Eight girls from 2nd Parksville Girl Guides volunteered to cut Scotch broom with Broombusters on May 12.
Together they chose the Parksville-Coombs Rail Trail as a location.
Kaitlin Fader, operations coordinator for Regional District of Nanaimo Natural Areas, supported the request, according to a news release by Broombusters Invasive Plant Society.
Joanne Sales of Broombusters brought the loppers and showed them how to use the tools to “Cut Broom in Bloom” at ground level. They started at 5:30 p.m. and by 8 p.m. the girls had cleared a long stretch of broom. They ended the night feeling very happy with their success, as you can see from the photo.
Volunteers all over Vancouver Island and the Mainland are cutting broom now. When asked why they bother, many mention that Scotch broom is a serious fire hazard and they don’t want it in their community. Others are concerned that Scotch broom is the top offender threatening biodiversity.
According to a recent study, Scotch broom is the invasive plant doing the greatest harm to species at risk in B.C., including terrestrial mammals, birds, insects and bees. Lovers of forests are concerned with how Scotch broom keeps forests from regrowing.
Specifically in the Parksville area, people are upset by how Scotch broom quickly and totally took over the huge acreage on the Alberni Highway near Highway 19 in just two years, after the forest was cut down in 2020. Whatever the reasons, Scotch broom has got to go.
READ MORE: Qualicum Beach council supports call to get rid of broom on Vancouver Island
As the Scotch broom has started to bloom late this year, volunteers will be cutting until around June 10. If you want to help, please contact Broombusters through its website, or info@broombusters.org.
All our local municipalities and regional districts are in full agreement: we have to get this alien invasive plant under control.
There are community cuts several days each week in the Parksville-Qualicum Beach area, including in Nanoose, Errington, Bowser, Whiskey Creek and everywhere in between. But their success in controlling broom all depends on volunteers. Tools are supplied. Can you help? It’s fun!
— NEWS Staff, submitted
