July 06, 2010
Tuesday PM

I was at Rotary Beach yesterday and noticed what I believe is Japanese knotweed beginning to take hold. For those of you who know knotweed, you know what a terrible thing this will be. For those of you who don t, think plants with large leaves that grow 15 feet high in one year and are so densely packed even grass finds it hard to grow between. There is an excellent example of what they are capable of doing as you go north around the sharp corner just before the first Sunset Drive turnoff. That dense growth on the right side is knotweed and only knotweed.

Now picture Rotary Beach looking like that. If knotweed takes hold at Rotary Beach, it could and probably would completely displace all the native shrubs there in just a few years completely changing the face of Rotary Beach. It would wipe out the wildflowers and get rid of the salmon berries, huckleberries and blueberries that everyone enjoys picking.

I have notified Public Works and am hoping they or another group will spearhead a planned (and it takes planning, not just pulling with this plant) effort to eradicate the knotweed. If volunteers are necessary, I am volunteering.

MJ Cadle
Ketchikan, AK

Received July 01, 2010 - Published July 06, 2010

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