The District’s Knotweed Treatment Crew works July-September in the upper Nisqually and South Prairie Creek watersheds to remove this invasive plant from sensitive riparian areas. L to R: Sydney Westerland, Serenity Ainsworth, Kaytlyn Pepe, Ethan Greer, Jon Harris.
The District’s knotweed programs
continue in the Upper Nisqually
and South Prairie Creek watersheds,
making good progress on the effort
to rid riparian areas of this aggressive
invasive plant that causes much
ecological disruption, especially
along streams and rivers. With summer
being the most effective time to
treat this weed, the District brought
on a five-member seasonal treatment
crew, and two monitoring interns.
The interns are charged with walking
miles of waterway, noting the presence,
location, and
degree of infestation
of knotweed. This allows the District
to track the effectiveness of previous
knotweed treatments and strategically
develop a work plan for the
treatment crew. Comprehensive and
consistent treatment, working from
the upper watershed to downstream
areas, is the best way to remove this
plant and prevent re-infestations.
District Americorps service member Nick Cusick leads knotweed monitoring interns Allison Paul and Kristi Floyd in assessing knotweed locations along the mainstem of the upper Nisqually River.