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Noxious Weed Control Program

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Noxious Weed Control

The District is responsible for investigating noxious weed complaints on private lands in Yamhill County.  This means the District is responsible for taking people’s complaints, notifying landowners of noxious weed problems and giving landowners information on noxious weed control strategies. 
The County Noxious Weed List is the guide we use for assessing complaints.  It is compiled annually by stakeholders that work directly with weed removal and control in the county.  Through the weed experience and expertise of these people throughout the year, information on new invasive species concerns as well as management strategies are discussed. 
The District also works on controlling emergent weed problems such as Japanese Knotweed and Spurge Laurel.  Through weed grants, we are able to actively seek out newly establishing weeds and hopefully control them before they spread in numbers.  We wish we could focus on controlling common problem weeds such as blackberry or thistle but our resources do not allow for this kind of management.  We encourage landowners to try to take control of their weeds on their properties.   

Organization

a)The program was developed in order to comply with Board order 89-773, approved October 11, 1989, by the Yamhill County Commissioners requesting that the Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District become a Weed Control Committee with specific duties as Weed Inspectors. 

b)The Yamhill SWCD has requested the assistance of the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University Extension Service to provide advice, technical assistance, and funding, if available, to fulfill their responsibilities as the designated Weed Control Committee and as Weed Inspectors. 

c)The Yamhill SWCD may employ assistants to fulfill their responsibilities as Weed Inspectors.

Weed Control Program Policies

A.)The Yamhill County Weed Control Committee will select and classify noxious weeds designating them either “A” or “B” according to criteria developed by ODA.  This list will be reviewed annually at a meeting open to the pubic.  Selection of noxious weeds will be based on potential impact on Yamhill counties agriculture and forestry industries, threat to natural plant communities, and recreation values. 

B.)County Commissioners will be informed of Yamhill Weed Control Committee activities.  An annual report will be made available to them within sixty days of the end of the fiscal year.  

C.)Records will be kept of all observances of noxious weeds.  Records will document date of observance, class of noxious weed, location, and if known, owner of property, any actions taken of informing the property owner, the property owners response, and the results of applied control measures. 

D.)Every effort will be made by Yamhill County Weed Control Committee, and their assistants, to assist and fulfill their responsibilities to property owners and the public in a helpful courteous manner. 

E.)An educational program will be implemented informing the public of their need and responsibility to control noxious weeds using local news media, newsletter articles, and personal contacts. 

F.)A cost-sharing program to help property owners in controlling noxious weeds will be made available if funding is available.

G.)A Tax Insert Program may be used to notify landowners of the availability of weed control programs and to inform them of their responsibility to control noxious weeds. 

H.)Informing the property owner of their responsibility to control noxious weeds will be made by personal contact, mail, or by phone.  Information will be provided to the property owner listing effective control measures and contacts in the community that can assist them in controlling the weed.  The information will not contain specific chemical recommendations unless requested by the landowner.

I.)Follow-up Contacts will be made within 10 days to verify if proper control measures were implemented.  If they were not the following actions may be taken: 

For “A” List Weeds If the landowner does not respond or make efforts within 5 days after re-contacting them, then the County Commissioner’s office will be notified informing them of the problem and the need for control measures to be implemented.  The County Commissioners may at their discretion, as provided by ORS 570.515 to 570.600, implement the following enforcement action: 

A)Issue a Court Order authorizing the Yamhill County Weed Control Committee, or such assistants as they may employ, to proceed with the control or destruction of the noxious weeds. 

B)Upon completion of such work, an itemized statement listing all expenses incurred during the control or destruction of the noxious weeds will be filed with the County Clerk.  The County Clerk will enter this statement upon a lien docket which will constitute a first lien on that land or premises as provided under ORS 570.550.  The lien is in effect for 90 days.  If is not paid during that time, it is removed as a lien and turned over to the tax assessor’s office to be collected with property taxes. 

C)Ten days after the itemized statement has been filed with the County Clerk, a request for payment will be made to the County Treasurer by the Yamhill County Weed Control Committee for reimbursement of their costs in controlling the noxious weeds. 

D)If the property owner refuses to allow Yamhill County Weed Control Committee, or such assistants as they may employ, to fulfill the Court Order, the County Sheriff will assist as provided by ORS 570.530 and 570.545. 

For “B” List Weeds If the species is a “B” List noxious weed, then every reasonable effort will be made to persuade the property owner of their need to take responsible action; but if the landowner does not comply, the County Commissioners will not be notified.   Since many “B” List weeds are very widespread, decisions to work with landowners on control measures will be done on a case by case basis and will likely be limited to control recommendations and not cost share programs.

Yamhill County Noxious Weed List  

 

Yamhill County Priority Noxious Weed List For 2010/ 2011 Fiscal Year.

Common Name	Scientific Name	ODA Noxious Weed Classification	List/Add Date
County “A” List     High Priority For Control
Italian Thistle Meadow Knapweed Purple Loosestrife Japanese Knotweed False Brome Spurge Laurel Scotch Broom	Carduus pycnocephalus Centaurea pratensis Lythrum salicaria Polygonum cuspidatum Brachypodium sylvaticum Daphne laureola Cytisus scoparius	B B B T B Not listed B	1-29-90 8-13-90 2-26-91 5/28/02 4/9/03 5/02/ 01 11-13-89
County “B”  List       Important To Control
Milk Thistle Canada Thistle Tansy Ragwort Field Bindweed  - Agric. Large Crabgrass  - Agric. Blackgrass  - Agric. Velvetleaf  - Agric. Field Dodder  - Agric. Himalayan Blackberry Reed Canary Grass English Ivy Italian Arum	Silybum marianum Cirsium arvense Senecio jacobaea Convolvulus arvensis Digitaria sanguinalis Alopecurus myosuroides Abutilon theophrasti Cuscuta pentagona Rubus discolor Phalaris arundinacea & aquatica Hedera helix Arum italicum	B B B, T B Not Listed Not Listed B B B Not on list B Not listed	11-13-89 11-13-89 11-13-89 2-26-91 2-26-91 3-26-97 3-26-97 3-26-97 5/23/00 5/23/00 5/02/01 5/27/04
County “T”  List       Watch For These Species
Bamboo	Multiple species	none	5/2009
Gorse	Ulex europaeus	B, T	1-29-90
Giant Hogweed	Heracleum mantegazzianum	A	5-27-04
Small Broomrape	Orobanche minor	B	5/28/02
Garlic Mustard	Alliaria  petiolata	B	5/23/06

 

Yamhill SWCD Definitions:  

“A” List Weeds - a weed of known economic importance which occurs in the county in small enough infestations to make eradication/ containment possible; or is not yet known to occur, but its presence in neighboring areas makes future occurrence in the county seem imminent.

“B” List Weeds - a weed of economic importance which is regionally abundant, and needs to be controlled where found.

 “T” List Weeds - a priority noxious weed designated by the Oregon State Weed Board as a target weed species on which the Department of Agriculture will implement a statewide management plan.   This Category is WATCH ONLY for Yamhill County.

Agric. -  Denotes weed as primarily a problem for agricultural production.