Be a Citizen Scientist: Send Invasive Plant Photos to the Siuslaw

The Siuslaw National Forest needs your help to identify invasive plants on the forest. Approximately 10% of the Siuslaw National Forest is vegetated with non-native species. One of the best ways to eliminate non-native species is to catch the population when it is small. This is commonly referred to as early detection, rapid response or EDRR (www.Invasives.org/edrr).

 

Be a citizen scientist by using the EDDMapS West app to provide information to Siuslaw botanists tracking and treating the spread of invasive species. Be on the lookout particularly for Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus), butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), and false brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum). 
 

Pale Yellow Iris	Japanese Knotweed	Butterfly Bush

Citizen science is an important tool to keep unwanted species off our landscape. Forest visitors can cover much more area than Forest Service staff and land managers can. We rely on citizen observations to help us detect new populations of invasive species, so we can treat them quickly.

 

The EDDMapS West smartphone app is free from the Apple Store and Google Play. Once you download it, you create an account and are ready to report. The app lists species found in the state, with photos of the species for reference. When you report a population, information is emailed to Forest Service, state, and county weed specialists with location and other information you provide. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can report populations via the EDDMapS West website (https://www.eddmaps.org/report/). 

 

Questions: Email Forest Botanist Chelsea Monks at chelsea.monks@usda.gov. Send photos of the species and the area found along with specific location data.

 

National Invasive Species Awareness Week:

Celebrate Feb. 20-24, 2023. Make time to start learning what your common local invasive species look like. Find information on National Invasive Species Awareness Week here: www.nisaw.org.