JUNE 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
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Bumper crop of invasive weeds after wildfires New funding, smartphone app supporting control measures
by MYRNA STARK LEADER NELSON – A boom in
invasive plant species could result in a grim harvest a year after the province’s worst wildfire season on record. Burned out areas are ripe
for new plant growth and the disturbance of soil as crews fought fires, set up base camps and moved equipment has set an almost perfect table for the introduction of invasive plant species. “We have well over 100 [to]
150 invasive plant species but the impact those cause varies, just like the habitat they invade varies,” explains provincial invasive plant officer Val Miller, based in Nelson. Miller is no stranger to fires, but what sets this year apart is the sheer size of the 2017 burn. She is fortunate to have an employee with expertise in data analysis and GIS helping her assess the situation. Data on all the wildfires, including burn severity; location, type and construction of fireguards; staging areas; equipment drop points and helicopter pads, has been charted and merged with the provincial Invasive Alien Plant Program (IAPP) database to create a new predictive map of areas considered to be most at risk from invasive species. “Those are the areas that ...
we need to go to. We want to see the response of the invasive plants to that disturbance. Have they made it through? Are they re- establishing or have they been spread further?” Miller explains.
This year’s research will
mostly focus on survey work. More concrete results are expected next year, after a full growing season and the reseeding of burnt areas is complete. “In the next three to five
years, we’re probably going to have to enhance our activity in some of these areas where we know there was high, high risk of invasive species nearby or likely to be in that location before the fire,” Miller says. She notes weather conditions over the last five years have favoured invasive species. Warm autumns and a lack of early frosts have not cued biocontrol insects to infest plants.
Real risks Gail Wallin, executive
director of the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia (ISCBC), says concerns around fire- damaged land are very real. Badly burnt soil is exposed
and invasive plants can often establish more easily than native species. There’s also concern about the equipment called in to help fight the fires on very short notice which could have had a high risk of carrying invasive plant matter. ISCBC is calling on the
provincial government to increase its efforts to monitor and control invasive plant populations post-fire. “The feeling is they are not doing enough,” says Wallin. Protocols need to ensure equipment coming in to do post-fire remediation is clean and that clean seed is being used to reseed affected areas. Wallin notes seed often have a
NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING The 25th Annual Meeting of the Cattle Industry Development Council
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 3:00 p.m. At the Pineview Hall
6470 Bendixon Road, Prince George, B.C. Meeting Agenda:
Annual Report from Chair Update on Increasing the Check-off Auditors’ Report & Financial Statements Association Reports Ownership Identification Inc. Report Other Business Bar-B-Que Reception to Follow
Please RSVP by email:
checkoff@cattlefund.net
CIDC
www.cattlefund.net #4 -10145 Dallas Drive, Kamloops, B.C. V2C 6T4 Phone 250.573.3611
BCBFA
While spotted knapweed might lend colour to the landscape, it is one of a list of invasive weeds that experts fear will move into charred areas after last summer’s wildfires. FILE PHOTO
certain percentage of unknown seed which can harbour invasive plants. It’s a well-established fact
that invasive species can displace native vegetation, cause substantial economic and environmental damage and pose health risks to animals and people. “There’s a lot of invasive plant species in BC now and some of them are expanding and we don’t have the ability and the resources to adequately address and contain them all,” she says.
See WEEDS on next page o ANGUS TIME June 7-10th
Canadian Angus National Convention, Comox
September 29th AGM, Williams Lake
GOLD SHOWS Aug. 29th
-Sept.2nd Armstrong IPE Sept. 7-9th Lakes District Fall Fair
Tom DeWaal President 250.960.0022 z Carley Henniger Secretary 250.571.3475 British Columbia Angus Association
www.bcangus.ca BCBFA BC BREEDER & FEEDER ASSOCIATION
APP (ADVANCE PAYMENTS PROGRAM) FOR BC PRODUCERS FEEDER ASSOCIATIONS LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM | BRED HEIFER ASSOCIATIONS LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM
THE ADVANCE PAYMENTS PROGRAM IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR ALL BC PRODUCERS.
Producers can apply for an advance on calves, yearlings, lambs, bison, forage and grain up to $400,000.00 with the first $100,000.00 being interest free. Plus, interest relief through the Advance Payments Program is available to association members on their feeder cattle purchases.
Application forms are available at
www.bcbfa.ca or by contacting your local association or the BCBFA office. Financing for feeder cattle, sheep and bred heifers/cows is available throughout B.C. from Co-operative Feeder and Bred Heifer Associations. The Province provides a loan guarantee to the Association’s lender. All persons are eligible who reside in British Columbia, are at least 19 years of age and own or lease a farm or ranch. Financing for feeders is for a one year term. Financing for bred heifers/cows is over a 5 year term. Cattlemen, please contact your local association:
Cariboo Bred Heifer Cooperative Cariboo-Chilcotin Cooperative Feeders Assoc Fraser Nechako Bred Heifer Cooperative Assoc
Secretary: Lindy Gilson, Quesnel
Ph 250/992-8483 | Fax 250/992-8489 Ph 250/991-8413 email:
bearvlly@telus.net
Central Interior Feeders Cooperative Assoc Secretary: Audrey Cooper, Vanderhoof Ph 250/567-2049 | Fax 250/567-9049 email:
cifcasecretary@uniserve.com
Okanagan Feeders Cooperative Association Secretary: Michele Lypchuk, Armstrong Tel 250/546-2638 | Fax 250/546-8037 email:
ml@rhllp.ca
North Peace B.C. Feeder Cooperative North Peace B.C. Bred Heifer Cooperative Assoc South Peace B.C. Bred Heifer Cooperative Assoc
Secretary: Connie Patterson, Dawson Creek Ph 250/782-6272 | Fax 250/782-1881 Ph 250/219-0791 email:
pcc@neonet.bc.ca
ADVANTAGES TO THE LIVESTOCK PRODUCER
Reliable source of credit available on short notice from the Association.
Interest rate is competitive or better than on an individual basis.
5% deposit on feeders & 10% deposit on bred heifers allows producers to continue during periods of limited cash flow.
The association is controlled by the members.
Livestock mortality insurance. BC BREEDER & FEEDER ASSOCIATION
LINDY GILSON 308 St. Laurent Avenue, Qusenel, BC, V2J 6R1 P 250.992.8483 | F 250.992.8489 email:
bearvlly@telus.net
www.bcbfa.ca
CIDC Check-off
Check-off
Beef at
Work
BCID Fund
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