TNRD hosts Invasive Plant Field Day in Little Fort to educate locals

LITTLE FORT, BC — Hawkweed. Sulphur cinquefoil. Hoary cress. What do these plants have in common? They’re all invasive species, on the TNRD’s Thompson-Nicola Invasive Plant Management Committee’s watchlist.

Coleen Hougen likes to start the TNRD Invasive Plant Field Days she facilitates with a little bit of local history. On Thursday (June 20th) in Little Fort, around 30 people were on hand to learn about the invasive plant program and what the regional district is doing to help combat the propagation of certain species of weeds.

“We’re hoping to reach people in the Clearwater, Little Fort and Barriere area because it’s more of a rural population out here and people are struggling with invasive plants,” Hougen tells CFJC Today. “It’s really an education and outreach opportunity for private landowners to come out and learn about these plants and how to manage them on their properties.”

On hand were the Thompson-Nicola Invasive Plant Management Committee members to help educate those in attendance on the prevention, mitigation and management of invasive plant species.

“We’re talking about things like yellow hawkweeds and orange hawkweeds, which are prevalent here,” Hougen explains. “Hoary cress is growing rampant throughout this area. Sulphur cinquefoil and common tansy — these are the plants that people with the untrained eye will see along roadways and in their backyards.”

Members of provincial organizations on invasive species also attended the event, as well as many residents and landowners interested in learning how to manage these invading flora.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“Several of the weeds are toxic to my horses,” Liz Morrison, who owns 20 acres in Blackpool, explains. “I’m pretty proactive in trying to control the hoary alyssum and hawkweed, sulphur cinquefoil and knapweed. I’ve been on this battle since we bought the farm 30 years ago.”

“When I saw the field day come up, I thought, what a great opportunity to learn more about what’s in the TNRD and how I can identify things — particularly in my family’s yards or acreages,” Michelle Kozuchar says, “to be able to help them and say, ‘Hey, this is something that needs to be managed.’”

Morrison says she’s learned a great deal about invasive plant management from the fold with the TNRD, but also knows the regional district could do more if more resources were made available by higher levels of government.

“The TNRD and the weed management people, their hands are tied,” Morrison suggests. “They don’t have the financing to go ahead and be more proactive with some of these invasive species.”

For those in the know about invasive species, there are a host of impacts these plants have, including contaminating hay crops, biodiversity loss and some invasive species can even be toxic.

Image Credit: CFJC Today

“These plants can take over native plants and we lose biodiversity and ecosystem functions. They establish on streambanks and cause erosion and sedimentation into rivers,” Hougen explains. “There are plants that are toxic to touch. There are plants like myrtle spurge that have a toxic sap that can cause blistering on the skin. Some plants are even lethal, like poison hemlock.”

There are resources available to landowners located in the TNRD who are struggling to manage invasive species on their properties. For more information, you can call the TNRD or visit the Invasive Plant Management section on the regional district website.