Hill County courting national article on weeds

Hill County Weed District Supervisor Terry Turner said he has perked the interest of an invasive plant publication editor and hopes for an article on the Hill County weed problem in a national magazine.

At best, Turner said, the attention might lead to receiving money to spray against noxious weeds and at the least, a “huge article in a national magazine.”

Turner told Beaver Creek Park Board members Monday night at the board’s monthly meeting that he had spoken to Celestine Duncan, who is listed as the editor of TechLine Invasive Plant News, about possibly writing an article about the weed problem in Hill County.

Duncan’s biography on the TechLine website says she writes articles about the latest in invasive plant management research for TechLine, as well as conducts field research, environmental assessments, and training programs throughout the Northwest on invasive plants.

If Duncan decides to write the article, she would publish it in June, Turner said.

Since his time with Hill County began in 1986, Turner said, the noxious weed list has grown from 15 to 35. And among the problems, he said, is the county fighting prevalent invasive weeds with the same budget when there were 15 on the list.

An informational pamphlet by the Montana Weed Control Association says the invasion of aggressive, nonnative plant species, noxious weeds, is a serious and growing problem in the West.

“Typically, they are plants that grow aggressively, multiply quickly without natural controls, and adversely affect native habitats,” the information says.

The weed problem in Hill County is significant, Turner said. They take over land, increase soil erosion, raise water temperature and cause problems for the fish.

“We’re waving the white flag and saying ‘help,’” Turner told board members Monday.

Turner told the board that the weeds arrive in various ways, including carried by people accidentally, planted by some on purpose or carried by the creek.

The latest noxious weed, Turner said, is one so new the pamphlet doesn’t even list it, phragmites. Turner said that weed, which is from eastern Europe — he said Hungary or Russia — was “dropped off by the railroad.”

At 13 feet high, he said one is growing by the railroad tracks just about three miles into Blaine County.