Kwiaht finds urgent weed control measures on Indian Island

||| FROM RUSSEL BARSH for KWIAHT |||

Kwiaht’s Indian Island stewardship team made a disheartening discovery last week while checking nesting birds and trail conditions: a large lush patch of wild weedy and stinky Bur Chervil (Anthriscus caucalis), apparently introduced by a clan of river otters that set up housekeeping on the island over the winter to feast on crab and goose eggs.

A distant relative of culinary chervil, Bur Chervil is spread by spikey, sticky burs that travel on otter fur as well as human hikers’ socks: an added reason to keep the vegetated crown of the island closed until the end of the migratory bird nesting season. (A pair of Black Oystercatchers has been foraging around the island, and may nest once the geese have fledged and moved on.)

Kwiaht’s botanist Madrona Murphy, Indian Island coordinator Christian Oldham, and staff Morgan Pritchard and Sophie Citro cut, bagged and removed the tallest weeds before they could flower. You may see orange-vested Kwiaht and Bureau of Land Management personnel on Indian Island in May and June, continuing to cut back and mulch the Bur Chervil patch, careful to avoid disturbing soils, native wildflowers, and nests. All work will be carried out by hand, and with local plant materials.

New species of weeds continue to be introduced to the San Juan Islands inadvertently by traveling islanders, visitors, their pets, hay bales, and the garden trade. Recreational use of public lands is often accompanied by weed invasions, requiring vigilance and rapid action.

Your support for Kwiaht, and for our federal, state and county public land managers, is invaluable to keep our islands’ unique native wildflower meadows relatively intact.

You can also help by controlling weeds around your home so that they are not spread to our public lands by winds, birds, or otters! Contact the San Juan County Noxious Weed Program, noxiousweeds@sanjuancountywa.gov for weed identification and backyard control options.