Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – FRI-Yay/Good News

~ John W. Howell

Today’s good news comes from the Good News Network. Here it is in its entirety.

Weed Warriors in Action – credit, Montgomery County Parks.

Wash. D.C’s ‘Weed Warrior’ Volunteers Tackle ‘Mile-a-Minute’ Invasives to Save the Capital’s Trees

By Andy Corbley

Around the capital beltway or Washington’s famous Rock Creek Park, you may see a group of people ripping up vines along the treeline beside the roads.

If you have then you’ve glimpsed superheroes who traded in their capes for gardening gloves and their time for the satisfaction of terminating an invasive species and saving a native tree.

Washington D.C’s “Weed Warriors” are a group of volunteers going back to 1999 that work for free to keep hundreds of species of invasive shrubs, vines, and climbers from taking over native ecosystems.

Among the 600 or so non-native invasive plant species found in and around our nation’s capital, some, like Polygonum perfoliatum, also known as the “mile-a-minute” vine, can be devastating. Suffocating trees by overgrowing the leaves in their canopy branches, a mile-a-minute can kill thousands of trees every year.

Since 1999, Weed Warrior volunteers have logged over 135,000 hours of time weed whacking in Montgomery County alone. Anyone can become a Weed Warrior; the group works in units for two-hour spaces removing weeds or planting native species in their place.

These invasive species management events are led by specially-trained volunteer Weed Warrior Supervisors and/or staff from the Montgomery Parks Dept. Warriors can get certified to de-weed in their spare time or lead events on their own. They can even have their own unique patch of ground in the D.C.-Metro area to control.

Why would anyone want to trade their free time for laboring hours away for free doing something our tax dollars are supposed to do for us? The answer is simple: it’s addicting.

“If I have any good mental health, it’s due to Weed Warrioring,” said 74-year-old area resident Barbara Francisco. “You have a sense of accomplishment.”

Francisco spoke to Justin Moyer of the Washington Post, who found the volunteer groups were filled with people who were happy to get out into nature and make a meaningful impact on biodiversity.

Weed Warriors planting native species – retrieved from Montgomery County Parks

The Weed Warriors website states that non-native, invasive plant species (NNIs) can alter the complex webs of plant-animal associations that have evolved over thousands of years to such a degree that plants and animals once familiar to us are eliminated.

In meadows, for example, NNI monocultures can threaten butterfly populations because they can no longer find the native host plants they depend on for survival. In forests, NNI vines can strangle and smother trees. NNI shrubs can displace and shade out native plants that provide birds and other wildlife with food and shelter.

Recent research has even shown that NNIs can alter soil chemistry and disrupt the growth of the mycorrhizal fungi on which healthy forests depend.

Anyone who feels this is something they want to contribute their time to can go to the Montgomery County Parks website here and look at the upcoming Weed Warrior events—the next one is October 21st.

The good news is there are folks who care enough to spend their own time in saving indigenous plant life. Today’s JohnKu talks about investment. I hope you have a super weekend.

Volunteer by John W. Howell © 2023

Scratch a volunteer,

And underneath, you will find . . .

Passion, strength, and love.

92 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – FRI-Yay/Good News”

  2. A wonderful and uplifting and hopeful post, John! Thanks so much for sharing just when I was beginning to think good news was a thing of the past. Bless every one of these folks!

    Because I haven’t been out often in the last three years, I don’t know the current state of the kudzu vines that took over much of the south some years back. I HOPE they’ve been visited by a few warriors of their own, and if I were in better shape (or even allowed out of the house right now), I’d become a Weed Warrior, myself.

    As always, your JohnKu is right on the mark! 😀 ❤

    Liked by 1 person

      1. We have, indeed, and I try to tell myself things WILL change for the better before too much longer, but myself is having trouble believing me. Doh! Still, I cling to hope! 😊

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Wonderful work they are doing. I always wonder just how these invasive species find their way here. Accident? Someone thought they were cool and brought them over, only to realise that it was a bad idea… like the various bugs brought in for one reason, only to create more trouble.
    Wonderful story, John. Happy Friday!

    Liked by 2 people

  10. That’s so cool, John. In the south, kudzu was brought in and it took over, destroying many native plants. Russian Olive trees are another problem for the southwest. Both are proof that nature should be left alone and not tampered with. Good to see these volunteers doing their part to keep the ecosystem the way it should be.

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  11. Wonderful post, John. Your JohnKu perfectly captures the goodness of the volunteers – and the potential for each of us to add our services in one way or another. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Good news, indeed! Thanks for sharing this. My family lives in this area, and we’ve volunteered to pick up trash in parks. And it’s wonderful to read about other volunteers who are pulling up the non-native invasive plants in the parks.

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  14. Just about all plants want to be invasive. It is all out warfare for light and water. Whoever is the tallest wins. It is not just ‘Non Native’ native invasives are just as bad – poison ivy, thistle, grape vines, and many more will do all they can to take over. And no kudzu has not quietly gone away. And with global warming it is slowly marching north. And once established ‘eradication’ becomes a pipe dream. Seeds and roots are just waiting to bounce back and take over an area. Good story John.

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  17. Another great story about what selfless people will do to improve our world. It’s very uplifting to read about this! Not that I am inclined to drive to Washington to weed! Got enough of them around here!

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  21. The kudzu here in FL is out of control. Our power company went through town butchering, I mean trimming back, all the trees that were growing into the electrical wires. Heck, you can drive down any street and see kudzu not only wrapped around poles and trees but making its way across the street on the power lines. Gotta be a way to get rid of that. Good on the Weed Warriors!

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  24. Lovely. I guess everywhere has its terrorist NNIs
    We’ve had well meaning botanists since the Victorians doing that to us. One we have – Japanese knotweed- is a bamboo that can cause damage to building foundations. It’s not a problem in Japan because it has a mite that eats it. We could introduce the mite but when it’s sorted out the knotweed… such a bugger. I did laugh in New Zealand when I was there as one of their worst are lupins. We spend a fortunate trying to keep them in the UK and their colours are stunning. Such a weird old world

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  34. This is a wonderful story, John. I can understand why the volunteers are passionate about what they do. Have you heard about the goats that eat away all the poison ivy at Arlington Cemetery?

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  36. As someone who does not particularly enjoy yard work, especially weeding, I am way impressed. I do love trees and flowers, though, so good on them!

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