A Word About Weeds
For the Landowner
A regular feature of ALC's American Landscapes newsletter
A Word about Weeds
What landowners need to know
Reprinted from American Landscapes, Summer 2008
ALC works with many private landowners to protect important natural resources for people and wildlife. But to achieve the full benefit of land protection, the places we protect must also be ecologically healthy. One challenge many landowners face in ensuring the health of their land is noxious weeds.
The Federal Noxious Weed Act defines noxious weeds as plants of a parasitic nature or of foreign origin that pose a direct or indirect threat to agriculture, wildlife resources, livestock, or public health. Approximately 100 million acres of habitat in North America are covered by noxious weeds, with nearly 3 million additional acres infested annually. Noxious weeds can spread at rates of up to 16 percent per year.
Despite the menacing name, some noxious weeds can be quite beautiful, with many species introduced intentionally for domestic gardens. But the majority of noxious weeds are generally unpalatable to wildlife and livestock. Many species are poisonous and cause skin irritation. Wildlife may entirely avoid areas where the density of noxious weeds is high.
Once noxious weeds take hold, plant diversity decreases, lowering native grass production and negatively impacting habitat and biodiversity. In severe infestations, nesting and forage resources are lost, erosion and soil compaction increase, and water quality and aquatic resources can be imperiled, with economic impacts running into the tens or hundreds of millions. Noxious weeds can spread quickly and aggressively, and can infest new areas via avian and terrestrial wildlife, livestock, vehicles (motorized and non-motorized), humans, wind, and water.
While noxious weeds cannot be entirely eradicated, they can be controlled. Landowners have three basic treatment options: mechanical (pulling prior to the flowering stage), chemical (applying herbicides), and biological (introducing insects). Controlling noxious weeds not only helps to restore the landscape, it can drastically increase grass production. In one documented case, noxious weeds had accounted for 56% of the plant biomass before treatment, but only 2% after two years of treatment. At the same time, grass production increased from 350 pounds per acre to nearly 3,000 pounds per acre.
A variety of resources are available to landowners who want to know more about controlling noxious weeds. Your local extension agency, state wildlife agency, county government offices and numerous state and local websites can help. For suggested links and more information for landowners see below.
Wild Cherry Canyon Project in the News
Wild Cherry Canyon Project in the News
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Editorial: Montaña de Oro deal is a brilliant plan - SanLuisObispo.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO, August 6, 2008 -
Pumping up Montana de Oro: Plan would grow park by 65 percent - San Luis Obispo.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO, August 4, 2008
WCC-map
WCC_map
WWC_3photo
Wild Cherry Canyon Project Supporters
Wild Cherry Canyon Project Supporters and Funders
(As of July 2008)
Agencies/Elected Officials
Ruth Coleman, Director, California Dept. of Parks and Recreation
Sam Schuchat, Executive Officer, California Coastal Conservancy
John Donnelly, Executive Director, Wildlife Conservation Board
California Transportation Commission
State Senator Abel Maldonado (15th Senate District)
Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (33rd Assembly District)
San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG)
(Unanimous support and funding provided for project by mayors/ representatives of all seven SLO county cities and all five county supervisors)
Port San Luis Harbor District
Avila Valley Advisory Council
The Tribune - San Luis Obispo County/Central Coast Newspaper
- PROGRAM:
- American Landscapes
- PROJECT:
- Stucky Ridge Phase 1
- LOCATION:
- Deer Lodge County, MT
- ACREAGE:
- 220 acres
- STATUS:
- Completed 2008
Stucky Ridge Phase 1
Protecting critical bighorn sheep and elk habitat in western Montana
Three miles northwest of Anaconda, Montana, Stucky Ridge is a series of grassy windblown benches, native grasslands, and timbered gulches providing critical winter range for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep and rutting and calving habitat for elk. This classic Montana landscape is also used by mountain lion, bear, coyote, fox, bobcat, and nesting songbirds.
Working in partnership with Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and the Five Valleys Land Trust, ALC helped protect this outstanding habitat in the nick of time. Plans had already been made for an extensive residential subdivision, and road building and preliminary engineering had already begun.
Stucky Ridge is adjacent to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and lies within 10 air miles of five Wildlife Management Areas. ALC continues to work with project partners to complete Phase 2 of the project, which will add another 76 acres of protected habitat. The site will managed by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and will be open to the public for hunting, hiking, wildlife viewing, and other activities.
Donate NowWith your help, American Land Conservancy can continue to conserve the very best of our ecological, scenic, recreational, cultural and agricultural resources.
- PROGRAM:
- Mississippi River
- PROJECT:
- Windy Bar
- LOCATION:
- Cape Girardeau County, MO
- ACREAGE:
- 705 acres
- STATUS:
- Completed 2008
Windy Bar
Preserving natural bluffs on the Mississippi floodplain
In early June 2008, ALC conveyed 705 acres of critical wetland habitat to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), a pivotal moment in an 18-year effort by agencies and conservation groups to protect the area. The Windy Bar property, a forested island/side channel complex on the middle Mississippi River, is located several miles north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Windy Bar is situated in the Cape Hills Conservation Opportunity Area of the Missouri Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy and was a high priority acquisition for the MDC. The parcel includes a unique interior tributary that drains hundreds of acres of wooded upland and is one of the few floodplains on the Mississippi defined by natural bluffs rather than man-made levees.
Cottonwood and willow forests, bottomland hardwoods, forested wetlands, sand bars, and riparian areas on the island provide exceptional fish and wildlife habitat. Windy Bar is frequently visited by bald eagles and other raptors such as red-tailed hawks, and is considered an important resource for the recovery of threatened and endangered species such as the Pallid Sturgeon, Least Tern, and Indiana Bat.
The acquisition complements an earlier ALC project that protected 2,741-acre Devil’s Island, just across the river from Windy Bar. Now residents and visitors can enjoy two publicly-accessible properties on both sides of the river just ten miles north of Cape Girardeau. Public access is currently via the river, but long-term management plans may include access by land.
Donate NowWith your help, American Land Conservancy can continue to conserve the very best of our ecological, scenic, recreational, cultural and agricultural resources.
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