ISM Monitoring 2018-2020 Year 3

Introduction

The Summit County Sage-grouse project has the overall goal of improving habitat for sage-grouse and is funded by the Forest Service. One of the ways this project is improving habitat is by controlling noxious weeds in the Sagegrouse Management Area. The Summit County Weed Department has been working closely with both the Forest Service and private land owners to control noxious weeds, and they asked the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, to assist in monitoring the changes in the noxious weeds at three sites.

ISM Monitoring EDRR 2020 Year 1

Introduction

Malta star-thistle (Centaurea melitensis) is a high priority, Class 1A Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR) species.¹ For EDRR species, it is the goal of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF), to map, monitor, treat, and eradicate the infestation as quickly as possible.  In 2003, two EddMapS points were uploaded near Motoqua showing infestations of Malta star-thistle.  In 2018, the UDAF asked Washington County to re-verify these points. The plants were difficult to find, and were not verified at that time. On April 9, 2020, Brad Winder, the Washington County Weed Supervisor, found about 6-7 acres of plants near La Verkin that he thought could either be yellow star-thistle or Malta star-thistle. He marked the points in EddMapS and reported it to the Utah Weed Supervisor’s Association and UDAF. On April 28, 2020, Corey Ransom, Associate Professor of Weed Science at Utah State University, went out to the site and confirmed that the plant was Malta star-thistle. After the plant was identified, a group effort was made to contain this species. Washington County worked with the Utah Weed Supervisor’s Association and USU Extension to get funding to begin treatment at La Verkin. Several agencies and volunteer groups helped apply for grants, identify and locate more plant populations, and treatment. UDAF helped facilitate the identification of the plant, assisted in the grant application process, and mapped and monitored the sites on June 9-12 as part of its EDRR monitoring protocol. This report is a summary of the first year of monitoring prior to treatment.

Overview

Graphic A

In the summer season of 2019, the Invasive Species Mitigation grant from Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) provided for the treatment of approximately 1,495 acres of knapweed, Canada thistle, musk thistle, and dyer’s woad infested forests and rangelands. The project spanned four large private ownerships as well as small amounts of USFS lands that total more than 16,000 acres. Approximately 35 miles of unimproved roads and trails across all ownerships were monitored and treated for weed infestations. Numerous new or undiscovered weed infestations were identified and treated during this project, which originally targeted only 195 acres of known weeds. (See Graphic A) (more…)

Project Summary

The EDRR Weed Control project in Summit County is funded through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, Invasive Species Mitigation Fund, and partner matching funds. The project is focused on the Class 1B state noxious weed, garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolate) and the Class 2 state noxious weed, spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe (C. maculosa)). In April of 2019, Park City Municipal Corporation, and the Summit County CWMA were awarded $200,000 for the treatment of Garlic mustard and spotted knapweed during the 2019-2020 fiscal year with Park City Municipal Corporation as the fiscal agent. (more…)