Quesnel, B.C. – The Province is pumping another $2.5 million into  battling invasive  weeds.

The money will be spread over the next three years, and  much of it will  be spent  clearing invasive species from  roadsides and gravel pits.
When gravel,  from   pits  that are  home to invasive plants, is used  by Ministry of Transportation operations,  weeds can be spread throughout the province.  The  Ministry will spend  about $250 thousand a year over the next three years  to  reduce   invasive plants in  gravel pits and quarries used by  the Ministry.  The remaining $1.5 million will be used to increase the management of invasive species on highway rights of way.

The money is in addition to the $3.9 million already promised  over the next three years  for invasive species management.
 One of the first targets will be  gravel pits in the  Cariboo Chilcotin.

“Clean, weed-free gravel pits and sound practices along road corridors will greatly reduce the dispersal of invasive plants across the landscape” says Invasive Species Council of B.C chair Barry Gibbs. 

Last year alone, the ministry removed the equivalent of 500 hectares of invasive plants, comprised of over 80 different species, from road sides and gravel pits throughout the province.