The Montgomery Parks has published their 2023 numbers for Weed Warriors and there are some pretty impression efforts in the County Park system for removing non-native invasive plants. 2023 was a record-breaking year for the program; there were 12,490 total Weed Warrior hours for the year.
Sarah Morse on the left on the Capital Crescent Trail instructing a work group on how to remove bush honeysuckle.
Little Falls Watershed Alliance Executive Director Sarah Morse leads the pack for the most hours recorded by a Weed Warrior supervisor. Weed Warrior supervisors have special training and are allowed to lead community workdays that are open to the public. Sarah led 20 workdays on Park land in 2023 supervising 838.5 man hours. Sarah also leads workdays on State Highway land, in DC Parks, and in the Montgomery County Public Schools Forest Conservation Land for a total of 25 events in 2023.
Weed Warrior Supervisor Celia Martin was not far behind leading 24 events in the Little Falls Stream Valley Park for 685 supervisor hours.
We also have 23 Certified Weed Warriors working in the Little Falls watershed. Certified Weed Warriors have attended the Montgomery Parks Weed Warrior training and are allowed to work unsupervised in the Parks. More about how you can become a certified Weed Warrior is HERE.
What did the Little Falls Weed Warriors do?
According to the Parks data, we freed 1,142 trees from strangling vines and smothering bushes.
And our most popular plant to conquer was porcelain-berry vines, followed by English ivy, and then bush honeysuckle. We also removed oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, creeping euonymus, garlic mustard (in the spring), wine berry, winged euonymus, leatherleaf mahonia, Japanese knotweed, mile-a-minute, Italian arum, bamboo, privet, multi-flora rose, chocolate vine, pachysandra, and more.
where did we work?
Sarah works primarily along the Capital Crescent Trail and in the Little Falls Stream Valley Park above River Road. Celia hosts her work days below Massachusetts Avenue in the lower part of the Little Falls Stream Valley Park, in Westmoreland Hills Local Park and along the Capital Crescent Trail. But we have other certified weed warriors working at sites all over the watershed.
According to Park data, work sites in the Little Falls Watershed by the number of workdays are:
Boundary Park NCA: 2
Capital Crescent Trail: 26
Little Falls SVU 1 (South of River Rd): 44
Little Falls SVU 2 (North of River Rd): 28
Norwood LP: 14
Westmoreland Hills LP: 14
Join the Mission - Get Certified, Participate in a community event
It’s against Montgomery Parks rules and regulations to remove plant material from a park unless authorized. That’s where the Weed Warrior Program comes in. By training and certifying citizens to remove non-native invasives from parkland, Montgomery County has a robust program that allows residents to help save our forests.
Sign-up for an Event: You can join one of our community workdays by visiting our events page and registering. We provide all necessary tools and gloves as well as instructions. Our workdays are open to everyone, but students under 14 must be accompanied by a supervising adult. No experience or previous training necessary.
Book a Private Event: We host dozens of workdays for office groups, civic groups, scouts, or just any group looking to make a difference. We provide tools, gloves, and a supervisors, you provide manpower. These days are arranged at mutually convenient times. Contact us at info@LFWA.org for more information.
Become a Certified Weed Warrior: Montgomery County certification program trains individuals to identify and remove non-native invasives. After receiving their “green card”, the weed warriors can work anywhere in the Park system without supervision. There is online training as well as in person training days. More information HERE.