If you're living on a few acres or more, Park County Weed and Pest District is offering a workshop later this month to help landowners learn to deal with common land management issues.

The workshop is an effort by the district to reach both owners of newly subdivided agricultural land or any landowner looking for direction on land management, said Assistant Supervisor Mary McKinney.

"There's been so many subdivisions and subdividing of ag land around Powell," McKinney said. "Everybody wants a horse, OK, but some may not realize what it takes to maintain that property, to eliminate weeds and be sustainable."

While McKinney is a noxious weed expert, several other issues will be explored, including water rights, irrigation methods, grazing tactics, wildfire prevention and reclamation, soil fertility and a look at local resources like the Buffalo Bill Dam.

The cost for signing up for the program at the Cody Auditorium on March 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., is $10, which covers the cost of a catered meal by Bubba’s Bar-B-Que. Weed and Pest asks that those interested RSVP as soon as possible so they can have a head count for the meal.

Park County Weed and Pest Control District is a county entity authorized by state statute. The purpose of the district is to implement and pursue an effective program for the control of designated noxious weeds and pests. To carry out this responsibility, Park County commissioners appoint a board consisting of seven members who represent different areas of the county. It is funded by tax dollars based on the county valuation and approved by the county commissioners.

Currently there are five full-time staff members, seasonal employees, and contracted individuals or companies working out of the public facility west of Powell. To provide services across the county, the district has three facilities located in Powell, Cody and Meeteetse.

The district also provides support to the University of Wyoming Cooperative Education Service to provide horticultural specialists in both Cody and Powell.

One of the services provided by the district is the sale of pesticides to local taxpayers. These are generally products for the control of noxious weeds and pests.

Park County Weed and Pest is responsible for enforcing the Wyoming Weed and Pest Act and is one of the few districts that has a district-wide quarantine requiring that before any crop can be harvested and moved off the land it was grown on, it must be inspected and released by a district staff member. This includes all row crops and forage crops.

The only exception is forage being processed for livestock and being fed on the same land (without accessing any “public” roadways) on which it was grown.

The requirements for being released from the District Wide Quarantine are that the producer use any method to control the movement of propagating parts of noxious weed. This can include mowing, cutting, roguing, cultivating, spraying with pesticides, or any other method that prevents any viable seed or root parts from being moved of the land on which it was grown. The District Wide Quarantine also includes but is not limited to topsoil and gravel.

Most producers are familiar with this process and have taken the necessary preventative measures so that any noxious species have been controlled. Yet, McKinney would rather think of the district's work as neighbors helping a neighbors.

"I hate to say we're from the government and we're here to help you, but we really can. We really can," she said.

Failing to rid properties of invasive and noxious weeds can lead to significant financial losses to those in the agricultural industry, McKinney said.

"We've been in those fields for years, and we keep logs, so a lot of times we know where there might be an issue," she said, adding that many of their services, like land consultations, are free. "It's also an opportunity to maybe assist them and providing recommendations on how they can eliminate... those noxious [weed] species."

Agricultural economists and invasive weed specialists at the University of Wyoming released a new report on the economic impacts of 10 invasive weeds in Wyoming, several of which are causing issues in Park County.

The study, which assesses both current and potential economic impacts, was developed in response to Gov. Mark Gordon’s 2020 Invasive Species Initiative Report. Collaborators include all Wyoming Weed and Pest Control districts and the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council Guiding Principles Committee.

The 10 species analyzed in the new report are cheatgrass, hoary cress, leafy spurge, medusahead, Palmer amaranth, perennial pepperweed, Russian knapweed, Russian olive, ventenata and yellow starthistle.

“This report represents an important step to better understanding the impacts of invasive weeds on Wyoming’s agricultural economy and gives some insight into how bad it could be if such weeds were left unchecked,” says coauthor Brian Mealor, director of UW’s Sheridan Research and Extension Center and the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE).

To estimate each weed’s statewide and county-level economic impacts on agriculture, the study examined current grazing and crop value losses due to infestation and losses if each species were permitted to spread, unmanaged, into all potentially suitable habitat. For each weed, direct economic impacts were estimated as losses in cash rent for agricultural land currently or potentially infested. The authors found that “while current estimated statewide grazing losses are in the tens of millions of dollars annually, county-level impacts vary widely.”

Of the 10 weeds included in the study, cheatgrass poses the most economically damaging threat to agriculture. The authors estimate that the weed’s future impact may exceed $110 million annually if left unmanaged. While it may be tempting to focus on cheatgrass and other species currently of highest concern, the authors advise against this tactic.

“Preventing further spread of species with very limited range in Wyoming is a higher-leverage approach than waiting for them to have broad-reaching impacts before implementing a strategic management approach,” the report states.

In addition to direct economic impacts, the pilot study also estimated the “ripple effects” of lost agricultural rent.

“Each year, invasive plants reduce the value of both forage and crop values across Wyoming. Beyond this, part of every dollar lost by an agricultural producer to weeds would otherwise be spent at the local feed store, restaurant or doctor’s office,” says Amy Nagler, a research scientist in the UW Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and coauthor of the report. “Estimating these economic losses due to weed infestation is an important tool for prioritizing limited funds for control.”

The new report serves as a potential model for future studies, establishing methods for estimating the impacts of individual weeds on Wyoming’s agricultural economy. However, the authors acknowledge that their estimates are likely quite conservative because they accounted only for economic losses due to grazing reduction.

Key factors that include ecosystem services, recreation, wildfire and wildlife habitat were not incorporated into the pilot study.

With the increased development in the county, there has been an increase in the number of people requesting inspections. If there have been no control measures implemented, Park County Weed and Pest staff will work with those producers to assist them in developing a plan so that they may obtain the required release.  

Weed and Pest also offers cost sharing on several products, including several seed mixes available that are locally sourced. The seed mixes are native plants that will help cover bare ground, which is an attractive feature for weeds.

They are hiring. Candidates for summer positions protecting Park County destinations from invasive noxious plant species should now be applying for employment. There are several positions available with a work week typically consisting of four 10-hour days. Training is provided and applications for the seasonal positions are open now.

For more information, call 307-754-4521. To RSVP, call Shannon at 307-271-3125.