A message from Teton County Weed and Pest:

JACKSON, Wyo. —Join the Jackson Hole Weed Management Association (JHWMA), Teton County Weed and Pest District (TCWP), Teton Conservation District (TCD), and Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C) to celebrate 25 years of the Snake River Project.

WD4C canines and handlers, along with TCWP and JHWMA rowers, will be working on islands and gravel bars on the Snake River from Jackson Lake Dam to Pacific Creek and Astoria to Elbow from August 17 to 31. Give them a wave if you see them on the river, but please give the canine teams plenty of space to work. The public is invited to join partners from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on August 23 at the Jackson Hole Land Trust’s Green space on the Block for detection demonstrations and to learn about the Snake River Project, invasive species, and working dogs.

Photo: Courtesy of NPS Photos/C. Adams.

After saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) was located on the Snake River in 2001, JHWMA partner organizations coordinated and launched the Snake River Project, an Early Detection and Rapid Response program, to protect the Upper Snake River Watershed from invasive species that threaten the health of the river and surrounding ecosystem. Species like saltcedar and perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) are aggressive invaders of riparian areas capable of growing in dense stands that block access for wildlife and recreation and change soil nutrient loads limiting the growth of native species.

For 25 years, the JHWMA and TCWP staff and crews have monitored the river and levee system for these high- priority species and have found 124 saltcedar and 1,006 perennial pepperweed locations. Through the Snake

River Project, saltcedar and perennial pepperweed were eradicated in 120 and 684 locations respectively. While successful in eradication efforts, new detections plateaued in the late 2010s with a small but consistent number of continued detections indicating a seed source that was missed by human teams.

Photo: Courtesy of Teton County Weed and Pest

WD4C joined the Snake River Project in 2020. WD4C successfully trained canines to locate saltcedar and perennial pepperweed and have been become an integral component in the early detection of these species on the Snake River finding approximately 75% more perennial pepperweed locations than human crews find in the same time span. WD4C is joining in on the work again this year but with an additional task: for the last few months, WD4C staff and handlers have trained their detection dogs to locate phragmites (Phragmites australis subsp. australis), first identified in Teton County in 2023. This invasive grass forms dense stands that reach up to 20’ tall blocking out habitat and river access for humans and wildlife. With the help of WD4C, JHWMA hopes to locate stands while they are small and can still be eradicated.

Can’t join us on August 23? You can still do your part to protect the Snake River from invasive species by remembering to PlayCleanGo:

  • Clean, Drain, and Dry your watercraft, including rafts and kayaks.
  • Remove mud and debris from your clothing and gear.
  • Join WYLD Watch and report invasive species through EDDMaps or at tcweed.org

For more information on the Snake River Project, visit tcweed.org. For more information on Working Dogs for Conservation, visit wd4c.org.