Noxious Weed Season is Upon Us! Are You Ready?
Our wet weather and mild winter has produced a bumper crop of Scotch thistle rosettes. If you have ever had Scotch on your place I highly recommend you walk those spots and check.
Scotch is only one of the 70 or so noxious weeds that threaten our lifestyle here in Idaho, but some of our newer residents may be unfamiliar with the damage that noxious and invasive weeds can do. This is a good time for a reminder on what Idaho law says about noxious weeds.
Let’s start right there. What is a “noxious” weed?
In Idaho Code Title 22 chapter 24, a noxious weed is defined as “any plant having the potential to cause injury to public health, crops, livestock, land or other property; and which is designated as noxious by the director.”
A harmful plant that is designated by the director of the state Dept. of Agriculture is “noxious” for our purposes. The director works in concert with the Idaho Legislature to place these plants on the “Noxious List.” Because the Legislature has final authority, not all candidates for listing make the cut. For instance, Russian olive has been considered for the list, but some parts of the state don’t have a problem with it, while others oppose listing because it is so common that controlling it would be nearly impossible.
The law goes on to state, in part, “Landowner and citizen duties. (1) It shall be the duty and responsibility of all landowners to control noxious weeds on their land and property, in accordance with this chapter and with rules promulgated by the director. (2) The cost of controlling noxious weeds shall be the obligation of the landowner.”
So landowners (or renters or lease holders) have a legal obligation to control the noxious weeds on their property. I’m happy to say that most folks in Adams County do a good job of caring for their ground! Generally, once y’all know what to do with those weeds you are ready to go take ‘em out!
The next step is education. How does a landowner recognize weeds they are legally responsible for? Once you begin looking, it seems like there are a million different plants out there!
Printed in the legal section of this paper is the “Annual Notice to Control Noxious Weeds.” It contains a list of Idaho’s Noxious weed species and prohibited Genera; the species that occur in Adams County are marked with a *. From there you can look them up on line, at the library or you can drop by the Weed Dept. here in Council and ask for a copy of the Weed Handbook. Yup, we’ve got a book, complete with color pictures and descriptions. Besides, it is our slow time of year and Jerry and I would love to visit with you about how to control those pesky weeds!
We are located at 101 Boise-Cascade Avenue, right behind the Recycling Center here in Council, or give us a call at (208) 253-4669. Keep that shovel handy!
