What is the Native Landscape Certification Program?           

In 2006 Tremont began its Native Landscape Certification Program (NLCP). 
As a partner of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tremont recognizes the negative
impacts invasive exotic species, both plant and animal, have on the natural habitats of the
Great Smoky Mountains. The park is under constant threat from exotics that infiltrate its borders from surrounding cities, towns, and rural communities. Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont has created the Native Landscape Certification Program to bring attention to the detrimental effects of invasive exotic plants in the park and surrounding Great Smokies Region, as well as to promote the use of native plants in landscaping. It is a volunteer program for businesses and real estate developments in the Smoky Mountain Region. Participants in the program will be certified as having Native Landscapes if they meet certain criteria, such as using native plants in landscaping and eradicating invasive exotic plants on their property.

Why control invasive exotic species?

• Exotic species are second only to habitat destruction in causing the endangerment of native flora and fauna. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an estimated 42% of the nation's endangered and threatened species have declined as a result of encroaching exotic plants and animals.
• Invasive exotic plants alter ecosystems functions, meaning they can alter the frequency and intensity of fires, change the nutrient dynamics in the soil, increase the severity of drought (by sucking up water through their roots), and may even increase rates of erosion.
• As of 1999, there were 50,000 invasive exotic species in the United States and the number continues to rise.  The annual economic cost of all invasive exotic species in the United States was estimated to be more than $138 billion dollars.
• Each year, the National Park Service and the Fish and
  Wildlife Service spend an estimated 2 and 10 million
  dollars, respectively, on controlling exotic plants.

Why is Tremont starting this program?

Tremont recognizes the impacts of human population increases. New developments are occurring in the Smoky Mountains Region and adjacent to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is hoped that the Native Landscape Certification Program will help educate landowners and businesses about some of the impacts from development, while empowering them to conserve and manage their landscapes so that their property becomes an asset to native flora and fauna, not a liability.

How to Get Involved

If you are a homeowner, real estate developer, or business owner and would like to learn more about the Native Landscape Certification Program, please download the manual about our program.

Native Landscape Certification Guide PDF | Native Landscape Certification Guide (Word doc)

To download an application form, please click here. Native Landscape Certification Application

If you have questions or would like more information about Tremont’s Native Landscape Certification Program, please contact: 

Below are links to other useful sites about invasive exotic species:

Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States: Identification and Control http://www.invasive.org/eastern/

Tennessee Exotic Plant Council
http://www.tneppc.org/

Weeds Gone Wild
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/

 

 

“Conservation will ultimately come down to rewarding private landowners who conserve the public trust.”
~ Aldo Leopold