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Weed Warrior pilot: volunteers, new tech and 310 volunteer hours in Walker Ranch first full season
Summary
Parks staff updated the committee on the Weed Warrior pilot at Walker Ranch, reporting about 35 active volunteers, 126 survey submissions (~310 volunteer hours), new field reporting tools (Survey123, Avenza, Discover) and plans to expand recruitment and cross‑group coordination.
Parks and Open Space staff presented an update Oct. 23 on the Weed Warrior pilot, a volunteer‑led program launched in 2024 to reduce herbicide use through trained manual and cultural control on a discrete section of Walker Ranch.
Amanda Hatfield, senior volunteer work projects coordinator, said the five‑year pilot seeks to avoid herbicide use in the selected loop and to test whether volunteers can sustain suppression and monitoring. "We had 46 applicants in the first year; about 35 were active," Hatfield said. This year staff reported about 35 active volunteers (19 returning and 21 new recruits) and a combined ~310 volunteer hours recorded through 126 Survey123 submissions.
Alex Wendorff, suppression technician, described training and data tools introduced this season, including Survey123 (Esri), Avenza offline maps, and the Discover volunteer platform; staff also added species ID guides and photo‑point monitoring. The most commonly identified species were common mullein, cheatgrass and diffuse snapweed; the most treated species included common mullein, diffuse snapweed and Dalmatian toadflax.
Staff described cultural control pilots (bagging, hydromulch seeding of native mixes), bio‑control observations and plans to expand recruiting and coordinate with other volunteer weeding groups across the county. The program won a $900 volunteer program enrichment award to buy volunteer shirts and gear.
