((PKG)) WEED WARRIORS   
((TRT: 09:15))  
((Topic Banner: Weed Warriors))  
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))  
((Map: Silver Spring, Maryland)) 
((Main character: 1 male))  
((Sub characters: 1 female; 2 male))  
((NATS)) 
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
You see growing in on the ground throughout this area is, what's 
called, lesser celandine. This is a plant that's, I believe, it comes 
from Asia, that was brought into this country as an ornamental. 
And it's a beautiful plant but it's gone rogue on us. Ten years ago, 
we didn't see this.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
The native plant, which is the spring beauty, this used to be the 
predominant flower growing in our open areas and base of the 
woods until this critter came in, this lesser celandine. Now, it's the 
predominant one. That's the trouble with invasive because this 
outcompetes our natives.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
A lot of the birds and other insects rely on the native flora for 
protection, for food and everything. And in some areas now, 
certain birds aren't around. Some insects are going down 
because they haven't got the plant that they've evolved with and 
lay eggs on and eat.  
Lot of areas of, we don't have milkweed. And therefore, the 
monarch butterfly just cannot reproduce.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
We'll just have to take time to see what really happens if lesser 
celandine doesn't die out on its own because there's just nothing 
that we can do about it.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Another bad one is bush honeysuckle.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Sometimes these things are pretty tough to get at. 
((NATS)) 
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
If we want to save our native flora and fauna, we've got to make 
sure that we control these plants.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Here we got the root out. 
But now, we have a lot more. But once you take it out by the 
roots, generally you don't have to worry about that one anymore.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Bush honeysuckle was brought into this country probably in the 
early 1900s or 1800s as an ornamental plant. It didn’t evolve 
here. It doesn't have any diseases or insects that bother it. So, it 
just has a, really a free lunch.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
We'll walk up here and just see if we can find some other type of 
invasive plants that we're interested in removing.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
I thought when I retired, I’d spend more time fishing. I took up 
golf, so I play golf once in a while. But then there was this need to 
help this, our ecosystem around and our parks. I got involved in 
that.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
I generally work for no more than two hours when I work out here. 
I used to work longer but as I mature, I find I just don't have the 
stamina to stay up much longer than that.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Had my left hip replaced, and that went very smoothly and within, 
you know, a year, I could go out and could walk and work in the 
woods again. And a couple of years after that, my other hip 
started bothering me and I realized it's time to get that replaced. 
And this one gave me a little more problem because it got 
infected and I had to have it replaced again. Since then, it's been 
probably six years ago that I had that last hip replaced, I'm really 
almost back to normal. But I have to be careful going down hills 
and watch for things that I don't trip on, because that can be a 
serious effect.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
We aren’t going to get rid of all the invasive plants, but what we 
can do is cut them back a little bit, so our native plants can come 
in.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Well, I mean not win it, but we've made a lot of progress. When I 
remember what it looked like here, and now the park feels it can 
start coming in into some of these areas and planting things. But 
now what happens when I leave? I need to have someone come 
and take over. And one of the things that we're trying to do is get 
some Weed Warriors to adopt an area like this that we've already 
cleaned up quite a bit. But to keep it cleaned up. And it’s a good 
concept but a lot of people don’t want to do it. Eventually, I think, 
we'll get people that'll do that.  
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
I'm a, what's called, a Weed Warrior supervisor, and I can help 
train people and I can take groups out that aren't Weed Warriors 
and have them work, work with them to show them what plants to 
pull and which ones to leave alone.  
The Weed Warrior program was started in Montgomery County. 
Carole Bergmann, who is the head ecologist in the park, started 
this program, training people, volunteers to go out into the woods 
to remove invasive plants. And this is grown now where there's, I 
don't know, how many thousand trained Weed Warriors. 
((NATS))  
((Jim Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
This morning, we've got two Weed Warriors that are actually 
supervisors as well. They can take groups out later on. They’re 
both very experienced Weed Warriors, have been in the program 
for many years.  
((NATS))  
((Edward Murtagh, Weed Warrior)) 
In this section, we've been working for about six months, five or 
six, all winter long. You've got to look at things over 10-20 years. 
If you look at over just a few months, you're going to get really 
frustrated because it's just so much.  
((NATS))  
((Ross Campbell, Weed Warrior)) 
You know, people try to help out in ways that they know they're 
not going to wake up one day and say, well, that job is done. But 
they think they can make some contribution in a small way and 
maybe encourage other people to try to help out too.  
((NATS))  
((Edward Murtagh, Weed Warrior)) 
You take this. I’ll get another one.  
((Linda Farley, Weed Warrior Trainee)) 
I'm sorry.  
((Edward Murtagh, Weed Warrior)) 
That's no problem. We are already glad you are here.  
((NATS))  
((Linda Farley, Weed Warrior Trainee)) 
I'm new to the organized program, The Weed Warriors.  
I don't necessarily think that wildflowers are necessary to keep 
the globe spinning and people alive. I just think it's an aesthetic 
and ethical, you know, responsibility.  
((NATS))  
((Linda Farley, Weed Warrior Trainee)) 
Seems that some people can walk in a forest of green and just be 
happy that it's green and they don't look closely. But, maybe, 
that's a problem in all kinds of areas in our lives, you know. We're 
just not paying attention. So, and eventually it will become a 
problem on larger scales. You know, ecological imbalance causes 
all kinds of problems with humans. Disease is one of them. 
((NATS))  
((James Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
Violets that are coming up. 
That gives some satisfaction knowing that it's, kind of, nice to do 
that, and you're helping the environment.  
((NATS))  
((James Anderson, Weed Warrior)) 
I guess, I'll continue doing this until I really can’t, and it might be 
getting close.  
((NATS))