Island County Noxious Weed Control Program (ICNWCP)

What Are Noxious Weeds?

Noxious weeds are undesirable non-native plants that have economic, ecological, or aesthetic implications. Noxious weeds are often highly destructive and extremely competitive with native flora, making them very difficult to control. The impact of noxious weeds can be quite extensive. For the farmer, noxious weeds can reduce crop yields, lower the quality of grazing land, reduce the value of land, poison cattle, and plug waterways. For the urban gardener, noxious weeds can outgrow and dominate the desired flora, poison pets, and decrease the value of the land. Other effects of noxious weeds include land erosion, high risk of wildfires, reduced outdoor recreational activities (e.g. hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking), and destroying native plant and animal habitats.

There are four different types of classification for noxious weeds: class A, class B designates, class B undesignates, and class C, as defined by the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board.

What Does the ICNWC Program Do?

• We help consult and guide landowners in developing feasible management plans to help achieve compliance with Noxious weed law (RCW 17.10).
• Provide education and technical resources about noxious weeds.
• Conduct physical control work along Island County Right-of-ways (ROWs) and other county-owned properties (County parks, preserves, etc.)
• Regulatory action: Notify non-compliant landowners of violation of state law.

An Example of a Class A Noxious Weed: Spartina

Class A Noxious Weeds - Law Requires Eradication

Spartina anglica is a non-native invasive plant species found in the intertidal zone of North Puget Sound. Referred to as a bioengineer, the plant is able to accrete sediments, altering elevation. The result of this increased elevation can be as dramatic as creating a salt marsh where a mud flat once existed. This can cause major disruptions to native marine habitat.

Intentionally introduced as a shoreline stabilizer in the early 1960s, spartina was believed to be sterile. Only after firm establishment was it discovered that spartina reproduced vegetatively as well as through viable seed production. Drift card studies indicate that spartina seeds and root fragments quite likely spread from Port Susan Bay to the Hood Canal region and from the Georgia Basin, near Vancouver, B.C., to North Puget Sound. In 1975, the total infestation of North Puget Sound was estimated to total less than 15 acres. By 1997, there were approximately 430 solid acres of spartina found in seven North Puget Sound counties.

The Island County Noxious Weed Control Board began treating Spartina in 1997. At that time, there were more infested acres of spartina in Island County than in any other county in North Puget Sound. At the height of the infestation, Island County had approximately 250 solid acres of Spartina. Today, fewer than 5 acres of spartina remain.

How You Can Help Eradicate Spartina

• Educate yourself, your neighbors and your friends.
• Learn to Identify spartina. Inform your neighbors and friends about the problems associated with this species.
• Walk the beach.
• If you don’t own property along the water, walk to your favorite beach, or explore a new one. Look for seedlings as well as clones. Report what you find to the Weed Control Office.
• Dig it up.

Mechanical control of Spartina using a garden fork or shovel has proven to be incredibly effective. It is very important that care is taken to remove all roots and fragments. Take a bucket and dispose of the plants above the high watermark.