Celebrating planet Earth
Volunteers clear invasive yellow flag iris plants from Woods Creek in Rotary Park
Volunteers dressed to get wet and dirty came to clean up Woods Creek Rotary Park in Sonora on Friday, and they focused on clearing invasive yellow flag iris plants that thrive in the creek, as well as in wetlands up and down California and across the U.S.
The volunteers came to help do their part to celebrate Earth Day on Monday. Organizers called the work “critical stewardship” for the native species of Woods Creek.
“Would you like to become a water protector and keep our parks clean?” organizers and recruiters for the project with the Chicken Ranch Rancheria Me-wuk Indians of California, the Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians, and the Tuolumne River Trust asked in recent social media posts. “Help combat pollution at Woods Creek by allowing the native ecosystem to recover and thrive.”
Woods Creek Rotary Park has a playground and picnic tables, and it’s popular with families on nice days. It’s also a popular place for homeless individuals to spend time, and they are often blamed for trash that sometimes overflows the trash cans and accumulates in the public restrooms.
Sonora resident Cathy Wilson, who cleaned up cigarette butts and other trash next Woods Creek, said she came to help out Friday because she feels it’s important to give back to the community.
“It’s going to be Earth Day, and I love going to a place that’s pristine,” she said.
The focus Friday on invasive yellow flag iris plants is just as important as cleaning up human trash in the park because the yellow flag iris plants are “like a weed, they take over, and native plants like willows and tules cannot grow and thrive,” Joanna Portillo-hsu, a project and environmental manager with the Chicken Ranch Rancheria, said Friday.
“The presence of yellow iris also reduces habitat area for native fish and waterfowl,” she said.
Holly Heath, a restoration coordinator with Tuolumne River Trust said the nonprofit organization was there to support the tribes and effort to remove the invasive plant species from the creek.
“The yellow flag iris is a noxious invasive plant,” Heath said. “Tuolumne River Trust works to protect and restore and advocate for the Tuolumne River and the surrounding watershed. We’re just trying to make our local environment better for the future and for future generations.”
Woods Creek is part of the Tuolumne River watershed and it drains directly into Don Pedro Reservoir, which impounds the Tuolumne River before it flows downstream into Stanislaus County.
Some people who walk to Dragoon Gulch, upstream and uphill from Woods Creek Rotary Park, have seen the invasive yellow flag iris plants when they cross the footbridge over the creek between Woods Creek Drive and North Forest Road. There are also thick stands of their green, notyet-blooming stems in Woods Creek before the waterway passes under Stockton Road.
The yellow flag iris plants look nice in the creek during spring, summer, and fall. They are yellow flowers on top of long, green stems. They are so attractive to some flower-lovers that people still sell them on the internet, in spite
of the fact they are also classified as noxious and invasive in multiple states.
Yellow flag iris is an ornamental perennial native to Great Britain, Europe, the Mediterranean region, and North Africa, according to scientists.
Yellow flag iris is widespread in the northeastern U.S., where it has been found in the wild for more than a century, and it’s present in more than 40 states. Some scientists say the plant is relatively new to the western U.S., where records of the plant in California and western Montana date to the 1950s. It was first brought to Canada and the U.S. as an ornamental plant in the early 1900s.
The bottom line, according to biologists and botanists, is that yellow flag iris is an invasive ornamental perennial that will sicken livestock if ingested and is generally avoided by herbivores. For humans, contact with its resins can cause skin irritation.
Organizers showed volunteers how to remove iris plants from the root using a spade shovel or hand trowel, trim yellow iris plants with shears, and collect and bag the iris plants for disposal.
“Those who would rather not be in the water can pick up any trash found at the park,” organizers said. “Please wear closed toed water/ mud shoes! Tools and gloves will be provided.”
The cleanup event at Woods Creek Rotary Park was billed as part of a “Two-day Celebration of Planet Earth and All Its Wonders,” hosted by the Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians and the Chicken Ranch Rancheria Me-wuk Indians of California, and it was promoted by groups including Blue Zones Project Tuolumne County and Love Tuolumne County.
The second part of the celebration is scheduled 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Westside Pavilion in Tuolumne, with an opening ceremony, traditional songs, dance, and drumming, an Indian market, food vendors, and more than a dozen other community booths.