There are LOTS of good bulletins from the Extension Service that cover poison ivy. You can download most as PDFs from most state land-grant university sites by linking to their extension service pages. Actually, there are lots of Extension/USDA-FS and other government documents online that are helpful for land management, almost an overwhelming amount.
Brush control herbicides are not a bad solution in areas where leaving it alone is not a solution. You have to use them carefully though. So far, at this property, the poison ivy is not very resistant. Here in Michigan, commercial application of pesticides requires certification no matter if they are available at a hardware store to homeowners. Getting that only involved a half-day of good training at the extension office and a few tests for categories needed at camp. You will for sure need to know if Penn requires similar things.
More often than not, I just leave it alone in most areas. It is in the areas that it can't be avoided that I try to control it. To keep people aware, when we have a volunteer day, GPS course, or other things that might cause off-the-beaten-path activity, I hand out copies of the extension bulletin. This has worked pretty well, because once they know what it is, most people avoid it.
Interestingly, most of the extension bulletins I've read state that about 30% are immune to it. But who wants to test that immunity?
Regards,
Nick Carr
