03/04/2025
The first day of Cane Season kicks off with a record of almost 800 plants started in 2 hours!! The power of many hands is incredible. The energy for restoring native river cane in our area and beyond continues to grow our grassroots effort to support this amazinging plant.
Huge thanks to The Nature Conservancy for support and funding for this project and The University of Virginia's College at Wise for bringing students and providing greenhouse space to care for the cane babies.
Native river cane (Arundinaria gigantea) used to occupy massive expanses of hundreds of thousands to millions of acres along water ways and low lying areas in dense stands called canebrakes. Through land use change, fire exclusion, agriculture, and other anthropogenic causes we’ve reduced it to less than 2% of its native range 😞
River cane is very important in stream bank stabilization (especially after the major flooding these areas have experienced), it’s a nitrogen sink, and it creates a shaded buffer to prevent invasive species from establishing along stream banks. Canebrakes also provide excellent habitat for wildlife, songbirds, and a massive collection of butterflies and moths some of which rely on the species as a specific host plant. It also has extensive value both historically and culturally.
Go Cane Train!
