Tree quarantine: State stepping in to stop spread of Bradford pears

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – You see them pop up all over Kansas this time of year. While they’re popular for beautification, the Callery, “Bradford” pear trees are an invasive species that can choke out plants that grow naturally in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Agriculture is stepping in to protect native plants with a tree quarantine to stop the spread.

“We are trying to reduce the amount of spread and further infestation by creating a quarantine,” said Kansas Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Specialist Scott Marsh.

The quarantine will start in 2027. That process will involve prohibiting people from moving the trees around or into Kansas.

“Nobody is required to cut down these trees that they already have growing in their yards or landscape, but we do highly recommend that they do,” Marsh said.

He said most tree nurseries already do not sell Callery pears anymore and by 2027, no nursery in Kansas should have them for sale. The reason for the quarantine: The trees are invasive.

“It can change our habitat in quite a few ways either by displacing some of our more desirable trees or by shading areas where other sun-loving perennials and grasses might want to grow,” K-State Sedgwick County Extension Office Horticulture Agent Matthew McKernan explained.

McKernan said it’s important to protect native plants because they keep the rest of the habitat alive.

“It’s important that we try to maintain and protect some of that biodiversity in our plant material in order to support greater biodiversity in animals and insects especially,” he said.

Marsh said there is potential for a Callery pear buyback program to start in Sedgwick County, similar to programs in Shawnee and Johnson counties in which native trees replace the invasive species when the pear trees are cut down.

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