By Blaine County Noxious Weed Department
Controlling and managing Idaho’s 67 noxious weed species requires an understanding of the problem, and that begins with detection and identification of noxious weeds.
Noxious weeds cost Idaho millions of dollars by:
• Fouling recreation sites from use
• Choking streams and waterways
• Poisoning and injuring livestock and humans
• Crowding out beneficial native plants
• Degrading wildlife habitat
• Creating wildfires in our forests and on Idaho’s rangeland
The spread of noxious weeds in Idaho may signal the decline of entire ecological watersheds. They severely impact the beauty and create widespread economic losses. Noxious weeds are huge problems for our urban as well as rural areas, and for private, state and federal lands. Valley County noxious weed species spare no segment of society – rancher, hunter, hiker and fisherman alike – and when unmanaged, they spread rapidly and unceasingly and silently.
Noxious weeds pose a serious threat to all Idahoans and to the land we call home. Booklets with information about the 67 noxious weeds in Idaho are available at the Blaine County Noxious Weed Department, located at 302 S. 1st Ave. in Hailey.