I took care of my rose problem some 10 years ago, but stayed out of the woods because of the tick problem. I was working to expand the side of our yard and take care of some virginia creepers, Japanese berberry, barren riverbank grapesvines or similar looking plant, and asian bittersweet vines, and some roses-only to discover that the the roses have returned (those in the images were from my neighbors yard) in full force throughout the back woods. So I spent much of this fall clearing them out mostly new growth roses again (most can just be pulled out or just cut down with little effort), and needless to say only 1 tick after about 1-2 months working out there.

It's possible that in a small infestation or on the edges, they may offer protective support the white mouse population. But in a moderate to severe infestation it becomes quite literally a dead zone inside the biomass, aside from these roses and some frogs.

Anyways, I'll hopefully have a new hiking trail in the spring-if the mud isn't too bad.