STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

At precisely 9 a.m. the troops began to arrive. One pushed a wheelbarrow. Another carried a rake. Still another had a shovel.

Paul Canton had an axe in hand and Roger Raymond a three-prong fork that he calls his “weapon of small destruction.”

The nine had come to pull, chop and pitch the monster knapweed that lined the gravel road leading to Water Gulch Ranch east of Alturas Elementary School. And for the next hour that’s what they did, eventually loading eight plastic construction bags full of the noxious weed into Chris Campbell’s pickup truck to be carted off to the landfill.

“It looks so clean now that it makes our gardeners’ hearts jump for joy,” said Katja Casson, noting that this was the second week that the group had tackled this particular area. “We all love hiking here and now it’ll be even more fun after a major clean-up effort.”

The Woodside Weed Warriors, as they call themselves, formed a few weeks ago to tackle the growing  knapweed problem between Echo Hill Park and Alturas Elementary School. The group felt such a sense of accomplishment after each outing that they formalized their mission and now meet from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. every Wednesday to tackle areas full of knapweed.

On Wednesday, Aug. 5, they plan to tackle an area across the street from Power Engineers in Hailey’s light industrial district.

“We have so many volunteer organizations in the valley but not one to tackle weeds—until now,” said Casson.

The knapweed that has been the source of their ire is a native European plant brought to America during the 1800s. Named for the tiny black triangular tipped bracts surrounding its pink and purple flower heads, each spindly looking plant can produce up to 25,000 seeds.

It crowds out beneficial and native plants and produces a natural herbicide that eradicates plants around it. Horses grazing on spotted knapweed have suffered irreversible brain and liver damage.

“It’s not difficult to control. It just grows fast and everywhere. Therefore, people have a tendency to give up on it,” said Casson. “We hope we can inspire people and lead by example.”

On this particular day, the Woodside Weed Warriors arrived to find that someone had cut down some of the weeds with a weed whacker. Mowing knapweed only serves to spread its seeds all over, noted Casson.

“As a master gardener, it makes me crazy when I see this because I know how many seeds come out,” she said. “I love our native plants and it breaks my heart to see noxious weeds take over. Knapweed is  quite the fire hazard, too.”

The Blaine County Recreation District employed goats to eat knapweed along the bike path for a couple years and they helped eradicate some of the knapweed. Other groups, such as the Environmental Resource Center, have tested bio control using root-boring moths, weevils and flies.

But knapweed plants can produce thousands of seeds so, even if the insects consume 95 percent of the seeds, hundreds of seeds per plant can still escape.

Instead of a goat, Drennan Wesley brought his 10-year-old daughter Amarah Wesley to help with this particular effort. And she wasted no time picking up an axe and getting into the swing of things.

“I love it when I see kids out here because they’re our future,” said Casson. “If they can learn about noxious weeds and what it’s like to take care of our land, we will be better off. It’s nice to have a tribe of like-minded, like-spirited people.”

The prime time for eradicating knapweed is summer through early August. When the knapweed pulling season comes to an end, the Woodside Weed Warriors plan to attack rush skeleton weed, another spindly looking plant with yellow daisy-like flowers.

“We have a small window before knapweed goes to seed. After that happens, there’s no point pulling them,” said Judy Stoltzfus.

“We are worried about yellow Dalmatian toadflax. It’s a beautiful plant but it spreads so fast it’s hard to control.”

After clearing the Water Gulch Ranch road of knapweed, the group retreated to a private home nearby, erasing the knapweed from its yard.

“It certainly is a beautiful flower, and I can see how people can easily mistake it for a wildflower,” said Casson. “It’s my hope our little group keeps growing. If we have a dedicated team, I’d even like to tackle areas like Greenhorn. We never used to have knapweed and some of these invasive weeds there. Now, we do.”

If you’d like to join the cause, email Katja Casson at katja@q.com

HOW TO DEAL WITH KNAPWEED

It’s believed that knapweed currently infests 100,000 acres of Idaho rangelands, dry meadows, upland rocky areas, road sides and sandy gravelly areas alongside streams. It may grow up to three feet tall and its taproot can grow 18 inches deep, sporting pink and purple flowers that appear from midsummer to fall.

The best way to deal with knapweed is to pull it by hand. Bag it and burn plants to eradicate live seeds. Or, “cook” plants in clear plastic bags left in the sun to kill weeds.

If you take bags of knapweed to the landfill, notify authorities about it as the weeds will be stashed in a special place to prevent the possibility of seeds spreading to new areas.