Posted Date: November 05, 2022

This summer, FVISS staff spent some time out kayaking the Chilliwack sloughs network.  In July, FVISS joined the Friends of the Bell Slough, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver (ISCMV), and the Invasive Species Council of BC (ISCBC) Action Teams from Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley to kayak and clip yellow flag iris seed pods in the Bell slough! We were able to remove 242.5 lbs (110 kg) of seed pods!

Yellow flag iris plant growing in Bell Slough (photo by: Kaitlin Baril)		Yellow flag iris seed pod in Bell Slough (photo by: Kaitlin Baril)

Following this event in Bell Slough, FVISS decided to check out other areas of the Chilliwack sloughs network to survey for aquatic invasive plants! We teamed up with the ISCBC Action Teams from the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver and with ISCMV and headed out to Nelson Slough.  Some invasive species we observed were yellow flag iris, yellow floating heart, Eurasian watermilfoil, purple loosestrife, and curly-leaf pondweed!

Eurasian watermilfoil (photo by: Kaitlin Baril)		Curly-leaf pondweed (photo by: Kaitlin Baril)

 

Yellow floating heart in Bell Slough (photo by: Kaitlin Baril)

There are many areas in the Chilliwack sloughs that we haven’t been able to survey yet.  Luckily for us, you can help us by kayaking the slough network or surveying from land! You can join our iNaturalist project and help survey for invasive plants! Once you join the iNaturalist project, any observations you make in the slough network will automatically be added to our project!

 

This will help us get a better understanding of which invasive species are present, and their distribution through the slough network!

 

Join our iNaturalist project here!