Weed experts ask legislators to help ban alien plants

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
02/28/06

Weed management professionals from around the country are meeting in Washington, D.C. Feb. 26-March 3 during National Invasive Weed Awareness Week to discuss strategies to prevent the spread of noxious and invasive plants, as well as lobby legislators for funding that local communities can use to wipe out alien plant species.

Eliminating invasive or exotic plants is costly, estimated at about $34 billion annually in the United States alone. In Alaska, invasive weeds are a growing problem. Cooperative Extension Service agents at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are taking the lead to ensure that the costs of controlling invasive species experienced in the other 49 states--from labor and pesticide expenses, losses to fisheries and crops, and the elimination of native species and ecosystems--are avoided in Alaska.

Extension Land Resources Agent Michele Hebert is working with several state and federal agencies to develop an Alaska invasive species council. According to Hebert, the Environmental Protection Agency has provided one year of funding for the establishment of the council.

"In most states the council is set up either through a gubernatorial Executive Order or through legislation. It’s our hope that will happen in Alaska because we know plants typically not native to an existing ecosystem have the potential to wreak economic and environmental disaster," Hebert said.

For example, last fall in Anchorage, purple loosestrife was found growing wild along Chester Creek. An extremely aggressive flowering perennial with purple spikes, the flowers can develop dense thickets that are almost impossible to eliminate. Sale of the plant has been banned in 27 states. UAF Extension officially placed purple loosestrife on its "do not plant" list for Alaska in 2004.

According to Hebert, purple loosestrife can wipe out native plants, cover creek bottoms, overgrow wetlands, ruin fish passage and prevent access to recreational areas.

Extension educators throughout Alaska have devoted a large portion of their time to eradicating invasive weeds and preventing further infestations. And because alien plants don’t observe boundaries, combating them has required collaboration among local organizations, legislators, government agencies and volunteers.

"I’m very excited that state legislator Gabrielle LeDoux is helping to raise awareness of the invasive issue statewide by sponsoring legislation on this important issue," Hebert said.

LeDoux’s House Bill 324 calls for a ban on the importation, transfer and cultivation of purple loosestrife and orange hawkweed, another highly invasive species in Alaska. It also prohibits the sale, gift or transfer of those plants except for disposal.

In addition, Hebert said Alaska will be one step closer to formal creation of a state invasive species council when a task force comprised of representatives from the Alaska State Department of Fish and Game, Natural Resources, Transportation and Public Facilities, Environmental Conservation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Alaska meet March 28-29 to create a formal memorandum of understanding to combat invasives.

To learn more about invasive plants, how to identify and control them, or how to become a volunteer, contact your local Extension office or go to www.uaf.edu/ces to download publication FGV-00142 "Reducing the Spread of Non-Native Invasive Plants in Alaska" or publication FGV-00144 "Noxious Weed -- Identification or Prevention," visit the Committee for Noxious and Invasive Plants Management in Alaska at www.cnipm.org , or visit the National Invasive Species Information Center at www.invasivespecies.gov .

CONTACT: Extension Land Resources Agent Michele Hebert at (907) 474-2423 or via e-mail at ffmah@uaf.edu . UAF Extension Communications Director Debra Damron at (907) 474-5420 or via e-mail at debra.damron@uaf.edu .