(Ob)Noxious Weeds Bring Us Together

Anyone who grows a garden knows that weeds result in less tomatoes, lettuce or carrots.  Most of us only contend with the everyday, shall we say ‘garden variety’ of weeds, but there is another category of weeds called “Noxious” weeds that are more sinister.  These are weeds that are moving in from other areas, crowding out our native plants and taking over our landscape. 

A new coalition has recently formed in Jackson County to combine forces and work more effectively to control noxious weeds.  This group, called the Jackson County Cooperative Weed Management Area (or Jackson County CWMA) is composed of federal, state and local agencies who manage public lands.  Other participants include agencies and organizations who work with private lands and private landowners, such as the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District and The Nature Conservancy.

Coming together as land managers, the Jackson County CWMA recognizes that noxious weeds have a significant economic and ecological impact in our region.  The same way that weeds reduce the potential of your veggie garden, weeds are reducing the productivity of farms, ranches and forest property throughout the county. Weeds are also having a negative impact on some forms of recreation and in some cases a bad infestation of weeds can lower property values.  Additionally, eradicating weeds can be costly and well established weeds can take years of repeated treatment to remove.  Weeds are a substantial part of the flammable vegetation that contributes to wild fires in our area.

Did you know that 50 years ago yellow star thistle was not a big problem in the Rogue Valley? Eradication seems hopeless now as it has spread everywhere, but it might have been possible when start thistle first took root in the valley.  With that in mind, the Jackson County CWMA is prioritizing noxious weeds in our area in order to focus efforts on controlling new and emerging weeds before they take over.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has compiled a statewide list of weeds that are considered noxious weeds.  Here in southwestern Oregon, we have a combination of unique climate, soils and conditions that makes our high priority list a bit different from the statewide list.  The Jackson County CWMA has developed their own “Most Wanted” list to help focus their attention on those weeds which are the most damaging and/or have the greatest potential to be held in check in Jackson County. The current “Most Wanted” list includes:

Yellow Star Thistle	Purple Loosestrife	Canada Thistle
Dyer’s Woad	Scotch Broom	Japanese Knotweed
Leafy Spurge	Spotted Knapweed	Spanish Broom
Puncture Vine	Scotch Thistle	Diffuse Knapweed

In Jackson County these weeds represent both a threat and an opportunity.  The threat is that if ignored these weeds have the potential to “move in and take over”.  The opportunity is that if we work together there is a strong chance that we can keep these weeds at acceptable population levels that minimize economic and environmental losses.  Our goal is to control and contain the populations, even if we can’t completely eradicate them.
The Jackson County CWMA will focus on

1. weed education (read our brochure)
2. coordination
3. prevention goals to reduce the negative impact of noxious weeds.

The first goal to increase weed education is a high priority because locating and treating weeds throughout the county is a big job and we will need more foot soldiers to get it done.  An excellent example of an education project was a recent training offered by The Nature Conservancy for Early Detection Rapid Response.  This program teaches volunteers how to recognize new invaders with the potential to move in to this area.  With knowledgeable volunteers on the lookout, we hope to attack these new invaders quickly before they get a chance to get a foothold.  Future education activities will focus around weed identification and promoting awareness and better land management to improve our ability to control the spread of weeds.

Weeds could care less whose land they are on!  Coordination, the second goal of Jackson County CWMA, creates an opportunity to make weed treatment more efficient by working across landownership boundaries and jurisdictions.  Efforts to control them must go beyond land ownership if they are to be effective.  Meeting monthly gives members of the Jackson County CWMA a chance to keep each other up to date on new weed populations and efforts to treat and control them.  The meetings also create a forum to discuss what types of treatment are working and to share ideas for improvement.

Did you know that weeds spread by hitchhiking on hikers, all-terrain tires and livestock?  The third aim of the Jackson County CWMA is prevention to increase awareness in hopes of reducing the spread of weeds through human activities.  Many people are unaware that they may be spreading weeds through recreation, road building, or any kind of soil disturbance.  Future prevention activities will include developing a monitoring program to keep an eye on certain sites or weeds and working to develop weed-free certification programs to help consumers identify which hay, livestock feed or gravel is certified to be free of weed seeds.

You can read a report of our accomplishments and progress as of October, 2007 here (1 MB).

The Jackson County CWMA is grateful to the Jackson Soil and Water Conservation District for providing a home base and hub for the group’s activities.  If you have an interest in the group or you are interested in lending a hand, becoming a “weed warrior”, or learning more about weeds contact the SWCD at 734-3143.