Noxious Weeds are Obnoxious

Noxious Weeds are Obnoxious

Anyone who owns or manages land in the north Santiam Watershed already knows how totally obnoxious some plants can be.  I mean, they just don’t get it, do they?  You keep pulling, or digging or spraying and like a bad penny they just keep turning up.  Sometimes it seems almost hopeless.

Noxious weeds are obnoxious, that’s why the North Santiam Watershed Council has your back.  We can help individual private land owners  identify weed species and through our partnerships with state, local, and federal agencies we can find resources to help when you decide to treat those noxious weeds on your property.

Yellow Flag Iris is an invasive weed that chokes out native species.

OK, so what do we mean by NOXIOUS WEEDS?

Noxious weeds are non-native plants that have been designated serious pests because they cause economic loss and harm to human communities and natural environments.

–OR Dept. of Agriculture Noxious Weed Strategic Plan

There are 118 plant species on Oregon’s Weed List.  According to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, invading plant species are considered noxious when they:

  • cause severe loss of agricultural or horticultural  production losses
  • are difficult or costly to control using current management practices
  • endanger native flora and fauna by  encroaching on forest, range, and conservation areas
  • hamper the use and enjoyment of recreational areas
  • are poisonous, injurious, or otherwise harmful to humans and/or animals.

Examples of the North Santiam Watershed Council’s Weed Control Projects

  • We’ve inventoried noxious weeds on approximately 1,000 landowner sites along North Santiam and its tributaries.
  • We’ve helped 65 landowners treat invasive weeds on their sites and we’ve treated
  • 30 acres False Brome on North Santiam River,
  • 4 acres of Japanese Knotweed on Stout Creek, and
  • 50 properties along the North Santiam to control  Yellow Flag Iris, Meadow Knapweed, Knotweeds and Tansy Ragwort

The Council is partnering with landowners and the US Forest Service to continue inventory and treatment of noxious weeds in the Detroit and Idanha area.

For more information or help with your weed control issues, please contact our office, or

Marion County Public Works – Weed Control District 

Oregon Department of Agriculture – Noxious Weed Control

Image credit: courtesy of Jefferson County Weed Control

 

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