Invasive Plants of the Crown of the Continent Field Guide

Date: July 27, 2009
Contact: Wade Muehlhof, 406-888-7895

A new tool has been produced by the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center in Glacier National Park to help stop the spread of invasive plant species.  The Invasive Plants of the Crown of the Continent Field Guide is now available.  Invasive plant seeds travel by wind, water, animals and human activity, allowing them to reach all corners of the Crown. The most effective control is early detection and rapid response. The Guide helps to identify invasive plants, explains ways to distinguish them from native look-alikes and provides information on their reproduction and dispersal strategies.

The Crown of the Continent ecosystem is one of North America’s most ecologically diverse and jurisdictionally fragmented ecosystems. It encompasses the Rocky Mountain Region of Montana, British Columbia and Alberta for 16,000 miles (42,000 square kilometer). This ecological complex spreads across two nations, one state and two provinces and across numerous aboriginal lands, federally, state and provincial protected lands, municipal authorities, and private properties.

The Field Guide was funded by the Crown Managers Partnership as part of funds provided by the National Park Service’s International Conservation Programs Office, and other federal, state, and provincial agencies, organizations and tribes in the Crown of the Continent.  The Crown Managers Partnership is made up of government representatives from over twenty agencies and tribes from Montana, Alberta and British Columbia who explore ecosystem based ways of collaborating on shared issues in the transboundary Crown of the Continent.

At the 2005 Crown Managers Partnership Forum, held annually around the Crown to discuss common land management issues and concerns facing the partners, the theme was Invasive Plant Management in the Crown.  Out of this Forum was formed the Crown Invasive Plant Network which enables managers in the Crown of the Continent ecosystem to communicate and share knowledge on invasive plant treatment, monitoring, education and coordinate projects.

There are a limited number of copies available. To obtain a copy or to learn how to get involved in the Citizen Science Non-native invasive Plant program, contact the Crown of the Continent research Learning Center at 406-888-7986.  The Guide will also be available as a pdf at www.rockies.ca/cmp later this summer.