The war rages on, but the City of Fernie is making ground against invasive weeds in the community.
Spectrum Resource Group has been conducting Fernie’s invasive weed program.
Nathan O’Reilley with Spectrum says they’ve been able to make good progress.
“Overall 2024 was deemed successful,” he said.
“Not all work sites were managed but we did find new sites. The priority system we created seems to be working really well.”
There were 58 unique sites with invasive plants, which was an increase, but O’Reilley says the area size was lower.
“In 2022 we found 46 sites, which moved up to 52 sites in 2023 and then 58 in 2024. Although this seems alarming at first, if you actually dig into the numbers, we’re finding more sites, but the treatments are proving to be successful.”
There were 6.114 hectares infested with priority invasive plants, down from 8.896 hectares the year prior.
St. Johns Wort is the most prominent and concerning invasive plant in the city at 21 sites covering 3.441 hectares.
The company will be continuing its work this year.
Residents are also encouraged to do their part in reducing the spread of invasive plants.
Prevention includes not purchasing invasive plants from greenhouses, not planting invasive species in gardens, not removing plants from other locations and taking them home and dumping garden clippings in the forest.
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