Invasive plants beware; the Tolowa Dunes Stewards are after trespassers of all kinds in the Tolowa Dunes State Park, including English Ivy, Scotch Broom and English Holly.Most recently, the stewards were hunting Scotch Broom — a bush native to Europe with distinct, bright yellow flowers. Scotch Broom can grow up to 10 feet tall and individual plants can produce up to 10,000 seeds in a season, meaning it can easily choke out native plants like the Tolowa Coast Wallflower — a short, yellow flower which could be endemic to this region, said Sandra Jelabek, organizer of the Tolowa Dunes Stewards.Jerabek said removing invasive plants is an opportunity to balance the area, and to correct past mistakes. She cited the 1853 Yontocket Massacre, the killing of hundreds of native Tolowa people at the hands of European settlers.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');“I feel when we remove European plants from this, we are righting a little bit of the wrong that happened here, just a little bit,” said Jerabek. “Look at this place, it was ranched and logged. The recovery is mostly native, and pristine, and so wonderful.”The Tolowa Dunes Stewards are a rotating group of volunteers whose mission is to conserve and protect the Tolowa Coast, while educating the public about the plants and wildlife in the area.Stephen Gibbs is listed as a “volunteer extraordinaire” on his business card, but the group has given him a different title, “Broomslayer.” Gibbs said he joined the group for the exercise and stayed because of the quality of the people.“I had been going on 5-7 mile hikes everyday just to get out of the apartment. Now, I’ve got something different to do, I don’t go on as many of those hikes,” said Gibbs. “The people that come out are the best, they are salt of the earth, green people, and they’re great.”The Broomslayer’s weapon of choice? An Uprooter — a heavy tool designed for uprooting shrubs and other big plants like Scotch Broom. The tool has a jaw mechanism which clamps around the mainstem of the plant, once it’s locked on, the operator uses their body weight to push down a lever, forcing the plant out of the ground — roots and all.Made in Grants Pass, Oregon, Gibbs said the tool is great for removing small to medium sized broom bushes, but the larger ones are too big for the jaws to grip, so they are simply sawed off at the base.Once an area is cleared of invasive plants, native ones have a chance to move in, which is already happening in areas the stewards and other groups have cleared, however, more invasives also have an opportunity to crop up in those areas, said Gibbs.“We’ve cleared acres of beach grass, and what’s happened is it’s giving the natives a chance to come back, and there’s one plant, the Silverleaf Phacelia, we’ve got the biggest stand of it in the country, or maybe in the world,” said Gibbs. “But the problem is, by opening up that habitat, we’ve created an environment for invasives to move in.”Meaning, the stewards have to remain diligent in striking down invaders to protect the native plants they love.For information, contact Sandra Jerabek at jerabek@jeffnet.org, or visit the Tolowa Dunes Stewards Facebook page. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });