Knotweed in West Salem

Knotweed in Your Neighborhood: Invasive Knotweed Streamside Survey and Treatment Project in West Salem 
Polk Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) is partnering with the City of Salem, Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council, Marion Soil & Water Conservation District, and Ash Creek Forest Management, Inc. to conduct surveys and treatments of streamside invasive knotweed in the City of Salem this summer and fall.  The project is scheduled to begin soon.
How you can help 
Please let us know if you have this plant along the stream on your property or have seen it along streams in West Salem.   
Citizens are encouraged to report locations of knotweed to the Oregon Invasives Hotline at: 
https://oregoninvasiveshotline.org/.  Reporters are asked to provide an accurate description of the location of plants when reporting. Photos are also helpful for verifying the identification of the plants. 
Free treatment assistance is available for landowners with knotweed along streams on their property in West Salem.
We want to find infestations so we can conduct treatments to control this noxious weed.
Knotweed is an aggressive noxious weed designated by the State of Oregon. There are four similar species of invasive knotweed that can be difficult to tell apart: Japanese, giant, Bohemian, and Himalayan.  Knotweeds are robust perennial plants with bamboo-like stems that spread by underground roots to form dense thickets. Knotweed plants can clog waterways, displace desirable vegetation, increase bank erosion, and degrade habitat for fish and wildlife.  Knotweed can also harm infrastructure such as pipes, roads, sidewalks, building foundations, and driveways.  It can be found growing along waterways, roadsides, in vacant lots, and in yards.   
https://www.oregon.gov/oda/shared/Documents/Publications/Weeds/JapaneseKnotweedProfile.pdf   
Thank you for cooperating with our efforts to assist the City of Salem in identifying and controlling knotweed along streams in West Salem. This will protect the health of the watershed and prevent this noxious weed from spreading. 
Funding for this project in West Salem was provided by the City of Salem.
If you have questions or would like more information on this project, please contact Luke Westphal, the City of Salem’s Urban Streamside Program Coordinator at - [email protected]