Noxious Weed Management Program...
Noxious weeds occur on over 200,000 acres of the Reservations
trust lands. These are plants declared noxious by law and
have caused serious economic losses and environmental impacts
since becoming established on the Reservation in the mid 1900s.
Their spread is displacing native plant communities, reducing
important wildlife habitat, diminishing agriculture land productivity,
and degrading the value of other Tribal resources.
Although there are as many as 20 noxious weeds that occur
on the Reservation, the weeds of greatest management concern
are shown below.
Terrestrial Weeds:
Whitetop |
Dalmatian Toadflax |
Spotted Knapweed |
Sulfur Cinquefoil |
St. Johnswort (aka Goatweed) |
Leafy Spurge |
Aquatic Weeds:
Purple Loosestrife |
Yellow Iris |
New Invaders (Terrestrial and aquatic):
Orange Hawkweed (Terrestrial) |
Yellow Hawkweed (Terrestrial) |
Flowering Rush (Aquatic) |
Dyer's Woad (Terrestrial) |
Common Crupina (Terrestrial) |
Yellow Starthistle (Terrestrial) |
In 1988, the Tribes obtained noxious weed funds from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and started the weed management program
that exists today. During the next five years, the Tribes
conducted weed inventories and prepared the Integrated Noxious
Weed Management Plan and its programmatic environmental assessment
for executing large-scale treatment projects. The overall
goals of the plan are to:
- Establish and integrated approach consisting of sound
and acceptable treatment methods for the control and early
eradication of noxious weeds,
- Maintain and enhance environmental quality,
- Achieve and maintain desired ecological condition of Reservation
environments,
- Restore agricultural land productivity, and
- Maintain human health and safety.
Utilizing an interdisciplinary team planning approach, the
Tribes started treating large acreages of noxious weed infestations
in 1993. This process continues today and has lead to biological,
chemical, mechanical and manual treatments on 56,420 noxious
weed acres since 1994. The funding for these projects was
obtained from a variety of Tribal, Federal, State, and private
sources.
Public involvement and support is essential to the success
of the Weed Management Program. If you or someone you know
is interested in knowing more about the program, starting
a weed management project, or reporting a new invader, please
contact us.
Employee:
Dan Jackson - Weed Specialist
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