Volunteers Tangle With Ivy at Tallulah Gorge

Tallulah Gorge, one of the most spectacular canyons in the eastern United States has been a tourist attraction since the late 1800's. Nicknamed the "Niagara of the South", the two-mile chasm boasts five waterfalls and a depth of nearly 1000 feet. From the 1880's to early 1920's the surrounding little town of Tallulah Falls, Georgia was a Victorian resort with more than twenty hotels and boarding houses to serve the hoards of visitors who came to marvel at Tallulah Gorge.

Perched along the southern rim of the Gorge, the Cliff House Hotel was one of the largest of the grand Tallulah hotels. The 40-acre property included English style gardens groomed for lawn tennis and social events. Although the hotel burned down in 1937 remnants of the gardens persist to this day. English ivy, periwinkle and other hardy landscape plants continue to thrive, creeping down toward the gorge and up into the trees. As they spread, the vines are crowding out the native plant community including the persistent trillium, an endangered species that grows only in the Tallulah/Tugaloo river basin.

The hotel site, now part of Tallulah Gorge State Park, was the focus of a recent volunteer workday to remove the invasive exotic plants that are choking out the native species. On December 3rd twenty volunteers from the Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council and Georgia Native Plant Society showed up to initiate what will no doubt be a long battle. Most of them traveled from the metro Atlanta area over 100 miles away to tackle a vine-covered slope along the south rim of the Gorge. Armed with clippers, loppers and a large dose of commitment they set to work rolling up English ivy, gently pulling up periwinkle and bagging it - two truckloads of it by the end of the afternoon.

There is still much work to be done and this initial effort was just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the English ivy and periwinkle there are numerous other invasive species including Chinese privet, kudzu and multiflora rose. Although it seems an overwhelming task there is too much at stake to allow the invasives to continue to spread. It will take many more such workdays to regain control of the site. Many thanks to the volunteers and staff who turned out to launch the effort!