Alberni Valley Broombusters volunteers gathered on Saturday morning, May 3, 2025, to cut a huge swath of Scotch broom surrounding the North Island College campus in Port Alberni. By noon, there were multiple large piles of cut broom which the city will remove.
Two Port Alberni City Council members took part in the cut: Todd Patola and Dustin Dame.
Scotch broom is a highly flammable invasive plant, according to Broombusters.org's Joanne Sales. It crowds out native plants, takes over farms and parks, and slows forest regeneration. Volunteers cut broom while the flowers are in bloom and stop when seed pods form
In 2024, more than 600 people cut broom on Vancouver Island. You can join local Broombusters for the rest of May. E-mail broombustersalberni@gmail.com.
For more information about why and how to successfully remove broom, check the website: www.broombusters.org.
