and extensive root system, is difficult to control once it has become established in an area. Roots can go as deep as 12 feet into the ground.

ODA officials are asking landowners to keep an eye out for additional outbreaks of kudzu, especially in parts of Western Oregon. Although there is no evidence that other infestations of the noxious weed have invaded Oregon, officials want residents to be aware of the potential. Early detection of new invader weeds makes it easier to eradicate or control before those weeds develop into larger problems for the environment. Any sightings should be reported to ODA’s Weed Control Program at (503) 986-4621.

(Serious noxious weed found in Oregon for first time)

However, it must not be too big a problem here, since I hadn’t heard about it until now…eight years later.