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Management Activities | Noxious Weeds
Urban Lot Management Program Activities
Noxious Weed Prevention and Control
Noxious weeds are non-native, invasive plants that tend to outcompete native
vegetation. They are a threat to biodiversity and community ecology. Once the Forest Service identifies weed populations on urban lots, they are
removed by hand and monitored throughout the field season to ensure
effectiveness of treatments. In addition to removing and monitoring these
invasive plants, the Forest Service also takes measures to prevent their spread.
These measures include using weed-free materials for restoration projects and
requiring crews and equipment to be weed-free before entering the forest.
The following is a list of two groupings of known priority noxious weeds in the
Lake Tahoe Basin (last updated May 2004). Selecting the links below will
direct you to a description of each weed provided by non-Forest Service websites:
Sometimes noxious weeds can resemble native vegetation, making identification
slightly more difficult. However, if you look closely, it is easy to see
the differences between noxious weeds and native vegetation. For example,
Bull thistle resembles the Anderson thistle, which is native to the Lake Tahoe Basin. If
you look closely at the picture of Bull thistle, you can see that there are
thorns along the stem and the flower is hour-glass shaped, whereas the stem on
the Anderson thistle is smooth and the flower is straight-sided like a broom.
Bull Thistle
Anderson Thistle
*Bull Thistle photo taken from
Virginia Tech Weed ID Guide
*Anderson Thistle photo taken by Adam R. Paul (c)2003
Noxious weeds can be beautiful plants that people love to plant in
their gardens and yards. However, this can promote their spread.
The noxious weed Dalmation Toadflax is a popular plant used in landscaping. (Photo taken by Bob Nowierski, Montana State University.)
If you think you have found a noxious weed population, please contact the
appropriate county's Weed Coordinating Group:
California:
El Dorado County
(530) 621-5520
Placer County
(530) 889-7372
Nevada:
Douglas County
(775) 782-9835
Washoe County
(775) 784-4848
If you have found a noxious weed population that is on National Forest System
lands, please contact us.
For more information on noxious weeds visit the following links:
Nevada Department of
Agriculture's Nevada Weed Action Committee
University of Nevada
Cooperative Extension
Natural Resources Conservation
Service
Lake Tahoe
Environmental Education Coalition
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