Residents up and down the Columbia Basin are encouraged to be on the lookout for noxious weeds.

Wildsight’s Columbia Wetlands Invasive Plant Species Project, implemented in 2008, focuses on early detection, prevention, research and management strategies. It also educates communities and raises the awareness of the threats invasive plants can pose to the wetland ecosystem.

According to their website information, Wildsight says they are learning that the Columbia Wetlands are largely free of noxious weeds, the organization wants to keep it that way. These invasive plants can pose huge threats to the wetland ecosystem. They disrupt the diversity of living creatures, displace native plants and could be disastrous to the delicate web of life within the wetlands.

Rachel Darvill, upper Columbia program co-ordinator for Wildsight, says the invasive species project is working to remove current infestations and to prevent any new invaders from moving in.

Darvill says that with a recent influx of funding from the CBT, the program will move forward with various initiatives like following the migratory water fowl that can transport the invasive plants’ seeds and monitoring major boat launches on Lake Windermere.

“Plants can get caught and dragged in parts of the boat and then the seeds get transported. That’s why it is really important for boaters to properly clean their boats and trailers before placing them in another body of water.”

As far as aquatic invasive plant species, Darvill says that surveying up and down the Columbia Wetlands has so far yielded no invasive plant species.

“There were some worries about Milfoil, but the species we found are native to this region so they aren’t actually posing a problem.”

Darvill says that the program will continue with ongoing vigilance to remove invasive plants and monitoring aquatic plants. She explains that plans for the program next year will include continuing community weed pulls and potentially starting a community weed program.

“With this program, we would survey people’s yards and help them to learn about the kinds of invasive plant species that might be growing there. Then, with funding, we could potentially replace the invasive species with a similar looking native species of plant.”

Wildsight has stated that invasive plants are species introduced deliberately or unintentionally outside of their natural habitats. They have the potential to pose undesirable or detrimental impacts on humans, animals or ecosystems and can quickly establish and flourish on both disturbed and undisturbed sites. They have a competitive advantage over other vegetation, as they are free from their natural ‘enemies.’ This allows them to out-compete native plants and agricultural crops for space, moisture and nutrients.

Darvill says she thinks the invasive species project has been going well.

“I think we have been very successful so far. Before the project began there was no baseline data for invasive plants at all major access points into the wetlands and we have that now so I think we have achieved our biggest goal. The community weed pull has also been a big factor in the success of this project.”

“Wildsight thanks the following organizations for funding the Columbia Wetlands Invasive Plant Species Project: Columbia Basin Trust, Columbia Kootenay Fisheries Renewal Partnership, Rural Golden/CSRD, Regional District of East Kootenay, The McLean Foundation and Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners.”

Darvill said that the educational component of this project is ongoing.

Educational pamphlets are located throughout the Wetlands and a pdf version is available on the website. People are welcome to contact Darvill by phone to receive a pamphlet in the mail as well at 250-344-4961.

For more information on this and other Wildsight projects, visit their website at www.wildsight.ca.