Montana Weed Control Association

Why Should You Care?

Invasive weeds are the greatest threat to Montana’s environment. When these invaders are allowed to invade and spread, they cause a reduction in wildlife forage, degrade fisheries through erosion and sediment buildup, reduce property values, and erode our beautiful viewsheds in Montana. Currently, Montana has approximately 7.6 million precious acres infested with state-listed noxious weeds, and several new and potentially devastating invaders knocking on the door at our borders.

News Highlights

Houndstongue Most Visited Weed This Week

Houndstongue is starting to be found across the state and folks are looking for more information on this plant. There are many options on how one might treat this plant. These plants have a special interest to many because they can be toxic to horses, cattle, sheep and goats. Some possible resources on our website include: Your county weed coordinator, the weed ID page,and the library.

From the Director's Desk

I can tell weed season has begun with a vengeance; for one I am seeing rosettes of knapweed and white top everywhere and second, my phone has gotten quieter. Today it is 80+ degrees with gusty winds sucking out every last bit of moisture this country has in it. I know many counties have started crews on roadside work and some areas have already held crew trainings for the season.

That being said, I encourage you to know these early season weeds and check out the weed ID section of our website. It is time to pull the sprayers out of storage and get equipment calibrated for weed spraying. If you are into biocontrol efforts, there are several schools in Montana, including Whitehall, Victor, Libby, Townsend and Kalispell who have knapweed insectaries going. If you are looking for more information on sheep and goat grazing, I can put you in contact with Lisa Surber of Montana State University. And if you want to burn some serious calories and sweat, put on your gloves and go at it, but be sure you are pulling tap-rooted plants (Houndstongue, spotted knapweed and blueweed) and not those with rhizomatous root systems (leafy spurge, common tansy and toadflax) because pulling will only make things worse with those types of plants.

I also encourage you to look at our calendar of events page to see if you can take time to help out with local cooperative spray days. Beaverhead and Madison Counties have over 35 spray days this summer across SW Montana. Crew trainings are coming up for some areas and you might be able to jump in on the action and learn some industry insider information. I sincerely hope you will take time to learn to identify and manage your top 5 state-listed invasives this summer. If you do, it will go a long, long ways in helping Montana maintain her beautiful viewsheds and protect her abundant wildlife and fishery populations