Introduction and Overview

The WeedWise Program was initiated by the Conservation District in early 2009 to develop, facilitate, and implement more effective and efficient weed management strategies within Clackamas County.

Weeds are defined as non-native invasive plants that adversely impact the social, economic, and ecological resources of our community.  They can adversely affect our community by:

• Displacing native vegetation
• Reducing crop yields
• Harming fish and wildlife
• Adversely affecting human health
• Damaging property and infrastructure
• Reducing forage for livestock and wildlife
• Decreasing property values
• Increasing erosion
• Decreasing water quality and quantity
• Limiting land use
• Disrupting ecological processes

These invasive weeds are a form of biological pollution that not only degrade the quality of our land, but convert that land into new sources of biological pollution.  Controlling these invasives eliminates the current infestation and prevents the establishment of additional infestations.  As a result, controlling our invasive weeds is imperative to preserving the integrity of our public and private lands.

It has been estimated that weeds have a total direct and indirect impact of 143 billion dollars1 per year within the United States.  Within the state of Oregon the cost associated with just the twenty-one noxious weed species costs the residents of Oregon $125 million dollars1 a year in lost agricultural production, fire damage, and control expenses.  These expenses are absorbed by all of us through increased food costs, higher taxes, and decreased property values.  These economic impacts clearly demonstrate the potential economic benefits associated with controlling invasive weeds. 

Weeds can have a profound impact on our native ecosystem by displacing diverse native plant communities and replacing them with weedy monocultures.  This expansion of weed populations alters ecological processes and disrupts complex food webs which adversely affect fish and wildlife.  The result is a loss in biodiversity that leaves behind a landscape that is much less productive and less resilient to changing environmental conditions.  Weeds result in land that is homogenous and less “Oregon-like”.

Program Structure and Strategies

The WeedWise program provides technical assistance directly to local landowners, businesses, and regional partners, and indirectly through additional District Staff in the Rural Conservation, Urban and Community Conservation, and Special Projects.  The WeedWise program provides technical expertise and information during implementation of conservation practices to promote more effective and efficient control strategies and management practices. 

If you need help identifying a particular weed please check out the WEEDS section of our website.   We also have additional RESOURCES available to help answer any questions you may have pertaining to a specific weed species.  If you need additional information or assistance please Contact the Conservation District.

Invasive weeds don’t recognize property lines or boundaries and move freely from one parcel to the next.  As a result, the WeedWise Program employs a landscape level approach to invasive species management.  This allows weeds to be managed based on the distribution and ecology thereby increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of management practices. 

The WeedWise program is also working with existing weed management programs at the state and regional level.  These efforts help to communicate the invasive species concerns of Clackamas County residents to state and regional policy makers.  These partnerships also provide a conduit for information across boundaries and increase our local awareness of emergent weed problems.  The WeedWise Program is currently an active member of the Four County Cooperative Weed Management Area, and is working with The Northwest Weed Management Partnership, the Oregon Invasive Species Council and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to deal with invasive weed issues important to Clackamas County residents.

The WeedWise program utilizes best management practices to more effectively control a priority invader.  This approach takes into account the ecology and life history characteristics of each priority species as well as a diverse set of management practices incorporating manual, mechanical, cultural, biological, and chemical control methods.  Site specific and cultural concerns are also used to formulate specific control recommendations.  Best management practices are then adopted to maximize control efficacy, minimize non target impacts, and reduce overall costs 

Projects and Activities

The WeedWise Program is currently developing a number of ongoing Projects to combat invasive species.  These Projects focus on priority weeds or priority habitats

• The WeedWise Program has developed the Clackamas Early Detection and Reporting System (CEDARS) Project to train interested local citizens to identify and report priority invasive species.
• The WeedWise Program has partnered with the Clackamas River Basin Council to carry out the Clackamas River Weed Database and Inventory to identify the locations of several target weed species within the Clackamas River Basin. 
• The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board recently funded a collaborative effort between the Conservation District and Portland Water Bureau to control invasive species within Clackamas County near the Bull Run Watershed.
• The District has also continued with its Wildfire Weed fuels reduction campaign spearheaded by our Special Projects program to reduce ladder fuels through a partnership with the US Forest Service.  This program targets volatile weed species like Scotch broom.
• The WeedWise Program recently teamed up with regional partners within the Sandy River Basin to carry out an Early Detection and Rapid Response training for natural resource agency personnel and agency partners. 

WeedWise Tips for Reducing the Impact of Invaders

• Know your invaders.  Familiarize yourself with problem invaders in your area, so that you can properly identify these species on your land.  Check out the Weeds section of the website to learn more.
• Prevent weeds from invading.  By preventing disturbance and maintaining healthy vegetative ground cover you can prevent many problem weeds from establishing.  Healthy vegetative ground cover is often the best tool to combat invasive weeds.
• Eradicate weeds before they become a problem.  All weeds are best controlled when they are small.  Controlling weeds when populations are small reduces the time and expenses needed to eradicate them.  Help us to identify new infestations of priority invaders by joining the CEDARS Project. 
• Prevent weeds from going to seed.  By preventing weeds from setting seed, you can reduce the rate of spread by that weed in future generations.  Pull, dig, cut, or spray these flowering weeds before they set viable seed
• Control the spread.  If you are working in weed infested areas, be sure to clean your shoes, clothing, equipment, and vehicles when leaving the site to preventing spreading seeds to other locations.
• Be patient and diligent.  Controlling and preventing the reinfestation of weeds is a long term process. It is easy to get discouraged when tackling an infestation.  Just remember that controlling these invaders gets easier over time.  The more plants that are displaced the fewer seeds as the seeds stored in the soil are depleted.
• Know when to seek help.  Some weeds can be difficult to control and may require particular methods or techniques for eradication efforts to be successfully.   Contact the Conservation District or your County Extension for additional information about a particular weed.