A Boatload Of Bad

Day 315: Since I had to be in Yelm anyway yesterday morning, I threw the 'yak on the top of the car with a mind to going out on Lake St. Clair to remove the small infestation of Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) which I'd discovered growing on a floating log about a month ago. Little did I realize how the rest of the day was going to progress.

It only took a few minutes to remove eight plants from the log, the tallest of which was about 2', but as I proceeded close to shore en route to the Sundews, I spotted a mound of the nasty stuff about 10' on a side and 6' tall nestled among thick blackberries. There was no way I could access it from the boat, and someone approaching from the heavily wooded land would need to machete a path through the thorns to reach it. Sighing heavily, I realized that I have my work cut out for me for as long as I'm able to paddle unless the rules regarding development along this side of the lake are relaxed. Jewelweed is an aggressive invader. As long as one plant exists on the shore, it will continue to spread to other areas of the lake. Further on, I noted another heavy infestation, this one covering close to 1000 sq. ft. Again, I could not access it from the water.

As I made my way along the shore, I noticed more places where the weed occurred to lesser degrees. For the most part, it was in spots I couldn't reach, but there were a few exceptions. At the location shown above, I was able to get out of the 'yak and stood in thigh-deep water to pull over 100 plants from the log shown just beyond the bow of the kayak. I was wishing I'd remembered to bring a bag, because the plants were covered in ants, and as I continued on my journey, I kept picking ants off myself and the 'yak by the dozen.

I was heartened when a sweep up the far east side of the lake seemed to prove Jewelweed-free, but when I reached the north end of the lobe, I found more of it growing on a piece of dock which had broken free some years ago and was now a "raft" of sorts, similar to the original Sundew Island, free-floating and now lost somewhere among the tangle of weed and wood along the shore. It seemed the Jewelweed had found an enterprising means of transport, rafting to new locations to release its future generations. Not on my watch! I forced the kayak onto the wood-and-styrofoam structure and pulled every Jewelweed within reach. By the time I got back to the car, the bow of the 'yak was packed with roughly 10 pounds of Jewelweed, enough to fill a large garbage bag. Even so, those inaccessible groves of this persistent plant will continue to disperse seed. A catch-phrase comes to mind, as applicable in this scenario as in the one which birthed it: "Still she persisted." Yes, that will serve.