Hoary Alyssum is “the fastest spreading, scariest weed we have,” according to Ravalli County Weed Coordinator Kelly Ann Morris, who also serves as President of the Montana Weed Control Association. Morris shepherded a complaint from one local landowner to the County Commissioners last week about noxious weeds and about the county’s process for dealing with them. The answer she got was that there is not enough money to address the problem.
“It’s no different than what we tell every department,” said Commission Chair Jeff Burrows. “We don’t have enough money to for any of our departments to do what really needs to be done.” He said if you put more money into one department, you are taking it away from another.
Hoary Alyssum is a relatively new invader to the county. Morris first encountered it in 2004. It was listed as a noxious weed by the state in 2008. It spreads extremely rapidly and mowing only increases its spread. It can be knocked down with hand pulling and the application of herbicide. But the problem, according to Morris, is the seeds. You can eradicate the plants with herbicide, but the moment there is a scant bit of precipitation or even a heavy dew, the plants spring right back.
“We would have to spray six times a year to get a handle on it,” said Morris. But the problem with that is that you can’t spray that much. It violates the application restrictions on the label and would be illegal and unhealthy.
“Every avenue of education is being pursued,” said Morris.
Due to its aggressive growth and lack of any natural enemies, this species, like other invasive noxious weeds, can be highly destructive, competitive, and difficult to control, reducing crop yields, edging out native plant communities that wildlife and fish depend on and degrading wildlife habitat. But Hoary Alyssum is not only a noxious weed, it’s highly toxic to livestock and has killed horses, according to Morris. It remains toxic for up to nine months in hay bales and the seeds remain viable for years.
Larry Trexler, who has been involved with the noxious weed issue for years and served on the Weed Board, said, “Nothing’s changed. A new one comes and takes off and gets ahead of everyone.” He urged the commissioners to address the issue in any way possible.
He suggested a mandatory disclosure of the presence of noxious weeds in real estate deals might have some effect.
He also complained about the complaint process.
“The process of having neighbors turn in neighbors is not right,” he said. He suggested that the weed district should be making the complaints and not forcing neighbors to turn against neighbors.
Burrows said that with a $200,000 budget and only 2 ¾ employees they could not afford to do proactive enforcement. He said the current budget supports spraying about 1/3 of the county roads that need it each year.
“We don’t have any money to contract anything out,” he said. “The funds are just not there.”
Morris said that the Montana Weed Control Association was trying to make a difference legislatively on funding for weed districts and that the Montana Department of Agriculture also grants $7,500 per year to each weed district in the state. She urged people to contact their legislators about the problem.