Current Weed

North Rim Landscape Coordinated Weed Management Area

The UP is initiating a Coordinated Weed Management Area (WMA) Plan and treatment program for the 220,000-acre North Rim Landscape area, located at the north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

This effort developed as a direct result of recommendations made by the North Rim Landscape Strategy (NRLS) workgroup to address invasive species within the area. The NRLS workgroup has been working to develop a collaborative landscape level strategy for the area. The North Rim area was identified as an important landscape because it contains habitat for Gunnison sage-grouse populations, abundant elk herds, and numerous other wildlife. It also includes portions of the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area (GGNCA) and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Public lands are used for cattle grazing, hunting and recreation. Because of the strength of the collaborative NRLS workgroup, the UP was successful in obtaining a $28,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to coordinate a collaborative weed management program.

Partners in the North Rim WMA effort include the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, National Park Service –Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Montrose, Delta and Gunnison Counties.

Long-term conservation outcomes for the project include:

Facilitating a better understanding of weed invasion and resource impacts in the area;
Developing and implementing Best Management Practices for early detection and prevention of non-native species for road management, grazing, recreation, and land disturbance activities;
Creating wildlife habitat improvement, especially for the Gunnison sage-grouse, by implementing an integrated invasive species treatment program and reseeding with native plants;
Restoring the species and age diversity and quality/productivity of native plant and animal communities by reseeding with native plants, controlling invasive species and landscape monitoring of plant communities;
Increasing and expanding community, landowner and inter-agency involvement, education and collaboration regarding invasive species management.

The North Rim WMA partners have begun work on prioritizing treatment strategies and weed species. Because prevention is the most important aspect of a weed management program, an Early Detection- Reward Program will be initiated for the following species.

Yellow star thistle
Sulfur cinquefoil
Leafy spurge
Yellow toadflax

Members of the public will receive a $50 reward for the detection of new infestations of these noxious weeds.

To learn more about the larger North Rim Landscape Strategy effort, click here.

Coordinated Treatments within the WMAs:

In Spring 2009, the partners developed a combined Annual Operating Plan for the Horsefly, Tabeguache and Paradox WMAs. As a team, the partners determined the high priority species to be given special emphasis for treatment in 2009. In total over 3,000 acres were treated by all partners. Specific treatment strategies included:

Tamarisk – Biological controls were released in the Dolores River Drainage. In the San Miguel watershed within the Paradox WMA, stumps were cut and followed by herbicide treatment.
Purple loosestrife – Infestations found in the Tabeguache WMA were treated using backpack sprayers and aerial spray applications.
Sulphur cinquefoil – Infestations found in the Tabeguache WMA were treated by ground herbicide applications.
Spotted knapweed –Infestations found in the Horsefly WMA were treated by ground herbicide applications. Biological controls were also released.
Oxeye daisy – Infestations found in the Horsefly WMA were treated using OHVs and aerial spray applications.
Russian knapweed, hoary cress, and the thistle complex were the most common invasive species found within the WMAs and were, therefore, the most treated species.

To download a copy of the 2009 Annual Operating Plan, click here.

Treatment funding for these efforts has been provided by the Uravan Mill Natural Resources Damage Fund, NRCS – EQIP program, BASF corporation, Uncompahgre Habitat Partnership Program, Colorado Division of Wildlife, EnCana, Montrose County, US Forest Service, BLM, The Nature Conservancy, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the UP Project. Since 2005, over $1.5 million have been spent on treatment efforts within these Coordinated Weed Management Areas.

Map of the West Montrose County WMAs

Weed Prevention -Best Management Practices Brochure

A brochure was developed highlighting Best Management Practices for weed prevention for recreational users. The brochure was funded in part by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Pulling Together Grant and by the Five Star Grant Program supported by the NFWF, National Assoc. of Counties Research Foundation, Southern Company, Pacific Gas and Electric and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To download a copy of the brochure, click on the icon below.

Other Treatment Projects

In addition to the Coordinated Weed Management Areas, the UP is involved in several individual invasive species management projects in the local area. The role of the UP is to facilitate cooperation among land managers, utility companies, counties and private landowners for the control and prevention of weeds as well as seek outside funding sources.

25 Mesa Yellow Toadflax Project

Yellow toadflax infestations on private lands in the 25 Mesa area of the Uncompahgre Plateau were treated. Concurrently, the U.S. Forest Service treated infestations on adjacent public lands. This is the second year that the UP has coordinated treatments in this area. In total, 250 acres were treated over a 2,450-acre area. Treatments were accomplished via backpack sprayers, OHV’s, and ATV’s. The continuing challenge of this project is finding individual plants before they bloom in the dense vegetation communities, especially in the aspen cover type. This is a collaborative effort of Montrose County, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, UP Project and private landowners.

Roubideau and Potter Canyon Russian Knapweed Project

Russian knapweed infestations were treated along 22 miles of the Roubideau Canyon and the lower reaches of Potter Canyon. The majority of the canyons are not accessible by motorized vehicles. Treatments are accomplished via horseback with pressurized spray units. The difficult access, heavy riparian vegetation, and the remoteness of the area make this a very difficult project. Excellent progress has been made by treating the infestations on a biannual basis for the last four years. Each year the area needing treatment and retreatment has been reduced. After one year of treatment, 80% of the infestation was controlled. Retreatment efforts now focus on new plants that emerge from the seed bank in the soil, missed plants under the dense shrub overstory, and new infestations that were not found in previous years. This treatment project is a collaborative effort made possible by funding from the Uncompahgre Habitat Partnership Program, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Forest Service and the BLM. In coordination with this effort, Montrose County treated a 5-mile stretch of the canyon that is accessible by motorized vehicle.

A view of Roubideau Canyon

Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area Invasive Species Control and Restoration Project

In 2008, the UP received a two-year Five-Star Grant for the “Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area Invasive Species Control and Restoration Project”. The grant program is supported by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Association of Counties Research Foundation, Southern Company, Pacific Gas and Electric and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The objectives of the project are invasive species control, riparian restoration, and watershed health on 23 miles of riparian area along the Gunnison River. Invasive species treated in 2009 include: tamarisk, Russian knapweed, oxeye daisy, thistle complex, yellow toadflax, and hoary cress. Cottonwood and willow plantings have also been undertaken and an outreach program has been initiated. Educational kiosks have been established at multiple trailheads to provide information for visitors about the spread of invasive species and early detection of new invaders. An Invasive Weeds Prevention–Best Management Practices brochure has also been developed for distribution to recreational users.

Educational kiosk at the Gunnison Gorge

Ute Spotted Knapweed Project

The UP has completed a three-year treatment project focusing on spotted knapweed and oxeye daisy infestations in the Ute area on the west side of the Uncompahgre Plateau in the Cottonwood/Sheep Creek drainages. The treatment efforts focused on 3,000 acres of private land located on four ranches in the area. Funding for this project has been provided by the National Resources Conservation Service - Environmental Quality Incentives Program (NRCS-EQIP) and the Uncompahgre Habitat Partnership Program, Montrose County cost-share program, and private land owners. Powerline and pipeline right-of-ways that cross the private lands were also treated. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and Kinder Morgan contributed funds for these treatment costs. In addition to the private land treatments, the US Forest Service and Montrose County treated over 10,000 acres of adjacent rangelands and county roads infested with spotted knapweed, using funding received by a 2005 Uravan Mill Natural Resources Damage Fund Grant.

The spotted knapweed infestations were originally found during the survey of the Horsefly Weed Management Area, facilitated by the UP in 2006. The spotted knapweed was found in open dry meadows, irrigated meadows, mixed in sagebrush stands, underneath oak brush (mountain shrub) and under the ponderosa pine canopy. Densities varied from 100% cover to random plants scattered over many acres within all the plant communities. When the infestations were found, the UP began to coordinate with the WMA partners and the NRCS on a treatment strategy and sought outside funding sources to assist the landowners. Four out of seven landowners participated in the treatment program, covering approximately 95% of the private land acres in the area. It was found that the spotted knapweed was being heavily grazed in the spring by cattle. Because of this, inventories were done after the plant blooms in late July and August. As the cattle moved and the spotted knapweed recovered from grazing and flowered, new plants could be found. Therefore, the infestations were treated twice a year (early summer and fall) for the three-year period, pre and post grazing. As of Fall 2009, the spotted knapweed infestations have been reduced by 90% on the 2,700 acres of private land. Annual treatments will be needed to keep individual plants from developing into large infestations once again.

The three-year treatment of spotted knapweed included:

2007 – Over 2,900 acres of rangeland inventoried on the four private ranches. A total of 38.5 chemical acres (actual acres of spotted knapweed) treated.
2008 – The 2,900 acres of rangeland were reinventoried, finding that the infestations on two of the ranches had been successfully eradicated with the previous year’s efforts. A total of 12 chemical acres were treated on the two remaining ranches (actual acres of spotted knapweed treated). These acres include both new infestations found and retreatment of areas where new plants emerged from the remaining seed bank.
2009 –An inventory found a new four-acre infestation. A total of 8.5 chemical acres were treated on two ranches.

Approximately 60 chemical acres of spotted knapweed were treated on private lands over the three-year period. Additional acres were treated on adjacent Forest Service lands, within the utility right-of-ways and along county roads in the Ute area.

Although spotted knapweed was the original focus of this project, a large infestation of oxeye daisy was found in the meadows of one of the private ranches during the second year. Treatment of this species was initiated in 2008 with on-the-ground applications. In 2009 it was determined that the best method of treating the oxeye daisy was by aerial application in the spring on the meadows followed by ground application in areas where the plants had moved under the ponderosa pine canopy. In total, over 130 acres of oxeye daisy were treated by aerial and ground applications in 2009.

Spotted knapweed infestation in the Ute area

Powerline Spotted Knapweed Project

Spotted knapweed infestations were treated twice in 2009 along the Western Area Power Administration and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association powerlines. Infestations are located along the powerlines at the Highway 90 intersection on the east side of the Uncompahgre Plateau and on adjacent BLM-administered lands. The inventory and treatment covered approximately five miles of the powerlines and the surrounding public lands. The inventory and treatments were accomplished via horseback.

To learn more about our Invasive Species Management Programs, click here.

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