There are many ways to get rid of pesky weeds. Local nonprofit, Deschutes Land Trust, hosts volunteering events every year, inviting people to get their hands dirty and help pull invasive weeds at protected lands in Central Oregon. It has several upcoming opportunities for people to become “weed warriors.”
The Weed Warrior events will continue every few weeks until October, bringing volunteers to different areas that can highly benefit from the eradication of weeds. When choosing a piece of land, the nonprofit looks for areas that are in major need of native plant restoration.
The quest to battle weeds or invasive plants is lengthy but necessary. Weeds grow rapidly, taking over areas and crowding out native vegetation. Pulling them helps restore native plant communities, which are critical to our environment.
“They are made to be in this environment, and so having these native plant communities is really beneficial; the wildlife has evolved alongside these plants,” said Jana Hemphill, the community engagement manager at Deschutes Land Trust. “It gives them food sources and hiding places for them to sleep and raise their young. So when these invasive plants come in, they just alter the landscape.”
According to Hemphill, pulling weeds by hand is the safest elimination method because it helps prevent the spread. Each Weed Warriors event has anywhere from five to 15 volunteers pulling up to eight hefty trash bags full of weeds. The events allow volunteers to mingle with and meet like-minded people while doing some good for the community.
“You can visually see the amount of work you did and what you’ve accomplished together, which I think is a really satisfying volunteer opportunity,” said Hemphill. “So that’s the thing I really love is that you can visually be like, ‘look at everything we got rid of in these three hours.'”
The Deschutes Land Trust was founded in 1995 in an effort to conserve and care for the beautiful lands and waters of Central Oregon and to connect the community to those protected areas. It works to restore native plant communities, streams, meadows and forests.
As an organization, it has protected over 18,000 acres of land. Deschutes Land Trust is passionate about connecting the community to the outdoors by offering free guided walks and hikes, education blog posts and a variety of volunteer opportunities.
This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2023.
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