Nevada & Placer Counties WMA

Chair: Josh Huntsinger, Deputy Agricultural Commissioner of Placer County

General contact: Josh Huntsinger at(530) 889-7372 or jhuntsin@placer.ca.

Mapping contact: Ed King

Meetings: Held quarterly in various locations in both counties

Outreach Summary:

Noxious Weeds of the Sierras brochure
Yellow starthistle book developed with the University of California Cooperative Extension

Landowner training on proper timing and application of herbicide for controlling yellow starthistle are held 2 times per year. Organized weed pull days are held annually in late spring.

The Nevada/Placer WMA worked with PG & E, Placer County Agriculture Department, and many ski resorts to survey 3,204 acres of forested lands along I-80 from Colfax to Donner Summit. Spotted knapweed, tall whitetop and scotch thistle were documented, then treated with herbicides or removed by hand. Ski resorts involved include Soda Springs, Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal, Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley USA, Northstar at Tahoe, and Homewood.

In cooperation with the Sacramento WMA, the cities of Roseville and Rocklin, Placer County, and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, the Nevada/Placer WMA controlled red sesbania along streams in the American River watershed. Treatment started in Loomis and continued downstream along Dry Creek and its tributaries. Treatment techniques included hand removal and cut-stump, and the original treatment will be followed by 5 years of follow-up monitoring and control.

The Nevada County Department of Agriculture controlled musk thistle, knapweed species, short and tall whitetop, and yellow starthistle with herbicide treatments. The entire Truckee Basin from Donner Summit to the Nevada border has been treated.