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CARING FOR OUR LAND: JOHN DAY RIVER

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Clearing Invasive Plants at John Day River

Removing purple loosestrife, a non-native invasive plant species, at John Day River Marsh was one of the projects tackled during Weed Warrior Wednesdays in 2021. This habitat reserve—nestled in a bend of the John Day River and connected hydrologically to our nearby Wolf Bay Habitat Reserve on the Columbia—is accessible only by canoe or kayak. Removing loosestrife helps promote some native pollinator species, such as Douglas spirea, Douglas aster and wapato. So far, staff has planted all three at John Day River Marsh. MORE

PHOTOS

  • NCLC staff and volunteers travel the John Day River in canoes, finding small inlets where they can get onto the property by foot and then wade through thick, tall brush to find the purple loosestrife.
  • According to NCLC land steward Eric Owen, purple loosestrife is pretty rife along the Columbia River. However, he adds, “up some these tributaries, it’s not nearly as widespread, so it’s really important and impactful that we’re able to get rid of it in these areas.”
  • Loosestrife is an invasive plant that threatens riparian systems such as the scrub-shrub habitat at John Day River Marsh, a roughly 25-acre property that NCLC acquired in 2003.