Vancouver Island's West Coast is in need of organizers and volunteers to take care of Scotch broom in the area.
Joanne Sales, the director for Broombusters Invasive Plant Society, told the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) board on Wednesday, Jan. 15 that the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet are just beginning to dip their toes into "broombusting," or the removal of Scotch broom. Scotch broom is a highly invasive weed that crowds out native plants and presents a fire risk.
Last year, ReddFish Restoration sponsored a broom cut as part of the West Coast Triple Plank event at Cox Bay and 50 volunteers showed up, despite the pouring rain.
“These are all surfers, they don’t mind being underwater,” Sales laughed.
But both communities are in need of "more consistent" organizers and volunteers, said Sales, especially as broom is beginning to spread on the West Coast. It has been spotted on Highway 4 leading into Ucluelet, as well as on the Wild Pacific Trail.
“Right now, the [Long Beach] airport has lots of broom,” said Sales. “It’s not too late, but it’s a really bad place to have a fire.”
Sales explained on Jan. 15 that Scotch broom follows a trend seen in other communities across the world, where the prolific spread of flammable invasive species leads to wildfire danger in places that historically have few fires. She drew a comparison to the 2023 wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii which killed more than 100 people. The spread of that fire has been partially attributed to the introduction of non-native, fire-prone vegetation on the islands.
On Vancouver Island, Sales said, Scotch broom represents a real fire danger. It is a "volatile flash fuel," which means it catches fire easily due to its dense, dry branches and high oil content. Scotch broom forms impenetrable thickets along pockets of disturbed soil, such as roads, railroad tracks and power lines. This provides "continuous fuel" for a fire to spread, said Sales.
Scotch broom is a hardy plant, said Sales, that can survive herbicides and can grow up to 10 feet tall. It acts as a "ladder fuel," allowing fire to spread up from the ground to forest canopy (or from a lawn to a house). The plant thrives in dry, drought conditions.
“By summertime, it is very flammable,” said Sales.
The good news is that Broombusters has gained quite a few allies over the past few weeks. Sales said the group gained 60 new volunteers in the month of January, which is an "unusual event" that she attributed to the wildfires happening in Los Angeles, California right now.
“Everybody’s very tense about the fires right now,” said Sales.
Port Alberni celebrated more than 10 years of broombusting last year, with dozens of people coming out to community cuts in the Port Alberni and Sproat Lake areas last year. But more volunteers are always needed, said Sales.
Tom Stere, the ACRD director for Tofino, praised Sales' work in bringing Broombusters to the West Coast over the past few years.
"We went from zero volunteers to 50," said Stere. "In just a couple years, that's been an exponential growth."
To get involved with Broombusters, or to find out more about their organization, visit www.broombusters.org.
