Boundary County declares war on Dalmation Toadflax this summer

Attention Boundary County Residents! We are asking residents to enlist in the “Weed Warriors” to combat the invading noxious weeds in our county. Friday May 27th at 9 am there will be training session at the U of I Extension office in Bonners Ferry. Our guest speaker will be Paul Brusven, biocontrol director for the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho. Paul will give a presentation on basic biocontrol. So what is bio control you ask? Bio control is using agents such as bacteria, fungal, or insects to control the population of a damaging organism. The Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho has a bio control center that dedicates itself to the control of Noxious Weeds, not only in Idaho but across the United States and Canada. Paul’s class will last approximately 2 hours then we will head north of town to release an agent on an infestation of Dalmation Toadflax. Bio agents are strictly researched to make sure that they won’t cause harm to our native plants. It can take up to 7 years to get approval for the release of an agent. The specific agent that we will be releasing that day is Mecinus janthinus. This little critter when all grown up is approximately 5mm long, bluish-black in color, with a long snout.

Everyone is invited to come and meet Paul and learn how this agent and others are combatting our noxious weeds. For more information please contact Dave Wenk, Boundary County Weed Superintendent at 267-5341 or dwenk@boundarycountyid.org.