A room full of new and experienced weed watchers gathered at the North Bend ranger station on Sunday, June 23 for the annual King County noxious weed training program. The goal of this program is to train hikers to spot and report infestations of invasive species on public lands. Catching these areas early is key to preventing their spread, but there are far too many trails for the staff to monitor themselves. This year the Mountaineers joined forces, focusing on invasive species in Washington’s wilderness areas. For new comers, this training can be an overwhelming introduction because one weed looks pretty much the same as the next. However, by the end of the day everyone could probably distinguish a knotweed from a hawkweed. More information is available at the King County and Mountaineers weed watching sites.

Sasha Shaw, King County Noxious Weeds

The dreaded butteryfly bush

Sarah Callaghan points out an unusually large butterfly bush

What’s this weed?