RBCA and Friends Rein In Invasive Weeds
For the Stikine watershed it is too late; white and yellow sweet clover has completely overrun significant portions of this wide braided river. On the Resurrection River we have one small islet that is thick with white sweet clover. We will work to prevent our river from being choked with this invasive weed. Other primary invaders threatening our area include bird vetch, white and yellow sweet clover, scentless false mayweed, hempnettle, quackgrass and narrowleaf hawksbeard.
RBCA recently joined the Kenai Peninsula Cooperative Weed Management Area (KP-CWMA) to gain additional help in fighting these weed invaders. In late July, the KP-CWMA and the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District sent a team of four weed warriors to yank weeds for an entire week from 15 Seward area sites. Unfortunately, high water prevented them from completing their effort on the problem islet, but RBCA organized a volunteer squad to complete the pulling of sweet clover in August. Since these seeds can remain viable for up to 80 years, we will need to stay vigilant to prevent further spreading.
Invasive weeds have also been a significant issue along the shoulders of Seward area roads. After tons of sweet clover were removed from along the Seward Highway a year ago, we were pleased to see only a small fraction returning this year. Exit Glacier Road has also had several invasive species growing on its shoulders. In June, Kenai Fjords National Park and the Chugach National Forest organized a multi-agency weed pull and made significant progress in preventing weeds from reaching the Exit Glacier area. With persistence we can keep our amazing back yard relatively free form these aggressive invaders.