Project lead and Friends of Nevada Wilderness Stewardship Technician Renee Aldrich leads the charge against invasive musk thistle! Eight volunteers joined her, and the team removed approximately 8,000 thistles, clearing 99% of the project site of the noxious weed!
A long line of hard-working volunteers!
Gearin' up to hit the Hunter Creek Trail, where the team worked in the Mt. Rose Wilderness.
Long-time volunteer Barry Morgan battles a large thistle. A single musk thistle flower head can produce over 1,000 seeds for the wind to disperse.
Musk thistle seeds can germinate up to a decade after they have fallen from the flower head, making them a particularly difficult species to eradicate.
Removing the thistles involves more than just yanking them up - if
roots are left, the thistle just re-grows. Volunteers dug out the
thistle roots to ensure progress against this destructive weed.
All pictures by Graham Stafford.
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