Officials here say it's unclear how long Phragmites australis has been in the province, but they've pinpointed more than a dozen small stands within an area stretching from the southern grasslands to the Peace Region.

As a bitterly cold wind cuts through a stand of trees near a southeast Calgary industrial park, the Alpha House Encampment Team finds Dany Moffett riding it out in his small tent, wrapped in a cocoon of old sleeping bags.