Oklahoma agencies use National Invasive Species Awareness Week to promote prevention, reporting, and habitat protections statewide

Statewide messaging targets costly spread across land and water

Oklahoma agencies and partner organizations are using National Invasive Species Awareness Week, held Feb. 23–27, 2026, to focus public attention on invasive plants, insects and aquatic organisms that can damage habitat, infrastructure and agricultural productivity. The annual awareness week is coordinated nationally across multiple agencies and is designed to emphasize prevention as the most effective and least expensive strategy.

In Oklahoma, outreach during the week is centered on how invasive species are introduced and how residents can reduce accidental transport through common activities such as boating, fishing, hiking, landscaping and moving firewood. State wildlife and natural resource communications in recent years have consistently emphasized practical steps for recreationists and landowners, including cleaning equipment between sites and avoiding the movement of biological material that can carry pests or seeds.

Forestry threats highlight the role of human-assisted movement

One of the most visible examples for Oklahoma is the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that kills ash trees by feeding beneath the bark. After the pest was confirmed in Oklahoma in 2016, detections expanded in later years, including confirmations in multiple southern counties. Forestry officials have repeatedly identified the movement of infested firewood as a major pathway for long-distance spread, prompting continued public reminders to use firewood near where it is obtained and to comply with restrictions tied to quarantined areas.

In addition to public guidance, Oklahoma has pursued monitoring and control efforts aimed at slowing establishment and spread. Those efforts have included statewide surveillance and, more recently, the use of biological controls in targeted areas as part of broader forest health management.

Land and water management efforts run in parallel

Invasive species impacts are not limited to forests. Aquatic invasive species can move between lakes and rivers on boats, trailers, live wells, bait buckets and gear. Oklahoma’s standard prevention messaging for water recreation emphasizes a three-step process that reduces the likelihood of transporting invasive “hitchhikers” from one waterbody to another.

On land, invasive plants and woody encroachment remain a long-running concern for habitat quality, water availability and wildfire risk. State conservation initiatives have increasingly paired education with incentives and technical support for landowners, including cost-share approaches intended to expand treatment capacity and maintenance planning over multiple seasons.

How residents are being asked to participate

• Clean and dry boats, trailers, waders, footwear and pets between sites to limit accidental transport of seeds, larvae and aquatic organisms.
• Avoid moving untreated firewood across long distances and follow applicable restrictions tied to pest quarantines.
• Choose region-appropriate native plants in landscaping to reduce the risk of introducing species that can escape cultivation.
• Report suspected invasive species sightings through Oklahoma’s invasive species reporting and database tools to support early detection.

National Invasive Species Awareness Week is scheduled for Feb. 23–27, 2026, placing Oklahoma’s messaging within a coordinated nationwide emphasis on prevention, early detection and rapid response.

Agency outreach during the week is designed to connect individual actions to statewide outcomes: slowing new introductions, improving detection, and reducing long-term control costs that rise sharply once invasive species become established.