Proposed 10-Year Invasive Weed Management Plan

October 2013
Please Provide Your Support for Marin County's
Proposed 10-Year Invasive Weed Management Plan

List of our current supporters.

The Marin County Agricultural Commissioner and UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor request your support for Marin County's Proposed Invasive Weed Management Plan. Your support is essential to helping make the plan a success.

As you know, noxious and invasive weeds have become an extremely serious and challenging issue in many areas of Marin County. Several different species of injurious weeds have become established and have rendered thousands of acres of pastureland, rangeland, and natural areas unusable, including increasing the risk of wildfires, successfully displacing and outcompeting native plant species, and threatening other environmentally sensitive areas. If nothing is done to slow and stop the spread of these invaders, it will become unfeasible to control and manage them.

Recapturing and maintaining productive rangelands, grasslands, and natural habitats is vital to the future of Marin County agriculture and to helping maintain a healthy, vibrant, and dynamic ecosystem. The use of sustainable weed management tools is the long-term goal of this plan, which would be done within the established framework of Marin County's existing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) ordinance. IPM strategies would be recommended whenever possible. We believe herbicides should only be used selectively. The use of herbicides in the short term would be required to reduce existing larger invasive weed infestations due to their size and location. Once large existing infestations have been reduced to a manageable level, mechanical methods could be used, thus reducing herbicide use and reliance on them in the county over the long-term. This approach would provide the greatest lasting benefit to these sites, and help keep agriculture viable in Marin County, protect and preserve our native flora and fauna, and help ensure we meet the countywide goals of Sustainable Communities and Environmental Preservation.

The Marin County Agricultural Commissioner and UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor intend to make an aggressive, collaborative long-term commitment with multiple partners to help the agricultural industry, private landowners, and other organizations to address the noxious and invasive weeds infesting Marin County, but we can't do it without your support. The success of this strategic plan will be dependent on all landowners and organizations working together collaboratively, and the Agricultural Commissioner and Farm Advisor helping to facilitate effective communication and a productive working environment. The landowner is ultimately responsible for employing best management practices on their land, which includes managing noxious and invasive weeds. Under this plan, landowners would be held accountable for abating noxious weed issues on their land on a long-term basis.

Thank you in advance for your commitment to this worthy cause!

Sincerely,

Please note that any regulatory agency supporting this proposed Invasive Weed Management Plan in no way removes or replaces required permitting or other legal requirements mandated by laws, regulations, or other codes, nor does it create any kind of conflict of interest regarding the enforcement of any laws, regulations, or other codes.