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Olive Shrubs Threatening Flight 93 Memorial Park

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – After a destructive fire wiped out part of the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, another threat looms over the park: Autumn Olive shrubs.

The National Park Service says the non-native shrubs are taking over the memorial park and threatening thousands of trees planted there.

Next week 35 volunteers, with the help of exotic plant management specialists, will remove the plants.

"This is just the beginning of a long term effort to remove exotic plants from the Memorial Landscape, and we sincerely appreciate the assistance that is being provided by our Friends, partners, and most importantly the park volunteers who will find their park by removing invasive plants at Flight 93 National Memorial," said Superintendent Stephen M. Clark in a statement.

The National Park Service says the olive shrubs grow rapidly and are expensive to remove.

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