Plants Program Spotlight: Spring in Full Swing

Spring in Full Swing, by Tanya Chapple

Spring has come in like a lion this year, a hot summery lion. Personally, I would have preferred the stormy winter lion the saying usually implies. Spring is my favorite season and I like the feeling of lengthening that the longer days bring, feeling the sense of more time rather than less time. Spring is the busy time for MKWC’s plants program, and a Spring that moves quickly to Summer makes for a hectic few months.

The bulk of what we are up to is keeping a landscape free of risky weeds. Chasing down the edges of plants that are capable of altering ecosystems and limiting biodiversity. This might be finding knapweed in a wilderness area, or noticing an unusual plant along the highway – this early detection/rapid response to invasive plants is the backbone of MKWC’s Plants Program. This is how the program started, with small grants from the Six Rivers National Forest to track priority weeds and remove them from isolated locations, and is how we continue under the umbrella of the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership keeping a landscape wide focus on the work we do.

The Plants Program has grown along with MKWC and takes on a lot more these days, including many more weeds sites under management (818 sites in 2025, our 2016-2020 average number of sites is 189). We employ crews in both Happy Camp and Orleans and aim to keep them on year-round – pulling weeds, collecting seed, planting, monitoring, burning, restoring habitat – focused on plants restoration that is integrated with the other restoration work that MKWC does. Nearly everyone on the plants crew is now fire qualified and is involved in prescribed fire, several of us work closely with fisheries staff and integrate into riparian and meadow restoration work

A busy Spring is upon us! We still like to be available to you, our dearest community. Let me know if you want to come along for some adventurous weeding, email me pictures of your odd plants, be in touch! My email is tanya@mkwc.org. Happy flower season to you.