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Agency bestows lifetime achievement award on BLM weed specialist

Press release

An agency has presented Kenny Keever, Bureau of Land Management invasive weed specialist at the BLM Havre Field Office and Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, with the Barb Mullin Lifetime Achievement Award at the Montana Weed Control Association conference

"Kenny is always willing to spend his personal time and resources to support invasive plant management, and represent the model envisioned for the Barb Mullin Achievement Award for communication and coordination in invasive plant management" said Celestine Duncan of Weed Management Services. "He is respected by private land managers, and county, state and federal partners for his weed-management efforts, expertise, and willingness to tackle new projects."

To qualify for the Barb Mullin Lifetime Achievement Award nominees must have been active in the MWCA for 10 years or more; demonstrated leadership abilities; and successfully dealt with agencies and the public in the noxious weed effort.

Keever's history with weed control spans more than two decades and began as a high school student. In the early 1990s the BLM partnered with his high school vo-ag program to collect and send out leafy spurge red headed stem borers and flea beetles.

Keever said the introduction and expansion of invasive plants across the western states is one of the most challenging issues land managers face.

"Montana has led the charge against these alien invaders for decades," he said.

Keever became a member of the Montana Weed Control Association in 2000 and has been closely involved with managing invasive plants in Montana since that time.

"Kenny has served as the MWCA's Integrated Weed Management Committee chairman, and currently has a key role on the Biological Control Committee and Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund board," said Duncan. "He actively supports integrating biological, cultural, and chemical control measures for invasive plant management."

Liberty and Toole Counties Weed District Coordinator Jim Ghekiere said, "Kenny has shown a serious commitment to his job, and to noxious weed control efforts all across Montana."

Keever has been instrumental in leading the effort to inventory the middle-Missouri River for aquatic invasive plants, and assist county weed districts with inventories. He has also provided suggestions and guidance to the state aquatic invasive species management effort. He has provided assistance with the BLM boat and his time, to assist Toole and Liberty counties with their survey of Lake Elwell (Tiber Reservoir) for aquatic invasive plants. With his support and expertise, the work was accomplished efficiently and came in under the proposed budget, said Ghekiere.

Keever is a leader in weed management efforts for many environmentally sensitive areas in north-central Montana, said Terry Turner, the Hill County Weed District coordinator. "He meets regularly with landowners and agency personnel in developing weed management strategies for these areas, working hard to find a common bond between landowners and agencies. He has spent countless hours in planning meetings working with these landowners on weed grant proposals and providing them with weed control advice and assistance, as well as working hard to raise the awareness of new invasives such as perennial pepperweed and Russian olive."

The BLM Montana State Office Invasive Species Coordinator Floyd Thompson said, "We were very pleased when the MWCA awarded Kenny Keever the Barb Mullin Lifetime Achievement Award."

 

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