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Wrapping up a successful Invasive Species Awareness Week

Published 1:30 am Monday, March 2, 2026

By Andrea Watts The Daily World

Andrea Watts / The Daily World During Invasive Species Awareness week, the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control board staff visited Aberdeen and Hoquiam high achools to present on invasive species and lead students on a weed walk to show the invasive species growing on their campus. At Hoquiam High School, Danika Davis, the Grays Harbor noxious weed coordinator, shows students where a patch of knotweed is growing and said that it would take nearly a decade to fully treat the patch.
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Andrea Watts / The Daily World

During Invasive Species Awareness week, the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control board staff visited Aberdeen and Hoquiam high achools to present on invasive species and lead students on a weed walk to show the invasive species growing on their campus. At Hoquiam High School, Danika Davis, the Grays Harbor noxious weed coordinator, shows students where a patch of knotweed is growing and said that it would take nearly a decade to fully treat the patch.

Andrea Watts / The Daily World During Invasive Species Awareness week, the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control board staff visited Aberdeen and Hoquiam high achools to present on invasive species and lead students on a weed walk to show the invasive species growing on their campus. At Hoquiam High School, Danika Davis, the Grays Harbor noxious weed coordinator, shows students where a patch of knotweed is growing and said that it would take nearly a decade to fully treat the patch.
Andrea Watts / The Daily World One of the events during Invasive Species Awareness Week was a weed pull hosted by the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control Board and the Grays Harbor Conservation District Stream Team clearing an area roughly 1,500 square feet of English ivy. With the area now cleared the Friends of Schafer and Lake Sylvia will plant the area with native plants, such as Oregon grape, ferns and salal.
Andrea Watts / The Daily World The English ivy had been growing for decades at the site, resulting in an extensive root system, as evidenced by the section of root that Kelsey Hunter, education and outreach program manager with Grays Harbor Conservation District is holding. Old-growth ivy is how Helen Hepp, an emeritus board member of Friends of Schafer Lake and Lake Sylvia, described the ivy plants.
Andrea Watts / The Daily World At Bandana Brewing’s Trivia Night, which featured two rounds on invasive species, Wildcat Whiskers took first place and the prize was plants grown by the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control Board staff.

On Saturday, Feb. 28, the Grays Harbor Noxious Weed Control Board (GHNWCB) wrapped up a weeklong educational campaign on invasive species. With events scheduled throughout the county, residents had a chance to meet staff and learn about the invasive species that are already in the county or that could potentially arrive.

Danika Davis, the Grays Harbor noxious weed coordinator, shared that there was a lot of engagement over the week, and the daily postings on social media have garnered more followers. The reception to an invasive species round during Aberdeen’s Mount Olympus Brewery’s bingo night was well received so Davis is considering doing more plant bingo.

Davis and Declyn Foster, a technician with GHNWCB, visited Aberdeen and Hoquiam High Schools on Monday, Feb. 23, and Thursday, Feb. 27, respectively to speak to students during their science classes about the damage that invasive species cause and highlighted those that are of concern in the county, such as gorse, Scotch broom and purple loosestrife. The students then went on a weed walk to see the invasive plant species present on their campus.

The weed walk held on Wednesday at the Westport Lighthouse brought out nine residents to tour the Scotch broom-filled areas that the GHNWCB has been treating.

“Just about everyone learned something new about gorse and Scotch broom,” said Davis.

At the ivy weed pull held on Saturday, two dozen volunteers of all ages worked alongside GHNWCB staff and the Grays Harbor Conservation District Stream Team to clear English ivy from an area of roughly 1,500 square feet across from the parking lot. Helen Hepp, an emeritus board member of Friends of Schafer and Lake Sylvia (FOSLS), described the ivy as “old growth.”

We’ve been working on getting ivy out for years, she said. FOSLS has a weeds group that meets every Wednesday to maintain areas where it’s been removed. Saturday’s event, along with a previous ivy pull held in January, “have made such a difference,” Hepp said.

“We love working with FOSLS,” said Davis, adding that they do the “big heavy lifting” to clear an area.

The area cleared out in January has since been replanted with native plants, such as salal, sword fern and Oregon grape, and the newly cleared out area will be replanted shortly too. And maintenance will be ongoing for the foreseeable future because there is still an extensive root system in the soil that will be the source of new ivy plants.

Bandana Brewing in McCleary was packed for trivia night, and the prizes of plants were welcomed by the winning teams; many people also went home with swag of a boot brush, a booklet of the noxious weeds in Western Washington and packets of native seeds.

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