What the pluck? Learn the way of the weeds, birds and bees of Spokane's Lincoln Park

May 26-Ahead of Lincoln Park's second annual Great Invasive Weed Pluck and Nature Day, organizers warn that attendees may come away with more than just free coffee and doughnuts.

"Once you learn about these" weeds, Shawn Terjeson said, "you will see them everywhere and you will spend time picking them."

Such was the trap that the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council member found himself in last year.

"I learned about one particular obnoxious weed," he said, clarifying that while obnoxious, the weed - yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius) - isn't technically 'noxious.' "And I came for a walk here in the park and saw it here and just got pissed off.

"So that's what got me involved, and I dragged the council in with me."

The Saturday event will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. at Upper Lincoln Park, in partnership with the nonprofit Spokane Urban Nature. Local experts on birds, insects and plants will be offering park tours with a 'choose your own adventure' style timeline, and attendees will learn how to identify and tackle four weeds: bachelor's button (aka cornflower), rush skeletonweed, chicory and herb Robert.

"They're problem plants because they outcompete native plants," county weed specialist Michelle Anderson said. "Instead of providing resources for the other animals and organisms that are using the area, they are oftentimes reproducing in a way that they are making a monoculture or pushing everything out to the exclusion of any other species."

Anderson, along with fellow Spokane County weed specialist Thurman Johnson, will be helping eventgoers learn to identify both the native and invasive flora of the South Hill park.

"The really unique thing about Lincoln Park is that it does have several different components, different subtypes of ecosystems," Anderson said.

In step, the park boasts a wide variety of potential niches for plants and animals to occupy. A walk around the paved loop reveals patches of prairie, grassland, savanna, woodland and even forestlike habitats, and a touch of wetland also seen around a central, man-made pond. On the lower section of the park are manicured lawns, restrooms and a children's playground.

It was the variability of the landscape that originally led to a proposal to turn the plot into Lincoln Park - then Rockwood Park - in 1908, recommended by the nationally acclaimed Olmsted Brothers' Landscape Architecture Firm for its rocky cliffsides, sweeping views and ample flat land for recreation.

Terjeson and Spokane Urban Nature president Karen Mobley said that they have seen moose, porcupine, skunks, marmots and coyotes across the South Hill, a pile of scat on a park trail May 12 reinforcing that coyotes remain active on site.

Multiple ecosystems also mean multiple vulnerabilities when it comes to invasive species.

Bachelor's button and rush skeletonweed both proliferate in the dryer, savanna -type areas of the park. Rush skeletonweed is classified as a noxious weed in the county due to its dandelion-like seed dispersal and general resilience, but bachelor's button is only on the weed control board's personally 'obnoxious' list. An escaped ornamental plant, the weed has an advantage mainly in high-disturbance environments and so typically doesn't impact local natural areas in an extreme way.

"But the reason why it's impactful in Lincoln Park and why we're concerned about it is because the walking paths are extremely well trafficked," Anderson said. "And that's great - we're very happy that people are using it. But it is having that disturbance effect."

Chicory, so far, seems to be taking hold around the park's central pond, Anderson said.

"I would say this one is a little bit less impactful than the other two that we talked about, in general," she said, referring to countywide impact. "But in Lincoln Park, it is having an impact and you see it being pretty aggressive where it is. And so that's why we've decided to target that species, because I believe that we could probably still could get a handle on it."

The lower, manicured portion of the park isn't safe from invasives either; the noxious herb Robert creeps onto the moist grounds protected from the sun by the rocky hillside. This particular environment is much scarcer in the park, and herb Robert is quickly pushing natives that require it out of the picture.

Last year, Terjeson received a grant of just over $1,000 from the Spokane Parks Foundation to kick off the event, money spent on coffee, doughnuts and gardening gloves for attendees. While encouraging folks to bring their own gloves, this year's event will offer the same.

"Breaking bread together is the second best way to build community," he said. "The best way to build community is mutual suffering. They have hard ground, warm sun and no leaves."

Despite Terjeson's claim that weeding is a form of "mutual suffering," Johnson said last year kids and adults enjoyed learning to identify specific plants rather than just see a "green haze." Al together, volunteers removed around 3 cubic yards of weeds.

"The weeds will persist. But here we are connecting people with the world around them and helping them understand what's at stake when invasive species move into an area," he said. "And for those little kids that discover that they really enjoy pulling weeds, who knows where that's going to send them down the road later in life."

Such is the value of diverse ecosystems within walking distance of residential areas, Mobley said. Places like Lincoln Park, one of the largest natural areas remaining on the South Hill, keep education and outdoor opportunity within the grasp of the people around it.

"If you put the park in context, it's a really great outdoor education center with guidance from teachers and people like us helping them understand how this is useful to our area," she said. "It's not just about the weeds, but it's about helping people understand why it's important."

Public volunteer groups are "huge" for Spokane Parks and Recreation, director Garrett Jones said. Without funding to focus on restoration or trail maintenance, he said volunteers have historically been a "massive piece of our business."

"There are so many benefits," he said. "It helps relationships, maintenance, activation and ownership."

In 2025, voters passed a $240 million levy to fund park improvements across Spokane. Jones said the department plans to hire around 12 new staffers in part to better the care of natural lands.

Still, the weed pull will likely need to happen each year, Anderson said. Humans are past the point of being able to eradicate so many weeds from the landscape.

But, he added, pulling them is not a waste of time.

"We still want our native species that are vulnerable in so many different areas to have an area where they can maintain their population," she said. "So it's never going to go away, but that's why you make your bed every morning. That's why you take a shower - you're going to get dirty again, but that's not the point."

"Its about protecting the landscape and keeping it as intact as we can."

Jones said if parkgoers notice invasive plant species outside of an organized event like the Great Invasive Weed Pull and Nature Day, they should call 311 and let park staff know rather than pulling it themselves. The department is "always open" to working with volunteer groups and can help arrange for weed clean up crews and experts to assist in training, if necessary.\

This report has been updated to correct the spelling of the "Olmsted Brothers' Landscape Architecture Firm."

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 7:04 PM.