By Pepper Fisher

CLALLAM COUNTY – There’s been no shortage of news stories lately about battle to control invasive species in Washington State. Asian Giant Hornets and European Green Crabs spring to mind. But there’s at least one potentially devastating species in Clallam County that we don’t hear a lot about, and that’s partly because the Washington State Department of Agriculture has done such a good job of eradicating it.

Spartina, (more commonly known as cordgrass) is an aggressive invasive weed that has taken hold in many of our native saltwater estuaries. If left unchecked, Spartina outcompetes native vegetation and converts healthy mudflats and estuaries into solid Spartina meadows. That threatens important habitat for many species including salmon and shorebirds, and the state’s shellfish industry is hurt as well.

In 2003 there were about 9,000 acres of Spartina in western Washington. Now we are down to about 2 total acres in Clallam County, Grays Harbor, Hood Canal, Willapa Bay, Puget Sound, and at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Chad Phillips from the state Dept. of Agriculture is the man in charge of getting rid of Spartina with the help of state, federal and tribal governments, as well as private landowners. And it’s working.

“One of my prouder moments was a few years ago, when I got contacted by some faculty from Evergreen, and they had taken a large group of students down to the Willapa to work with and learn about Spartina. They couldn’t find any, and they called me and asked, ‘Where do we go to find it?’. And our answer was, ‘Well, everywhere that we knew that it existed, we’ve taken care of, and we’re looking for the next one.’ That’s the  goal.”

This year’s effort to eradicate the remaining Spartina starts June 1 and will continue through November. Here in Clallam County, 5 areas, including Salt Creek, have been completely cleared. But there is still some work to do on the Makah reservation and, closer to home, at the Dungeness Spit.

“Well, it’s actually on the inside of the spit where it’s closed to public entry, and there’s been a small infestation there. We’ve been fighting it for a few years. Unfortunately, it’s one of the places we declared eradicated years ago, and we went and we did find a single plant later. And so, we had to open it back up. We’re hoping in the next four to five years to declare it eradicated, and we’re working with the US Fish and Wildlife out there. It’s a very sensitive area for birds, and so we coordinate closely with them to make sure while we’re in there, trying to keep the little estuary healthy, we’re not disturbing anything.”

Visit agr.wa.gov to for more information on Spartina control efforts.

(Photo: Agriculture workers getting the job done)