County seeks weed warriors
May 18, 2011
By Administrator
Contributed Volunteers help plant native plants in Fall City Community Park after pulling out invasive weeds.
King County is on the hunt to stamp out invasive weeds.
To bolster the campaign, county officials want residents to help find locations of non-native plants. So the county is holding a series of workshops beginning in late May and running through July.
Invasive, or noxious, weeds are not native to the region, and can cause ecological and economic damage.
The county’s “least wanted” list includes garlic mustard, a Class A noxious weed, according to the Washington State Noxious Weed Board, and one of 48 state-listed noxious weeds that the King County Noxious Weed Program is working actively with landowners to control.
The plant’s seeds can survive in soil for many years before sprouting, making the plant difficult to control.
Last year, county noxious weed specialists uprooted an outbreak of garlic mustard around North Bend after a resident reported it.
“Thankfully, the garlic mustard in North Bend is still limited to the few properties it was found on originally,” said Sasha Shaw, a member of the King County Noxious Weed Control Program.
Still, the plant must be actively controlled, and the county’s weed specialist for the area regularly eradicates any new plants.
“The seeds last for at least seven or so years, so we expect to see some new plants every year for a while, but we should we able to keep it from going to seed again,” Shaw said. “I wish the same could be said for the Cedar River, where we are finding more than last year.”
The discoveries are especially troubling for staff with the Noxious Weed Program because garlic mustard had been primarily limited to just a few Seattle parks, according to a news release from King County.
Garlic mustard is a fast-spreading biennial introduced to North America from Europe.
There are likely more garlic mustard sites in the county, according to Steven Burke, the county’s Noxious Weed Program manager.
He is asking residents to help staff members find outbreaks.
Weeds are serious business
The King County Noxious Weed Program is part of a statewide effort to detect and respond to noxious weeds that harm natural and economic resources. To help protect the state’s resources, the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board adopts a statewide noxious weed list each year.
Each county’s weed board then adopts its own noxious weed list that establishes which weeds require control by property owners and public agencies.
The state takes the fight against invasive weeds seriously. The Department of Ecology has already approved more than $580,000 for 14 grants to fight invasive weeds in 2012.
Another high-priority target for King County this year is the massive plant called giant hogweed, feared for its invasiveness and its toxic juice that causes painful, watery blisters and burns on contact.
Giant hogweed has leaves that are up to five feet wide and a central flowering stem that reaches 15 feet tall, topped by an impressive umbrella-shaped flower head that can measure two feet across. Since 1996, King County’s noxious weed hunters have found more than 1,000 sites of giant hogweed.
“By watching for new sites, returning to known sites every year and helping landowners control it where needed, we have been able to keep giant hogweed from spreading and we are hopeful that it can be eradicated someday,” Burke said in the news release.
In the Snoqualmie Valley, yellow hawkweed is a persistent nuisance, Shaw said.
“It’s kind of like a dandelion, but much worse, spreading by both seeds and roots, and capable of covering large areas, especially in the mountain meadows,” she said.
Hawkweed, tansy ragwort and poison hemlock are also prevalent this time of year, she said.
This summer, the county will target garden loosestrife on the Snoqualmie River and some adjacent wetlands, as well as working to fight back the knotweed on the upper forks of the river.
“We are asking anyone living along the North Fork Snoqualmie to let us know if they see knotweed on that river,” Shaw said.
The county’s weed experts suspect it is on the North Fork but have not found it yet. If they find examples of it, officials can include the North Fork in a grant application.
Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.
What to know
- Noxious weed information will be on display at several locations this spring and summer:
- June 11: Issaquah Farmers Market, Pickering Barn, 1730 10th Ave. N.W., Issaquah
- June 15: 4-8 p.m., Sammamish Farmers Market, Sammamish Commons, 801 228th Ave. S.E.
- June 28: 3-7 p.m., Renton Farmers Market, Piazza in Downtown Renton
- July 7: North Bend Farmers Market, Si View Community Center, 400 Orchard Drive, North Bend
- July 12: 3-7 p.m., Carnation Farmers Market, one block east of Highway 203 at Bird Street
- July 14: 3-7 p.m., Bellevue Farmers Market, First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, 1717 Bellevue Way N.E.
- July 23: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Redmond Farmers Market , 7730 Leary Way N.E., Redmond
Learn more from Sasha Shaw, King County noxious weeds specialist, by calling 206-296-0290 or emailing sasha.shaw@kingcounty.gov.
Comments
One Response to “County seeks weed warriors”
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
I am a long time Maple Valley resident and I have noted the increase in broom, tansy ragwort and some others in recent years. I realize that these are not on the priority list- but the scotch broom is really taking over on the Cedar River pipeline (I I am especially noting the section between SE 244th and SE 248th- and is making inroads on the Cedar River trail. they recently mowed on the pipeline but left the plants on the ground- where they will release seeds and germinate. I personally took 3 bags full to the disposal site in Enumclaw but I had to pay, and cannot remove it all, there is too much. Is there some way that when they mow, they could also remove the cut plants? Or could they mow before the plants set seed? Many thanks. I know that budgets are tight