Volunteer Steward Certification — New York
A citizen certification for invasive-plant removal on public land
Summary
A simple, free, online certification any New York resident 15 or older can earn. Pass a short identification and safety check, receive a printable Steward ID card, and gain authorization to remove designated nonnative invasive plants from participating public lands.
Concept
This certification would follow the Stewardship Checklist as a simple approach to invasive-plant stewardship. It is designed to be low-friction, with a short online test and a printable ID card. The card would carry authority on public lands that recognize the program, and it would link to iMapInvasives for reporting removals. This is also intended to be a lightweight complement to the proposed Eco-Landscape Professional program.Proven Model
Montgomery County, Maryland has certified roughly 690 residents as Weed Warriors since 1999. Certified volunteers carry a card and may remove invasives on parkland without supervision. In 2024 they logged over 13,700 hours and freed nearly 20,000 trees and shrubs from invasive vines, work valued near half a million dollars, all with hand tools and no herbicide.
New York has the people and the need. What it lacks is the standing authorization that turns willing residents into recognized stewards.
Legal Needs
Pulling plants from public land without permission is generally prohibited, and for good reason: an untrained hand pulls milkweed as readily as mugwort. New York's own invasive species permit guidance is explicit that work on public land requires written permission from the administering agency. A certification alone cannot grant a blanket right to any public space.
The workable path is the Montgomery model, a landowner-recognized credential. The ask is for New York's public landowners, including DEC, State Parks, DOT for roadside right-of-way, counties, and municipalities, to recognize a common statewide Steward credential. The card then carries authority wherever a participating landowner has signed on, the way a Weed Warrior card is honored across a whole park system. Adoption can start with a single town or county conservation board and grow as the model proves out.
Data Value
Every certified steward is also a trained reporter. Paired with iMapInvasives, each removal becomes a mapped data point, building the early-detection record that the state's PRISM tiers depend on, at near-zero public cost. The program scales stewardship and surveillance together.
Certification
Kept deliberately low-friction:
- Be 15 or older and a New York resident. Applicants under 18 provide parental consent. (Montgomery County sets its bar at 18; a lower age here invites students, scouts, and service-learning hours into the habit early.)
- Pass a short online identification and safety check. The real bar is telling natives from invasives and working safely.
- Agree to the steward code (below).
- Hand tools and hand-pulling only. No herbicide.
- Report difficult infestations such as knotweed and mugwort rather than dig them.
- Log removals to iMapInvasives.
- Defer to posted site rules and any landowner's management plan.
Designated Species
"Designated" species are those on the state and regional lists. The statewide list sets the floor. The regional PRISM tiers set local priorities.
- NYSDEC Prohibited and Regulated Invasive Species, 6 NYCRR Part 575:
dec.ny.gov — Invasive Species Regulations - Regional PRISM tier lists, filterable by region (Westchester falls under Lower Hudson PRISM):
nynhp.org — Species Tiers Table
lhprism.org — Lower Hudson PRISM
The Steward Card
A printable ID card issued on certification. The QR code links to a verification page and to iMapInvasives for logging removals. The title line reflects the final program name.
NY-ST-
Lower Hudson
Verify and report: nyimapinvasives.org