Winter is admittedly a slow time for noxious weed folks, but it is an excellent time to look back over what went right the past couple years and to plan for the upcoming season. That’s what I was working on a few weeks ago, and I ran across some pictures of seasons past going all the way back to shortly after the department was established.
In 2003 this department was almost brand new. The local Cooperative Weed Management Area and the county had recognized the need for a full time department to combat the wave of invasive species that were taking over parts of the county. For instance, in ‘03 the CWMA partners and the department spent three days spraying Spotted knapweed, Bohemian knotweed, Poison hemlock and other species down at Big Bar on the Snake.
This last season, a smaller crew spent just one morning spraying that same real estate. Other species like Mediterranean sage, Dyer’s woad and Perennial pepperweed are showing similar reductions across the county.
I wish I could take credit for that, but the fact is that a lot of people worked really hard over the last 25 years to secure those gains. Private landowners joined forces with County, Federal and State agencies and created the CWMA, tracked down funding, hired the superintendent, and provided the equipment, chemical and muscle to make a difference. Take a bow, folks!
So what? Well, if they hadn’t made the commitment, we would potentially have 8,000 acres of Med sage just south of town, rather than a few hundred plants that have to be search-and-destroyed each year. The stories are similar for several other species.
Some people compare weed invasion to a “Biological Wildfire.” That’s a useful simile, but let me point out that a wildfire will do its damage and then we go in and replant and rehabilitate those acres. But with an out of control weed problem, replanting and rehab are made more difficult by the seed bank that will keep flaring up and re-igniting the problem. Some weed species can produce 100,000 seeds per plant and the seeds can persist for decades. The environmental shift produced by something like this can have long term consequences for livestock, farming, forests, range land, wildlife and watersheds.
And while we’ve held the line on some species, others are out there that can be just as bad. Rush skeletonweed spreads by wind, and even with four different biological controls and a spray program, we are barely hanging on. Medusahead rye is potentially a worse fire hazard than Cheatgrass with even less value as feed for livestock and Jointed goatgrass keeps turning up in unexpected places on our roadways and hill sides. The light at the end of the tunnel is wayyyyy down there.
Just the same, there is a light, and with the dedicated help of a lot of good folks I think we can continue the fight. On page eight in this issue, you will find a legal notice informing you of your citizen duties to control weeds on your property.
If you have questions about how you can get into the fight against noxious weeds, or for that matter, what kind of weeds are growing on your place and what you’re required to do about it, give us a call at Adams County Weed Control, (208) 253-4669.
‘Til next time, keep your shovel sharp!
