This past Thursday, the Golden chapter of Wildsight hosted its annual weed pull, bringing community volunteers together to dig up invasive plants and, hopefully, have a bit of fun along the way. The task sounds simple enough: grab a bag and some gloves and start pulling weeds. But the impact goes a little deeper than simply giving a local park some landscaping.
This event marked the 17th annual Community Weed Pull, part of Wildsight Golden’s ongoing Community Invasive Plant Program, or CIPP. For more than a decade, the program has been working to protect local ecosystems by identifying and removing invasive plants throughout the community. Established in 2010, the program focuses on managing invasive species on public lands while also helping residents learn how to identify and responsibly remove invasive plants on their own properties.
Throughout the summer, the program monitors priority areas around Golden, targeting species such as spotted knapweed, common tansy, common burdock and western goatsbeard. The work is done primarily through non-toxic, mechanical removal, with the goal of preventing invasive plants from spreading and giving native species more room to thrive. The program also keeps an eye out for new species, allowing them to be addressed before they become more established and difficult to control.
Each year, Wildsight employs an Invasive Plant Program Coordinator to oversee the program and recruits volunteers throughout the summer to help with the work. The community weed pulls provide an opportunity for residents to get involved directly while also getting a closer look at the plants that can cause problems in local ecosystems. By learning to recognize these species, volunteers can become more aware of what is growing in their own backyards, along trails and throughout Golden’s green spaces.
Thursday’s event at Confluence Park was the second community weed pull of the summer, following the first event at the Golden Disc Golf Course on July 18. At Confluence Park, volunteers worked along the Kicking Horse River, removing invasive plants including spotted knapweed, western goatsbeard and common tansy.
Despite the hot and smoky evening, the group continued working through the park, pulling plants, filling bags and sharing plenty of laughs along the way. It was a fairly simple task, but one that demonstrated how small efforts can add up when a group of people works together toward a common goal.
After spending the evening digging through the vegetation, volunteers were rewarded for their hard work with burritos from Reposados.
Invasive plants can be easy to overlook, particularly when they are mixed in among the native vegetation or produce flowers that make them seem harmless.
Once established, however, some species can spread quickly, competing with native plants for space, water and nutrients and changing the habitats that local wildlife depend on. Removing them early can help prevent a small patch from becoming a much larger problem.
For the volunteers who spent Thursday evening pulling weeds at Confluence Park, the work may have looked like a few hours of digging, but it was also a hands-on way to contribute to the health of the places that make Golden home.
