Watch out, they’re back. Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) is blooming once again in the Columbia Shuswap region. This invasive plant may look pretty, but is one of our worst invasive plant species. It threatens aquatic habitats and takes over recreational waters forming dense vegetative mats encircling the waterbodies it invades. It is currently found in Gardom Lake, Little White Lake, White Lake, and the Turner Creek Trail System in Salmon Arm.
Each year volunteers put on their waders and break out the garden shears to remove this invasive plant from these ecologically and recreationally important water bodies. So far in 2016, weed pulls have been conducted at Gardom Lake, Little White Lake and the Turner Creek Trail system with over 15,000 kilograms of plant material being removed!
Additionally, each year the Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society (CSISS) maps the Yellow Flag Iris infestation tracking removal progress, and new in 2016, CSISS has partnered with Thompson Rivers University to install non-permeable mats to ensure this invasive plant does not return.
The Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society is dedicated to removing this invasive plant from our waterways and you can help too! Don’t purchase Yellow Flag Iris from garden centres (yes, some places still sell it!), contact CSISS to join in on a local weed pull, and keep an eye out for this riparian invasive plant in your water ways reporting all invasive sightings to the CSISS website.
For more information on Yellow Flag Iris identification, impacts and management techniques see here: http://columbiashuswapinvasives.org/yellow-flag-iris/
Or visit the CSISS webpage here: www.columbiashuswapinvasive.org
The Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention, management and reduction of invasive species in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District. CSISS is thankful for the generous support of the Columbia Basin Trust, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, and the Province of BC (the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, BC Parks, and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure).
