So far this year, the CKISS field crew has been busy mechanically removing invasive plants, meeting with landowners, conducting inventories and many other things. With six staff dedicated to on the ground invasive species management it is the biggest crew CKISS has had to tackle invasives in our region.
Here are a few of the highlights:
We have been all over the region, removing marsh plume thistle in Arrow Park, surveying for garlic mustard in Castlegar and meeting with landowners in Creston to discuss poison hemlock and wild parsnip management on their properties. If you find any of these high-priority species, please let us know by submitting an invasive species report on our website!
The CKISS field crew has begun a large-scale inventory of invasive plants for the Regional District of the Central Kootenay (RDCK). This exciting project includes combing through RDCK properties all over the region to determine which invasive plants are in the area. The RDCK can use this information to develop future management plans to reduce the impacts of invasive plants on their properties. These sites have included fire halls, water treatment facilities, administration properties, parks and more.
CKISS staff have been putting their invasive plant identification skills to use with these inventories, identifying all invasive plants on site. We have found a variety of invasive plants as well as many native plants! To improve your plant identification skills and for tips on how to manage invasive plant species, check out the species profiles on the CKISS website.
Among many other tasks, the CKISS field staff has had the exciting opportunity to work on local conservation and restoration properties this season. In June, CKISS spent time at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s restoration project in Creston. The NCC enlisted CKISS’ help to control invasive species in this newly built wetland area. This area is part of the Frog Bear Conservation Corridor which is the only known breeding area for the northern leopard frog in BC. CKISS staff surveyed the area and began manual removal of invasive species that can quickly spread in freshly disturbed areas. It is such a pleasure to work on restoration projects aimed at protecting habitats of species of concern.
To stay in the loop about what we are doing this season, check out our Instagram page.
