South Whidbey volunteers launch expanded scotch broom cleanup efforts

More than 50 volunteers have already signed up for three South Whidbey work parties aimed at eradicating scotch broom, after a 2025 test run on Goosefoot-owned properties hauled away a truckload of the invasive plant. The expanded effort is being sponsored by the St. Hubert Catholic Church Green Team and Goosefoot Community Fund, with support from Whidbey Climate Action and WhidbeyHealth, and it is tied to Whidbey Earth & Ocean Month, which this year includes more than 40 planned events and activities.

The push is focused on more than cleanup. Washington’s Noxious Weed Control Board classifies scotch broom as a Class B noxious weed, listed in 1988, and Island County says noxious weeds are highly competitive with native flora and very difficult to control once established. State and county sources say scotch broom suppresses native plant regeneration, harms wildlife habitat and raises fire risk. King County says its seeds can remain viable in the soil for more than 60 years, which helps explain why volunteers are treating the shrub as a long-term threat rather than a one-day nuisance.

This year’s South Whidbey work parties are scheduled for Sunday, April 19, Wednesday, April 22 and Saturday, April 25, all in the Bayview vicinity. Goosefoot’s event materials describe the method as cutting broom in bloom, a timing strategy meant to stop seed production while the plant is flowering and keep soil disturbance from stirring up even more seeds. The 2025 Bayview work parties were held April 25 and April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Bayview Corner, and the visible haul from that effort helped turn a one-year experiment into a broader community campaign.

The South Whidbey project also follows a model that has been used for more than two decades by BroomBusters on Vancouver Island, where community crews have long organized to cut back Scotch broom. On South Whidbey, the practical tools are just as important as the volunteer turnout. Island County says weed-wrench tools are available to borrow for removing woody invasive species, and weed-control questions go to county coordinator Seth Luginbill.

With Earth & Ocean Month drawing residents into stewardship projects across the island, the broom pulls in Bayview have become a direct way to protect native landscapes before the weed spreads farther. The scale of the response, more than 50 volunteers already signed up, suggests South Whidbey is ready to keep the effort growing.