Weed Awareness Campaign

Do you have Weeds or Wildflowers? Think those pretty flowers in your yards are wildflowers?  They might be noxious weeds!  It is crucial to our native plants and wildlife that we know the difference and control the weeds.

Weed Logo

The Community Weed Awareness Campaign (CWAC) is a coalition of the Evergreen Audubon, The Mt. Evans Group of the Sierra Club, and the Evergreen Garden Club.

It all started in a coffee shop in Evergreen when two members of the Evergreen Audubon decided that they wanted to get down and dirty to help the environment.

This initial meeting in 1998 resulted in Community Weed Day. This one-day event quickly evolved into a summer-long series of weeding and education events. In addition to the annual weed pull, CWAC also sponsors Adopt-a-Plot and Weed & Wine at Evergreen Lake.  Noxious weed education events are held monthly at various community locations. Our organizational team grew from the two ladies at the coffee shop, Sylvia Robertson and Cathy Shelton, to include Betsy Kelson, Marilyn Kaussner, Bud Weare, Else vanErp, Renee Cormier and Sylvia Brockner.

Why worry about weeds? To start with, we’re not talking about dandelions here. We’re targeting the aggressive invading species that are bad enough to warrant inclusion on the Colorado Noxious Weed List. These plants outcompete our native vegetation and can be toxic or harmful to wildlife, livestock and even humans.

Some weeds are pretty, but all are non-native to Colorado. These plants degrade wildlife habitat and endanger native ecosystems. This year our target species include newer invaders like Orange Hawkweed, Myrtle spurge and perennial pepperweed along with the well-known nemeses knapweed and thistle.

CWAC’s mission is to inspire every resident of Colorado to control the noxious weeds on their property.  Please join us in our effort to preserve the natural ecosystems of our mountain communities.

Resources:

Local Weed Organizations:

Identification and control websites:

Newsletters & Reports