JACKSON, Wyo. — On Wednesday, Aug. 27, the Teton Conservation District (TCD) shared its recording breaking “thistlin’” statistics, after crews stopped approximately 331,755,000 musk thistle seeds from reproducing in the Game Creek region this past season.
In just two days last week, weeding volunteers removed approximately 11,000 musk thistle plants along the Game Creek drainage.
“In Game Creek, our regular crew stacked two more incredibly productive days on top of an already impressive season,” TCD GIS & Wildlife Habitat Specialist Morgan William Graham said via email.
During last week’s thistle managing efforts, Graham said that conditions were similar to fall season weather, with “plenty of seed fluff floating” in the air.
Over the course of the entire summer season, crews broke every record TCD has tracked for the past seven summers, including the number of people involved, days worked, acres picked and pounds of seedheads removed, according to TCD. The final seasonal tallies for the Game Creek area doubled TCD’s previously held records in 2022, with 28 people involved; 20 work days; 361 total hours; 79.83 acres picked; 1,301 seedheads hauled away; 331,755,000 “seeds stopped.”
This before and after video captures volunteers weeding the thickest thistle patch from 2025:
“It was the kind of infestation that makes you question all your life choices, but four days with a steady band of Habitat Heroes got it done,” Graham said. “Way beyond what I thought possible.”
TCD thanks everyone who worked in Game Creek this year and fought “the good fight against invasives to keep native plant communities thriving.”
For more information and to join thistle mitigation efforts next year, go here.
