Operation Ivy: Washougal volunteers form ivy-pull group to tackle invasive plant

During one of the Camas Ivy League’s 2024 work sessions, Washougal residents brought up the possibility of forming a similar organization to focus on Washougal parks and open spaces.

“It was thought that rather than expanding the Camas Ivy League, it’d be easier just to make up one of our own,” volunteers and Washougal resident Tim Goss said.

The nonprofit Washougal Ivy League will hold its first work session from 9 a.m. to noon March 22 at Washougal’s Hathaway Park.

The organization will primarily work at Hathaway Park, which it adopted through the city of Washougal’s Adopt-A-Park program, until June, when it can adopt a new park.

Goss said Hathaway Park “is pretty infested” with ivy, an invasive plant that grows on tree branches, weighing them down, damaging the tree’s bark and blocking the amount of sunlight absorbed by the tree’s leaves.

The Washougal Ivy League has been awarded an $800 grant from the Camas-Washougal Community Chest and plans to use the funds to purchase tools and facilitate work sessions in 2025 and beyond.

The group is primarily focusing on English ivy, but will also keep an eye out for other invasive plant species such as English holly, Himalayan blackberry and other noxious weeds that pervade Washougal’s open spaces.