Presentation Given By: Renee Mitchell, Pierce Conservation District

1. Nisqually Knotweed Control Project
Presented to the
Nisqually River Council
by:
Renee Mitchell
Pierce Conservation District
5430 66th Avenue East
Puyallup, WA 98371
(253) 845-9770
reneem@piercecountycd.org

2. Project Partners

3. 2012 Project Update

4. Funding for 2012 consisted of:
 Washington State Recreation and
Conservation Office Salmon Recovery
Funding Board (SRFB)
 WSDA Knotweed Program
 Department of Natural Resources – Job
Creation Bill Grant
 USFWS Grant - Private Landowner Grant

5. 2012
 PCD continued knotweed awareness to the public via outreach letters,
brochures, face-to-face meetings, emails, and phone calls
 Presented a Knotweed Educational Workshop to the town of Eatonville
 Presented knotweed education awareness to: Nisqually River Council, Roy
Salmon Homecoming, Pierce County SWM WCC crew & Noxious Weed
Control staff, UW Center For Sustainable Forestry - Pack Forest, Nisqually
Stream Stewards, and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB)
 Held a knotweed bending event with the U.S. Forest Service sponsored
Discovery Teams – bent 5 acres of knotweed above Big Creek

6. 2012 Summer Field Crews
3 field crews allocated to the
Upper Nisqually Watershed
= *18 workers on the ground
+ Program Manager

7. Upper & Lower Watershed:
 Goat Creek, Big Creek, Reese Creek, Roundtop
Creek, East Creek, Mashel River, Lynch Creek,
Ohop Lake, Ohop Creek, Medicine Creek,
McAllister Creek, Red Salmon Creek, and
several Unnamed Tributaries

8. 30.25 total miles of river & creeks surveyed within the
watershed
 54 private & public-owned parcels surveyed and
treated
 7.7 new miles of initial treatment in the upper
watershed
 338 acres of knotweed infestations treated

* Treatment estimated at a 90% mortality rate

9. Nisqually
Watershed Control
as of 2012

10. Past Knotweed Treatment
2010
2012

11. Continued…..
2012
2013

13. Problems encountered
 Poor property access within Upper Watershed – Lewis
County side of river
 Difficult terrain
 Extreme heat in the late summer
 Patchy satellite coverage for surveying in remote areas

14. 2013 Knotweed Control Season
23 Pierce Conservation
District and DNR
workers dedicated to
the Nisqually Watershed

17. 2013 Treatment Goal

18. Partnerships at Work………
Department of Natural Resources –
Upper Watershed Control
Tacoma Power - Alder Lake Survey & Control
USFW – Wildlife Refuge & Lower Watershed Control

19. Upper Nisqually
Watershed
Mineral Creek 0.5 Mile Knotweed
Infestation

21. New Concerns
Knotweed located in tidal influenced zone
within the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge
Knotweed found at Alder Lake Dam

22. Questions??