Cooks, front desk agents and housekeepers from Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) took to the property surrounding the hotel Aug. 12 to pull up toadflax, a non-native weed found in the park.

Thirty three JPL employees were guided by eight Parks staff in removing the weeds. Ten volunteers from from the Hinton Junior Forest Rangers, a group of teens who participate in various forestry projects, joined the team as well.

Parks Canada has cooperative agreements with almost all the leaseholders around Jasper regarding some level of weed management, said Jennifer McPhee, non-native plant program coordinator for Parks.  

“It’s basically JPL’s land, so they take the lead role on what we need to do,” she said. “We told them it’s a problem, they were ready to start taking action on it and wanted guidance.”

McPhee said people brought toadflax here from Eurasia, where it originated, which she said is understandable because they look like snapdragon plants. 

The problem with non-native plants is they threaten biodiversity, McPhee said. “The plants that have been introduced from outside their non-native range have no predators so they have nothing to control them,” she said. “The worst are the ones that can invade our native ecosystems and displace native species.”

The groups were removing a variety called dalmation toadflax that occurs throughout the park in small patches. Parks’ non-native plant program has been working to reduce it for more than six years through pulling, mowing, and limited herbicide application in non-ecologically sensitive sites, McPhee said.

The weed spreads both by seed and by its roots system, or rhizomes. “If you looked at toadflax plants they would all be connected underground,” she said. “If a root has a node on it, any piece of that root can form another plant,” she said.

Toadflax tends to spread along transportation corridors, particularly the railway. “Basically it’s a long, linear disturbance and toadflax grows right on that path.”

McPhee said she gave the volunteers a 15-minute briefing and sent them on their way. Each group had a member from Parks with them, and altogether the weeders collected more than 1,000 kg of toadflax.

“There were some really really awesome people out there,” she said. “They’re never going to go for a walk again without noticing toadflax and when they see it they’re going to pull it. There was awesome involvement and people were really keyed up for it, it was high energy, it was great.”

Sue Carter, executive administrative assistant for Jasper Park Lodge, expects this will be the first of many “toadflax days” to come. “We have a leasehold in excess of 600 acres that we manage with Parks,” Carter said. “It’s a great cooperative effort, they’re helping us, guiding us through so our leasehold remains healthy.”

Carter said the day was “fantastic,” and that it wasn’t difficult recruiting volunteers to help out for the day. “We’ve been doing a bit of education, and we have a personal sense of pride and that’s what drove people out,” she said. 

“It’s a huge visual reward,” she added. “If you drive out here today you can see the difference.”