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Jed Boal ReportingSalt Lake City this week joins the offensive against a prolific plant that threatens our hillsides. They need help to tackle a weed problem that gets worse every year.
Many of us know first-hand that if you don't attack weeds in the spring, you'll lose the battle. That's the case with Dyer's Woad, a weed so invasive, it threatens large tracts of open space in Salt Lake.
Vanessa Welsh and Tracie Kirkham may well pull more weeds this week than you will all summer. The public utilities workers are organizing volunteers this week for an all out assault on Dyer's Woad.
Vanessa Welsh, Salt Lake City Public Utilities: "The biggest problem with Dyer's Woad is its ability to spread. It takes over all native plant communities. "
They'll pull and bag the weed on the hills above the city and in City Creek Canyon. Invasive weeds like Dyer's Woad increase wildfire risk and soil erosion. They threaten the watershed and out compete natural wildflowers. Besides, they just don't belong here.
This is the first year Salt Lake City joins other communities and conservation groups in the war on Woad.
The city doesn't expect to completely eradicate Dyer's Woad, but if they can get these plants out at this time of year before they go to seed, they won't multiply as much next year.
Vanessa Welsh, Salt Lake City Public Utilities: "It's already there, but we can stop it from getting any worse."
Dyer's Woad was originally cultivated in the US for the blue dye made from its seeds, but it easily spread to established rangelands, farmlands and forests. It takes off in the dry, rocky soil of the region. You can spot it along roads throughout the state..
Vanessa Welsh, Salt Lake City Public Utilities: "We want to get the volunteers up there because Dyer's Woad is easy to recognize, easy to pull and it's easy to stop the spread."
Wednesday and Thursday groups will be on 18th Avenue. Friday and Saturday from 8 to 8 in City Creek Canyon, you can meet at the gate of City Creek.
Volunteers can call Salt Lake City Public Utilities at 801-483-6770.
