News you can use
Turner continues work to control weeds - and mosquitoes
Terry Turner, who was recently awarded the Montana Weed Control Association's 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award at their annual banquet in Great Falls, has been working for the Hill County Weed District since he was 19 years old.
Turner, who turned 60 in November, was born and raised southeast of Havre on his grandparents' family farm, which he still manages to take care of despite his myriad titles within the Havre community.
"I'd always been interested in horticultural work," he said.
This interest would lead him to the weed district where he would work for another 40 years after he attended Northern Montana College, which would eventually become Montana State University-Northern.
"During the summers I did a co-op with the weed district starting May 7th, 1979, and been here ever since," he said.
Turner, who has been the weed coordinator for the area since June of 1986, said his work with the district has allowed him to help the people of the Havre and Hill County area. His time there has been very rewarding, he said.
"I really enjoy helping the public out and doing my farming on the side," he said, "It's worked out really well over all these years."
Turner was one of the founding members of the North America Weed Management Association, which would evolve into the North American Invasive Species Management Association, which has the mission of helping people around the U.S. deal with invasive species.
He said he remembers the first meeting years ago down in Colorado with representatives from 21 states, with everyone eager to discuss the issues with invasive weeds and what could be done about them.
"I had always thought that Montana was kind of lagging behind in weed control, but we turned out to be one of the leaders," he said, "... Montana had innovative ideas that other states really want."
Turner said inter-state efforts like those taken by NAISMA are important to controlling invasive species of all kinds, especially weeds.
"Weeds don't stop at the border," he said.
Turner said the weed district has made amazing strides over the years, but he still sees the encroachment of ever more invasive weeds moving into the state.
He said he's seen the Noxious Weed List in Montana grow from 15 species to 32, so the work of the weed district is far from done especially given Montana's biggest industries.
"When you look at Montana we really have two industries out here," he said, "... You've agriculture and you also have tourism. If you have a lot of weeds both of those industries fail."
Turner said, because invasive weeds have a tendency to crowd out other plants and become a monoculture, they pose a threat not just to ag producers but to the aesthetics of the state itself, which deeply affects tourism.
"Not everyone wants to just go see a huge patch of weeds," he said, jokingly, "so we wanna keep Montana looking as natural as possible."
He said funding for the district has been a bit tough in the last few years, but they've been able to make do so far with carefully planned spending.
Turner helped push through a four mill levy a few years ago for the district, which he has said helps the district immensely.
Turner was also deeply involved in the creation of the Hill County Mosquito District, which he said, has also made great strides in population control.
He said in the beginning, early last decade, mosquito traps would catch upwards of 2,000 in a night. That number is now about 250.
"I had few people who just got sick and tired of getting ate alive in Havre here by mosquitos and asked how we'd help get a mosquito district for 'em," he said, "So I kinda helped them get that going and the next question that was asked was, 'Would you be willing to be the manager for that?'"
It's hard to find anyone who likes mosquitos, but Turner had a particularly personal investment in getting their population under control since his daughter Aricka, who now owns High Horizon Gardens along with her husband, Cody Miles, was allergic to mosquito bites.
"We couldn't even let her go outside in the early days, when she was growing up," he said.
One thing he said he was proud of was when a local nurse on the Mosquito Board, Karen Sloan, who died in November of 2017, said she noticed that since the mosquito district was formed, visits related to mosquito bites virtually disappeared out of her office.
Turner said because of his positions he doesn't get a whole lot of free time.
"During the summertime it's pretty much sunup to sundown working, and it's pretty well seven days a week," he said, "... I like it when it rains so I can catch up on my paperwork."
The free time he does have he likes to spend fishing and hunting, and he hopes he will be able to take more time to indulge those hobbies in the future.
"I'd love to fish more," he said, "Every year I buy a fishing license, but every year I only get out there once or twice, so about eight years or 10 years down the road I'm hoping to enjoy that a little more."
Despite the immense amount of time Turner has, and does, spend in his various jobs he still had time for a family.
"I've got a wonderful family," he said.
Turner's wife, Aaron, works at Independence Bank and as of May 18 this year they have been married for 35 years.
"We have two wonderful children, and two grandchildren. One's going on 4 years old in June and one grandson, he'll be 7 years old," Turner said.
Despite his persistent lack of free time, Turner said, his years working with both the weed, and mosquito districts as well as the various boards he's served has been a long, but enjoyable ride.
"It's been a good one, very good boards to work with, I don't have any complaints," he said.
Reader Comments(0)