Weed Management Areas (WMA’s) and Weed Prevention Areas (WPA’s)

An effective way to manage weeds and often obtain funding to do it, is through the formation of a weed management area or a weed prevention area.

CWMA’s or cooperative weed management areas are made up of landowners who follow a cooperative, local-level strategy in which stakeholders within a geographic area work collectively to manage common wed problems. Several CWMA’s have been established in Montana, notably the Blackfoot Challenge, the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group Weed Committee, the Sun River WMA and the Rocky Mountain Front.

A weed prevention area (WPA) is made up of weed-free landowners who take aggressive action to PREVENT weed invasion and weed establishment in prioritized weed-free rangelands and critical zones where weeds are advancing. In relatively weed-free eastern Montana, invasive weeds are the single greatest threat to rangeland ecosystem stability, wildlife habitat, and competitive cattle production. WPA’s maximize limited resources by preventing the invasion of additional lands and avoiding expensive and limited “to little, too late” reactions. The long-term benefits of WPA’s accrue indefinitely. If you are interested in forming a WPA or would like to find one close to you, please contact Kim Goodwin at the Center for Invasive Plant Management. Several WPA’s are listed on the CIPM site.