We’ve never had such an ambitious assault on a single weed species. Beginning in 2017, North Coast Land Conservancy partnered with Necanicum Watershed Council to eradicate, as far as possible, the weed known as policeman’s helmet (Impatiens glandulifera) from the Necanicum River watershed, where it had widely taken hold. Our stewardship staff, volunteers, and summer interns surveyed, whacked, pulled, piled, and stomped on this weed. We worked along more than 7 miles of river and across 152 acres, on land belonging to 35 different public and private landowners as well as our own Circle Creek Conservation Center. When the weeding stopped in 2019 and early 2020, we went back in and planted 2,725 native trees and shrubs where policeman’s helmet once covered the riverbank.
Dozens of volunteers took part, totaling more than 800 volunteer hours. Particularly if you were one of those volunteers, you may enjoy this photographic record of our Arresting Policeman’s Helmet project compiled by Land Steward Eric Owen.
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