Elk Valley Invasive Plant Management Year 3

This multi-year project will provide a multi-stakeholder framework to minimize and contain invasive plant species and maintain biodiversity and ecological function in the upper Elk Valley with an emphasis on areas of high habitat value (such as bighorn sheep habitat and conservation properties).

Multi-stakeholder groups will work collaboratively to coordinate and implement a management plan designed to prevent, educate, inventory, contain, reduce, and monitor invasive plant species in the identified priority areas. This project will benefit bighorn sheep, elk, moose, white-tailed deer, mule deer, and grizzly bears.

Update: Multi-year project led to drop in invasive species prevalence

Because of treatment of top-priority invasive species in the previous years of this project, fewer sites needed treatment in the third year. In 2022, almost 60 hectares were treated at 199 sites, compared to 415 sites in 2021.

An inventory of invasive plants and data collection—vegetation plots and landscape-level photo plots—was carried out.

Engagement with stakeholders included a weed pull, attended by 22 people, and information shared at two farmers’ markets, reaching 112 people.