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FAST: Friends of Arkansas Singletrack

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May 15 2025

Poison Hemlock Alert—Help Us Keep the Trails Safe

🚨 Poison Hemlock Alert – Help Us Keep the Trails Safe 🚨

Poison hemlock has been spotted along sections of local trails. This plant is extremely toxic to humans and animals — even through skin contact or breathing in particles from disturbed plants. It’s critical that we stop it from spreading, and that it’s removed safely.

🔍 How to Identify Poison Hemlock:

  • Stems: Smooth, green, and marked with purple blotches or streaks (no hairs)
  • Leaves: Delicate, fern-like, and finely divided (resembles parsley or wild carrot)
  • Flowers: White clusters arranged in an umbrella shape (blooming late spring/summer)
  • Height: Can reach 6–10 feet tall when mature
  • Found along trail edges, ditches, roadsides, and open disturbed soil

Do not touch or handle this plant unless you are properly protected. Even dried stalks remain toxic.

🧤 Safe Removal Guidelines:

  • Wear gloves, long sleeves, eye protection, and a mask
  • Remove when small — early in the season before it flowers
  • Dig out the entire taproot (at least 6–8 inches deep)
  • Do not shake off dirt — bag plants immediately in heavy-duty trash bags
  • Dispose in a landfill (never compost or leave in brush piles)
  • Never burn it — the smoke is dangerous
  • Do not mow or trim flowering or seeding plants — this spreads toxic debris and seeds

🛑 What Not to Do:

  • Don’t touch with bare hands
  • Don’t mow or weed-whack once it’s bolted or flowering
  • Don’t burn or compost
  • Don’t assume it’s harmless just because it looks like a wildflower

If you spot a patch of it, snap a photo from a safe distance and let us know where it is. Thanks for helping us protect the trails and everyone who uses them.

Learn more here.

#TrailSafety #PoisonHemlock #FASTtrails #knowbeforeyoupull

Written by j.joymark@gmail.com · Categorized: News and Events, Trail Care

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