Officials put off decision on weed plan
Many community members speak out against herbicide use in plan
More than 40 community members spoke at a county weed management meeting Tuesday — most of them opposed to herbicide use to maintain biodiverse areas within Boulder County.
In response, Boulder County commissioners put off making a decision on a county weed management plan draft after the more than 5-hour meeting at the Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St. The Boulder County Integrated Weed Management Plan addresses weed management on private and public lands in Boulder County in compliance with state law. Additionally, it provides guidance for weed management on Boulder County Parks and Open Space lands.
“The work we do is far more than treating weeds. We are trying to manage entire plant communities,” said Joe Swanson, weed control supervisor for Boulder County Parks and Open Space . “Our native spaces are globally rare and irreplaceable. We can displace the opportunities for these invasive weeds.”
County officials have received a large volume of public input about weed management through testimony at public meetings, survey responses and comments through an online comment form. Many people are concerned about herbicide use, county staffers said. In response, the county has stopped using helicopters to apply herbicides and now uses drones. Staffers also are exploring alternative weed management tools, including goat browsing, hand pulling, steam treatment to suppress weeds at trailheads, novel soil amendments and a volunteer “Weed Warrior Program.”
“As reflected in the public process, we paused our aerial application,” said Swanson. “However, this extremely limits our ability to protect biodiverse areas.”
“We are losing some of these more uncommon native species, so that’s a worrying trend,” said David Hirt, senior plant ecologist for Boulder County Parks and Open Space. “I’m not quite ready to throw up my hands and say let whatever plant is strongest win.”
A Lyons resident and advocate of the Lyons Climate Action Group, Kathleen Sands, called for an end to herbicide use in the area.
“We really feel in this public that herbicides are dangerous, and we don’t want to wait 6 years to have them reduced or gone,” said Sands. “There is virtually no risk to ending pesticide use. Our experts will tell you it takes up to 7 years to heal soil from herbicides. In this climate crisis we don’t have 6 years. We are asking that you give us 3 years from today.”
Tess Mcdonald, another Lyons resident, recounted that after the drone spraying in late November, multiple neighbors of hers suddenly had unknown medical conditions.
“We the people have reached our limit with environmental toxins … this proposed drone spraying is a violation of our human rights not to be poisoned,” said Mcdonald. “Three of my neighbors were affected with unknown medical conditions after the spraying.”
The draft weed management plan covers about 42,000 acres of parks and open space, 7,000 acres of open space land under rangeland agricultural lease, 65 miles of trails and 685 miles of county-maintained rights-ofway. According to the draft plan, control methods are determined based on the noxious weed species, how pervasive they are and site-specific conditions. Methods include community weed pulls, mowing, prescribed burns, grazing, collecting seed heads and herbicides.