CSISS Fall E-Newsletter

Aquatic Invasive Species Update
Clean, Drain, Dry

CSISS staff were busy throughout the summer conducting the invasive mussel lake monitoring program as well as attending outreach events.

This season, we sampled for mussel veligers at 20 sites on 12 waterbodies across the region. We also had the help of staff from the Stronger BC Salmon Arm Action Team to help us monitor substrate samplers, of which 20 were deployed across the region. We also continue to sample for invasive aquatic plants at each of our plankton sampling sites. No new species infestations were detected this season.

We visited at least one boat or hand-launch site per week between June and September. During these visits, we could connect with local and visiting watercraft owners and explain the importance of Cleaning, Draining and Drying watercraft. We were able to visit many aquatic-focused operations in the region (marinas, boat sales, pet/aquarium stores, campgrounds, resorts) to provide information about preventing the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species. We also recorded two great information sessions on Red-eared sliders and Bullfrogs and Invasive Insects. We wrapped up our outreach season by spending several weekends at the Salute to the Sockeye on the Adams River, where we were able to connect with over 1,750 people!

Update from the Field

Photo: CSISS, Shearing Consultants, BC Parks and many volunteers from Tourism Revelstoke collaborate to restore Blanket Creek Provincial Park 

Our Field team has been busy surveying, treating, and monitoring sites throughout the region. In fact, this year we completed 690 surveys for invasive plants, mechanically treated plants at 33 different sites and conducted herbicide monitoring at 54 sites!Blanket Creek
For the third year in a row, an army of enthusiastic volunteers helped us with a big day of restoration work at Blanket Creek Provincial Park this fall, planting 120 native plants! We were also very grateful to have indigenous knowledge keeper Mike Archie at the event to share his knowledge. The CSISS led project is a collaborative effort to rehabilitate the former gravel pit to a productive ecosystem. Huge thanks to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Habitat and Conservation Trust Fund, BC Parks, Tourism Revelstoke, Shearing Consultants, and many others for their support!

Yellow Flag Iris Removal 
Little White Lake

This summer CSISS continued a multi year effort to battle infestations of the invasive plant Yellow Flag Iris in the Shuswap region.

Over the course of this collaborative project, CSISS has joined forces with White Lake Stewards, Invasive Species Council of BC, Shuswap Trail Alliance, BC Parks, and other volunteers to inventory, treat and educate the public about Yellow Flag Iris in wetland ecosystems. This year our surveys found a combined infestation size of 884m² of Yellow Flag Iris across the Shuswap and thanks to the dedicated efforts of our staff, partners and many volunteers we were able to treat 724m²!

The Yellow Flag Iris work could not be completed without generous funding support from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Environment and Climate Change Canada (EcoAction Community grant), Columbia Shuswap Regional District, as well as in kind support from the many local volunteers with White Lake Stewards, the ISCBC’s Stronger BC Team, Shuswap Trail Alliance, Catherine Tarasoff (TRU), and the Province of BC (MFLNRORD and BC Parks).

Yellow Flag Iris is a wet-footed perennial that invades, wetlands, streams, lake shorelines, and shallow ponds. It creates dense stands in wet areas that out-complete native species such as cattails and sedges.  Yellow Flag Iris can clog irrigation canals and ditches and can be poisonous if ingested by grazing animals.

Outreach Update
Farmer’s Markets, Weed Pulls and more!

Our outreach program was running full speed ahead this year, with more events attended than previous years! You might have seen us at one of the 13 community events, 12 farmer’s markets, 4 youth events or 7 weed pulls we attended this year, heard us on the radio in Revelstoke with our monthly segment at Stoke FM, or saw us online as part of the Sustain the Stoke video series. CSISS was also prolific in the news this year, having 7 media releases, putting out 3 e-newsletters and being featured in 36 new articles. We were able to visit many different garden centers and campgrounds through the year to spread the message about being Plantwise and to Buy Local, Burn Local when it comes to firewood. We also partnered with the Central Kootenay Invasive Species Society to share our educational resources at the Classrooms2Communities conference in Revelstoke this fall.
These diverse events allowed us to interact with a wide range of community members across the Columbia-Shuswap in greater numbers than previous years, and it was a pleasure to connect with so many old friends and new faces!

Good Luck Kim!
CSISS has been very fortunate to have the expertise of Kim Kaiser (Interim Field Operations Program Coordinator) on our team since 2018. Now she is off to new adventures in Australia! We extend our gratitude for her tireless work and her contributions to CSISS over the years and wish her all the best in the land down under!Robyn is back!
CSISS Executive Director Robyn Hooper is back from parental leave! Feel free to get in touch with her directly at rhooper@columbiashuswapinvasives.org