Hot Spots Action Now! crews are controlling aggressive invasive plants at critical sites in the East Kootenay, including Ktunaxa Reserve lands and BC Parks.

Two Hot Spots crews in the East Kootenay, comprised of unemployed natural resource workers and Ktunaxa Nation members, are conducting inventories and controlling sites infested with spotted knapweed, common tansy, hound’s tongue, baby’s breath, and leafy spurge to help minimize the economic, environmental, and social impacts of these invasive plants. An additional SWAT team, comprised exclusively of Ktunaxa Nation members, perform herbicide treatments on reserve land. Already this year the crew has inventoried 4278 ha and treated over 120 sites.

“This initiative compliments the program of the East Kootenay Invasive Plant Council (EKIPC)” says Elaine Armagost, coordinator of the EKIPC. “It fills a void of treating sites like reserve lands, BC Parks, and ripairan areas that normally wouldn’t be filled.”

A collaborative effort between the Invasive Plant Council of BC (IPCBC), federal and provincial government, and regional invasive plant committee across BC, this program provides valuable employment skills in plant identification, inventory methods, and control techniques.

“I love it, it’s fun,” says Clifton Gravelle, a Ktunaxa Nation crew member. “I’ve learned so many names of plants, not just the invasive ones, but all the plants so we know what the are and can make sure they’re not invasive.”

“I didn’t know too much about inavsive plants until a little while ago, but now I’m noticing them everywhere,” says Wayne Legre, a crew member and unemployed forestry worker. “I definitely would do this type of work again. I’m learning alot and it’s great to give back.”

The crews have been controlling invasive plants threatening Spalding’s campion, a critically endangered plant species that is found only on Tobacco Plains in Canada.

“The number one threat to the Spalding’s campion is invasive plants” says Michael Keefer, a consulting plant ecologist from Keefer Ecological Services Ltd.. “This Hot Spots work is crossing jurisdicational boundaries that aren’t usually crossed. We all know as ecologists that the plants don’t recognize political boundaries but for doing treatments, this is a major barrier.”

With the close proximity of the East Kootenay to the Alberta and American borders, it is a high priority area to “stop the spread”. This project has already identified new invaders that would not have been found otherwise.

“The work is helpful for Tobacco Plains because if no one does it our land will be covered in invasive weeds” says Gravelle. “The animals and nature won’t fluorish and it would affect hunting, nature, and native plants.”

Around the province, the Hot Spots Action Now! program is creating short-term jobs for more than 100 unemployed natural resource workers. Some crew members were hired from participants who completed the IPCBC’s Invasive Plant Training Program that provides individuals with invasive plant management skills through field and classroom training.

This Hot Spots Action Now! program is jointly funded by Western Economic Diversification’s Community Adjustment Fund and the Province’s Job Opportunities Program, and is delivered in collaboration with over 15 regional invasive plant committees across BC. The East Kootenay Invasive Plant Council has been critical in implementing the program in the Cranbrook area.

 “With the Invasive Plant Council of BC Training Program and the Hot Spots program, we are confident that we will have capacity well into the future” says Armagost.