Tracy Wendt

The Sun River Watershed Weed Whacker Rodeo will be held on July 11, 2020.

Spend the day outside with the Sun River Watershed Group in Montana’s beautiful Sun Canyon. With the cancellation of several Sun Canyon weed events this spring, the Weed Whacker Rodeo will need more volunteers than ever! Those folks returning can pull at your favorite spots, and for newcomers we have some truly infested areas waiting just for you. To participate, meet us at 8 am at the Beaver Creek camp and picnic area, just a couple miles up the road from the turn off for the Sun Canyon Lodge.

Due to the recent surge in COVID cases in Montana, the Sun River Watershed Group’s Weed Whacker Rodeo is still happening, but we are making several changes in the interest of public health:

• SRWG is NOT providing a BBQ lunch this year. As much as we enjoy this portion of the event, we need to avoid potential contamination that could occur when people congregate for the meal. We also want to avoid encouraging people to touch surfaces that could spread germs. Please bring your own snacks as needed or bring a lunch and picnic with your group after the event.
• SRWG will supply water and soda. Though we typically encourage bringing your own water bottle and we supply water for refills, this year to reduce cross-touching of items we will have disposable bottles only.
• We will not have a group gathering at the beginning of the weed pull. As you arrive, we request you stay with your individual group and remain 6 feet apart from others. SRWG staff will meet with each individual group separately to sign you in. If you have attended the weed pull before and have a preferred spot to pull weeds, you can still pull there (after signing in). If it’s your first time, we will assign you a spot and give you directions to get there.
• Sign in will start at 8 am. Because we’re signing in groups individually, it might take a little longer so we’ll start earlier. Please arrive at the Beaver Creek camping and picnic area as usual, but feel free to come earlier this year.
• We’ll still have door prizes and awards for longest root and tallest weed! However, we’ll be handing them out differently. We’re still working out logistics on this part and during check in we’ll let you know how it will go.

Though the event will be a little different this year, rest assured we’ll all still have a great time while keeping Sun Canyon weeds under control! Guests are encouraged to wear masks while signing in and checking out. SRWG will provide hand sanitizer and take precautions to keep our volunteers safe. We will also provide trash bags and gloves, as usual.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for this event, please contact Tracy at tracy@sunriverwatershed.org or (406) 214-2868.