Parks cultivate partnerships to tackle noxious weeds--National Park Service--WASO-INFO




					by Jeff Connor and Greg Waters
					Invasive nonnative plants are the most serious threat to native plants, and the spread of some noxious weeds poses tremendous economic damage to public and private lands. Control of nonnative plants, however, is doomed unless adjacent landowners unite in their efforts. Such unions by parks and local communities in Colorado and in Connecticut have been highly successful. Rocky Mountain National Park and its gateway community of Estes Park teamed up in 1998 to assess, control, and monitor 12 problem plants. The partnership came about because the town feared the spread of leafy spurge from inside to outside the park, and the park wanted to prevent the spread of diffuse knapweed to inside its boundaries. Ultimately, the park and Estes Park became one of six demonstration sites in Colorado where public and private entities are working together. Monies supporting the partnership came from several sources, primarily the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Pulling Together Initiative and a matching grant from the Colorado Noxious Weed Management Fund. Additionally, NPS Fee Demonstration Program project funds and Larimer County Parks and Open Space provided grants to combat leafy spurge, diffuse knapweed, and 10 other noxious weeds. The park, home owners’ associations and private landowners, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Estes Park Rotary, Estes Valley Improvement Association, Estes Valley Land Trust, Estes Park Parks Department, Estes Park Recreation District, Estes Park School District, YMCA of the Rockies, and Boulder County Open Space contributed matching funds or supported costs of the program. In 1998 about 1,500 acres of public and private lands were mapped and 100 acres were treated with herbicides. On 20 acres the weeds were mowed and pulled out by hand. About 95 acres were treated with biological control insects. All the leafy spurge inside Rocky Mountain National Park and all the diffuse knapweed inside the park and within 1/2 mile outside of the park boundary were controlled. Weir Farm National Historic Site and its neighboring private landowners in the towns of Ridgefield and Wilton, Connecticut, were invaded by nonnative plants. The park, which also received funds from the Pulling Together Initiative, spearheaded the formation of a team to control invasive plants throughout the local community. The team consists of two garden clubs, two town conservation commissions, an environmental education center, a watershed preservation organization, and the park itself. Its objectives are to inform the local community of the problem with invasive plants and to hold field days to demonstrate plant identification and weed-control techniques. In 1998 several articles appeared in local papers and in magazines, a local radio station featured discussions, and a local cable channel periodically showed slides of various noxious weeds and offered advice for control. Several public lectures focused on identification of and control measures for invasive plants, and on alternative landscape plantings. Practical work sessions gave people experience in controlling invasive plants, such as Asiatic barberry, autumn olive, oriental bittersweet, winged euonymus, and multiflora rose. An invasive plant symposium, bringing together federal, state, and local interest groups, is planned for 1999.

		Although small, a patch of yellow toadflax in an otherwise pristine-looking meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park is symbolic of the far-reaching threat of invasive plant species. The park has begun to focus on assessing, controlling, and monitoring 12 problem exotics with the help of park neighbors and innovative funding programs. jeff_connor@nps.gov Natural Resource Specialist, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado greg_waters@nps.gov Horticulturist, Weir Farm National Historic Site, Connecticut EXOTIC SPECIES FACT BOOK PUBLISHED In October, parks received the fact book Invasive Plants Changing the Landscape of America. This reference summarizes the impacts of noxious weeds upon ecosystems of the United States and is intended for use by decision makers, resource managers, and others who need information about invasive plants. The book is published by the Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds, which is cochaired by the National Park Service, and is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office (www.access.gpo.gov). Back to Chapter 4: Resource Disturbances Jean Lafitte learns from 3-D seismic oil exploration experience by Sandee Dingman Exotic insect jeopardizes eastern hemlocks by James Åkerson At what cost? Deciding whether to control exotic plants by Sue Rutman Source of chemicals that feminize Lake Mead fish discovered by Roy Irwin Protecting the natural “soundscape” in parks by William B. Schmidt Home

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Last Updated: 07/22/99
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov
This article is from Natural Resource Year in Review--1998, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in June 1999 (publication D-1346)