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Invasive Species

In April of 2021, Benton SWCD welcomed Michael Ahr as our Natural Resources Conservation Program Manager. Michael immediately hit the ground running as he and his team took on multiple inventories on the Willamette this summer, searching out Ludwigia and yellow floating heart and complementing the work of colleagues from Willamette Riverkeeper.

In my blog post The Native Link: The Importance of Native Plants to Birds, I describe the importance of native plants to the ecosystem, and more specifically, how birds benefit from native plants. But what exactly is the problem with nonnative, and more specifically invasive, plants and how do they affect birds and the ecosystem

The 2020 edition of the water weed guide includes 18 aquatic weeds of concern for Benton County and their native and non-native look-alikes.

Here is a summary of the invasive species control grants we have funded. Find out more here. Fiscal Year Recipient Invasive Species Amount Funded 19-20 Julia Bradshaw Invasive Blackberries $115.00 19-20 Jenny Brausch Japanese Knotweed $115.00 19-20 Jeremy Conyac Japanese Knotweed $115.00

Jenny Meisel, like so many of us, has been at home a lot recently. Like, a lot a lot. As in, the most consecutive time at home ever. While working a full-time job as Marion SWCD’s Native and Invasive Species Plant Specialist and simultaneously wrangling her extremely active three-year-old daughter, Jenny has still somehow managed

I was hiking along a trail in the Patagonia region of Chile recently, enjoying the 30 mph wind in my face, when I first spotted it… scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius). What?! I was 7,312 miles from Oregon, and more importantly 8,455 miles from Scotland! What was it doing here?! There among the Andes Mountains, glaciers,