To the Editor:
(Re: “Forest roads now free of knapweed”, July 21 Advance)
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Columbia Basin Trust for funding the attempt by Sonja Seher and Kelsey Syfchuk to rid the valley of invasive weeds, particularly by digging and pulling knapweed on forestry trunk roads for 10 days. Unfortunately, the reporter forgot to research any other effort by anybody else to combat this problem or just plain neglected to include any other effort.
Creston and many other districts in B.C. have been waging a war on noxious weeds for over 30 years. As an employee of the program, we treat between six and 14 kilometres of roadway every day and this has been going on for a long time and we still have a long way to go.
I really resent the reporter’s attitude that two summers workers (one with a disability on one arm) employed for 10 days can rid the Creston Valley of noxious weeds in 10 days while hundreds of hard working individuals have not been able to accomplish this in over 30 years. This is an insult to the invasive weed control program.
Alas, like the war in Vietnam and Afghanistan, victory over the weeds will never be ours.
Bryan Wuzinski
Wynndel