The Friends of Lois Creek, Vahana Goats, East Kootenay Invasive Species Council (EKIS) and Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook are inviting everyone to come out and help out a herd of goats! This kid-friendly weed pulling event will help us to control a patch of invasive Spotted Knapweed threatening the ecology of the entire Lois Creek trail system.
The hungry goats will be in Lois Creek this Sunday, from 10–3 pm, near the west end of Powerline Trail just above Florence’s Gully.
Cailey Chase of Vahana Nature Rehabilitation specializes in target-grazing with goats. She will be using an electric fence to focus the goats on the problem knapweed patch.
“The goats reduce the ability of the plants to photosynthesize and that stresses them, decreasing their competitive advantage,” explains Cailey. “Hand-pulling is very effective when paired with target-grazing.”
Originally designed in collaboration with Mainstreams, the program is intended to educate more people about invasive plants and to help make controlling invasive plants common practice with trail users.
This year marks the fourth time Friends of Lois Creek and Vahana Goats have invited goats to graze in a targeted area to control invasive weeds in the Lois Creek trail system. This Sunday we are making some improvements to the event, including increased signage, more education about appropriate hand-pulling, and installation of a compost bin on Powerline Trail in which to deposit the plants pulled by trail users. Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook will be set up with their event tent to share information about other local environmental conservation, education, and regeneration initiatives that you can get involved in. EKIS will also have an information kiosk, offering helpful hand-pulling tips and other techniques for controlling invasive species.
Have questions? Call Cailey at 250-602-9123.
We hope to see you there!