The following appears as a Guest Shot column in the Aug. 10 PQB News.
In his “Broom Not So Bad” Letter of Aug. 3, an Errington man implied Broombusters were fools.
I’m a farmer in Coombs. We’ve been trying to clear the broom from adjacent farms for six years. Many local farms are overrun by the scourge of pasture land. New Zealand reports many farms abandoned because broom won. Given sun and time, broom always wins.
How did the broom get to the farms? It came down the road on tires.
Island Timberlands recently stated that broom is increasing along logging roads. “Aggressive reforestation strategies are required to ensure plantation establishment and survival.” Survival. Tree plantings worldwide fail because of fast growing broom. “It is estimated that Scotch broom costs Oregon $47 million dollars annually in lost timber production.” (ODA)
How did the broom get to the logging roads? Tires and solid miles of broom under BC Hydro lines.
The Errington man said we should protect what we believe is beautiful. For us, that beauty is the diversity of the native species that were here before we came, and which we hope to bequeath to our children. Scotch broom needs no defense. It spreads like wildfire and burns like wildfire. Invasive plants form monocultures which strangle native diversity.
No, Broombusters are not fools. Most Broombusters are successful, educated folks — including doctors, scientists, foresters, businessmen and teachers. But you know what? Nobody cares. Everyone is an equal when we put on our grubby clothes, pick up loppers and hit the roads, doing community weeding. We brought in the weeds, we’ll remove them.
Oceanside is no place to judge how invasive Scotch broom is. Remember 2006? Huge broom densely lined the roads in Qualicum Beach. It’s gone. Oceanside residents have been clearing roads for six years. I cut broom for over 80 hours this spring, with 100 other locals. One man cut broom every day for six weeks at the Englishman River estuary.
Imagine what Oceanside would look like if volunteers hadn’t been cutting broom! It would look just like the untouched sections of Parksville interchanges, or the miles of solid broom under BC Hydro powerlines. Broom is spreading so fast on the highways that the Ministry of Transportation has thrown up its hands in despair. Broom is invasive.
Invasive plants are the second-greatest threat to bio-diversity worldwide, second only to development. Broombusters know and care about the larger picture. But in the meantime, cutting broom is a physical step we can take inexpensively, locally and together, and that solidarity and friendship strengthens our ability to take on the greater issues.
Sure, we make it fun.
But we are not fools.
It’s foolish not to do what we can to protect our home, our earth, and our children’s inheritance. Farms, forests and the future. That’s why we Cut Broom in Bloom.
— Joanne Sales is the president of Broombusters.
The News’ Guest Shot columns run occasionally
