By WeedWise Technician, Samantha Kelly
As someone who grew up in the garden with my grandma, camping with my family, and swimming in the river with my dad, my passion for the natural world was instilled in me at a young age. My first job was a summer internship for The American River Parkway Foundation in Sacramento, California as an invasive species and restoration technician and now almost ten years later I am still living the dream and working to protect the world I love.
My name is Sam Kelly, and I have been working as a WeedWise Technician this season here at Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District. I earned my degree in Environmental Science and Management with a concentration in Ecological Restoration and a minor in Botany at Humboldt State University. Since graduation, I have worked as a Botany Aide for a private timber company in Northern California and a Biological Science technician for the BLM in the West Eugene Wetlands and in Yellowstone National Park. Much of my interests, background, and expertise is in botany and restoration and I am always continuing to work on refining my ecological knowledge! I am very passionate about conservation work, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
Having worked for many different agencies and organizations in a wide variety of habitats I have been able to see different approaches to land management and how strategies and priorities are implemented in different landscapes. It was especially interesting coming from working in the high desert ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park and then coming back to the temperate forest ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest. While some of the plant species we treat here in Clackamas County are the same as the species I treated in Yellowstone there are a lot of differences in what species are problematic. Even though there are differences between species and management strategies the goal is ultimately the same; to diminish the spread of invasive species and to target high vector areas.
Often weeds are spread from vehicles, equipment, or animals. In many cases figuring out where the seeds are coming from can be an important step in determining how best to manage it. In the Mt. Hood National Forest a lot of the areas we are managing are roadsides, rock quarries, and various recreation sites. This is because these are often the areas that invasive species first get brought in via car tires or construction equipment.
We also target species along rivers and creeks because many seeds travel and spread with the movement of water, depositing them in moist locations perfect for growth and establishment. By targeting these vector pathways, the goal is to diminish the spread of these invasives further into the natural environment.
As invasive species managers, we are often the first people to discover, identify, and subsequently treat infestations ranging in all different sizes and in different habitats. In some cases, we may stumble upon a lone Dalmatian toadflax plant in a dispersed camping area and can map and treat it before it can spread. In another case we may treat a knapweed population only to find it to be a much larger population than we had originally thought. In both cases, our work is important and meaningful. Even though it doesn’t feel great to find those large populations it is better to know about them and begin work to contain the infestation, rather than have it continue to go unchecked and spread.
It can be easy to get discouraged in this line of work and to fall into the mindset that all this is in vain because eradication, in many cases, is simply a goal that may never be achieved. We see certain areas where a specific species has taken off and we simply do not have the resources to be able to control it how we may truly want to. But I think it is important to do what we can and to focus on areas that we can work to keep species out of and on containment zones. Here at CSWCD we incorporate that sentiment into our work by using an Early Detection Rapid Response Management (EDRR) strategy where we focus on a list of priority species that we keep an eye out for and focus on for treatments.
It has been a positive experience working with a team that is willing to hear new ideas and continues to change and adapt to changing environments. It is also a team that is passionate and cares a lot. Everyone has different and unique skills that they bring to the table, and no one has succumbed to the mindset that what we are doing is in vain because we have all seen what happens if you do nothing and we have all seen successes.
I feel so lucky to have known my path from such a young age and to have had so many positive and influential role models and teachers who have helped progress my career from the very beginning. I feel like I am now at the point in my career where I can become the teacher in many ways and I hope I am able to pay it forward with the information I have learned along the way. Whether I am teaching a coworker about grass anatomy or explaining to a landowner the importance of invasive species removal, I hope I can leave a positive impact and share new information with someone who is as curious as I am.
I have learned so much this season about how important it is to involve the public and to do outreach to help stop the spread of invasive species since humans can play such a large role in the introduction and spread. I have learned that the landscape is constantly changing and that we will have to change and adapt with it and that different landscapes call for different management strategies.
It has been an honor to be a part of such a hardworking and passionate team – I wouldn’t have wanted to traverse through blackberry, wade through creeks, or climb steep slopes with anyone else! It has truly been a pleasure being able to work in and protect a place I love and to continue to learn and grow as an ecologist every day.