Northwest Invasive Plant Council

A Record Number of Community Weed Pulls

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:09:21 -0800

NWIPC facilitated a record number of Community Weed Pulls in 2011 - A big thank you to all the Community Groups that participated! Download the 2011 Community Weed Pull Summary to take a quick look a the Community groups working on weeds in your neighbourhood.

Check Out the 2012 Weedy Events

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:09:14 -0800

The 2012 NWIPC Events Calendar has been posted to the website. Take a look at when we'll be in your community and then come out and join us! Events are still being added to this list. If you have any events you'd like to see the information booth at or a group interested in hearing about weeds contact us at info@nwipc.org. Help us spread the word not the weeds!

Weed Free Forage and Straw For Sale!

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:58:56 -0800

2011 Photo contest Winners

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:46:01 -0800

The votes have been tallied and we are please to announce the winners for the 2011 Photo contest! Landscape 1st Place: Shirley Hamblin Runners up Claire Watkins and Marc Shuffert Plant Portrait 1st Place: Julianne Leekie Runners up: Shirley Hamblin and Marc Shuffert Youth Ellena Schuffert Congratulations and a big thank you to all who participated!

NWIPC Fall Meeting Minutes Available

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:37:29 -0800

Check out what happened at the Nov. 15 Fall Meeting by downloading the minutes. By reading the minutes you'll get a first hand summary of what happened in each IPMA this summer, find out what potentially invasive plants being considered for our invasive plant list and much more!

NWIPC 2010 Reports Now Available

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:39:25 -0800

Are you having a hard time remembering if blueweed was reported in your area or what invasive plant training you attended last year? Do you have questions about the NWIPC budget and how it is spent? Then look no further than the NWIPC 2010 Annual Report and the 2010 Financial Audit reports. They are now available from our website under Downloads.

NWIPC in your local News

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:28:51 -0800

Within the past month NWIPC has been featured in two news stories around the region. It looks like we're spreading the word - not the weeds! Check out Drinkwater Environmental and their work in the Prince Rupert area Invasive weeds becoming a concern in the northwest in The Northern View. http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/thenorthernview/news/122540959.html Program Manager Andrea Eastham, and IPMA Contractor Eric Nijboer with Spectrum Resource Group were featured on Prince George evening news discussing Beautiful but Invasive Plants what do to about them. Check out the video online at the link below.

Know What You Grow! Mountain bluet factsheet available

Tue, 17 May 2011 11:35:21 -0800

Learn all about this tenacious garden escapee in our new factsheet.

What's growing...at the Library?!

Thu, 12 May 2011 10:44:57 -0800

What You Need to Know About Himalayan Balsam

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:10:53 -0800

Impatiens glandulifera is an extremely invasive plant popping up all over the NWIPC operating area. It is a tall (60-200 cm) annual herb with a pink-purple to white orchid-like flowers and red-ish bamboo-like stems. This amazing plant has exploding seed pods and can produce up to 2500 seeds per plant! Historical records from Europe indicate that it spreads fast along wetlands to cover vast. It was first introduced in Canada less than 60 years ago and is now considered a common weed.

Do You Have a Knotweed Problem?

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:40:02 -0800

If you have a knotweed problem check out the presentation (link below) put together by Mike Cheney on saltwater and light-suppression techniques for knotweed control. Follow Mike's battle with knotweed on Haida Gwaii over several repeated treatments and through years.

First Nations Partnerships in Invasive Plant Managment

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:23:47 -0800

Take a look at how the Gixtsan are "Weeding out the Invaders" as part of their invasive plant management program. Check out the presentation given by NWIPC First Nations Coordinator Merci Hillis, and NWIPC Director Bob Drinkwater at the international Weeds Across Boarders Conference in Banff Alberta, May 28, 2008 by selecting the link below.

Let the Bugs Do the Work

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:12:50 -0800

The NWIPC is always looking for new and better ways to eliminate invasive plants. One interesting way is bring in a natural predator of the weed to attack and control its growth and spread. This is called "biocontrol". This fall, the Ministry of Forests and Range (MFR) with help from the NWIPC released the weevil Rhinusa antirrhini on Dalmatian and Common toadflax plants at two locations within city of Prince George. The weevil R. antirrhini is one of several biocontrol agents that have been through extensive testing to be sure that it will not attack native plants. Adult weevils feed on the pollen and lower parts of toadflax plants. Female lay eggs in the flowers and the eggs hatch in about two weeks. The emerging larvae feed on the toadflax seeds. After the weevils mature they feed for a short time on the toadflax stems before moving into the soil to overwinter. All this feeding reduces the number of seeds produced and lowers the survival of attacked plants. The two Prince George release sites will be checked in 2008 to see if the weevil survived the winter. The goal is to have the weevil reduce the number of plants and its seed production. The weevil is not expected to get rid of all the toadflax plants, only weaken them. To eradicate all toadflax plants other control methods like hand-pulling or herbicide application would have to be used.