The CWMA has chosen three priority weeds to focus on for the purpose of creating a comprehensive strategy of control and, where feasible, elimination. These priority weeds are by no means the only weeds of concern on Bainbridge Island. Each of the CWMA partners works on a number of high-priority species including those listed below using their own staff, volunteers, and cooperative agreements with other entities such as the Kitsap County Noxious Weed Control Board, who helps all the partners address regulated species that have been recognized at a policy level to pose serious risks to human, livestock and/or ecological health and well-being.
The three species that the CWMA has chosen to prioritize are English Ivy, Scotch Broom, and English Holly.
These species were chosen as high priority for the CWMA because they are:
- widespread across our Island, which necessitates cross-jurisdictional and public-private partnerships to address them,
- known to cause ecological impacts including outcompeting native species, reducing wildlife habitat quality, and altering nutrient and hydrologic cycles
- amenable to a number of control methods, particularly low- or no- chemical approaches that are accessible to both public and private partners
The CWMA recognizes that all three of these species pose formidable challenge to control on Bainbridge Island. However, we believe that by strengthening our partnerships and working in collaboration with the broader community, we can make a difference in controlling these three invasive plants and improve the ecological conditions of our Island.
Learn more about each of these weeds, how to manage them, and how the CWMA can support these efforts, by clicking on the icons below.