NPS Photo.
Who are the EPMTs?
One of the many ways the National Park Service (NPS) is combating invasive plants is through the Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) program, whose work provides support to approximately 290 national park units. For the past 18 years, teams have provided professional assistance directly to the parks, filling a much-needed gap in park expertise and assisting parks in preventing introductions of new species, reducing existing infestations, and restoring native plant communities and ecosystem functions.
The Biological Resources Division supports 15 EPMTs from coast to coast. Two more teams are funded through park base funding. EPMT liasons (team coordinators), EPMT data managers, EPMT field crew leaders, and EPMT field staff provide specialized scientific and technical assistance to and across all organizational levels of the NPS.