What do County Weed Boards do?

What County Weed Boards Do? 

County Weed Boards survey their jurisdictions for noxious weeds and work with landowners to ensure that they are controlled. They also work to educate the public about noxious weeds. County Weed Boards can file civil infractions and landowners can be fined for failure to control weeds.

RCW 17.10... and WAC16-750 

What it Means to 'Control' Weeds

Controlling weeds means not letting weeds reproduce- usually, that simply means not letting them go to seed. Legally, control means to prevent the dispersal of all propagating parts capable of forming a new plant, including seeds.

Penalties for Landowners Who Fail to Control Noxious Weeds 

If the landowner does not control noxious weeds after receiving several notifications, the County Weed Board may come and control the weeds and bill the landowner or may issue a civil infraction.

Yakima County Noxious Weed Board 

The Yakima County Noxious Weed Board is formed by and authorized by state law (RCWs and WACs) to make county noxious weed control policy and the county noxious weed list to protect the lands, resources, and the people of Yakima County, to develop a program to enforce and help land owners comply with county noxious weed control policy and weed list and state weed laws, hire employees, assign duties, offer suggestions to control and eradicate noxious weeds. 

Yakima County Noxious Weed Board is directed by 5 volunteer (non paid) voting members and an advisory member from WSU extension. 

Board members are actively involved in Production Agriculture and live in their region of Yakima County. 

Our objective is to exercise some form of control over all problem weeds within Yakima County and respond to all citizen complaints.  Our response may be expressed in the form of a written notice, complaint letters or a telephone call to a landowner.  However, major emphasis will be placed on those weeds that are classified as “Noxious” and require mandatory control.

 Our goal is to provide professional as well as technical assistance to the landowners of this county by helping landowners to understand the nature of their particular weed problem, weed growth habits and offer control suggestions.   In many cases, landowners simply need a specific plant properly identified.  Weed identification is a service we offer.  The Weed Board’s principal goal is to prevent the spread of noxious weeds and obtain acreage reduction where situations allow.

• Help landowners identify and control noxious weeds. We have brochures and handouts available on each noxious weed. All our information is free.
• Provide landowners with information and assistance to achieve high rates of weed control and voluntary compliance with state law.
• Provide landowners with GPS points on maps to indicate the location of noxious weeds on their property.
• Survey, GPS and map noxious weeds countywide to determine the extent of the noxious weed problem, and to detect weeds at an earlier and more-preventive stage.
• Provide educational services to the public through publications and exhibits, as well as presentations to schools and civic organizations.
• Conduct research on the best methods for weed control and eradication in Yakima County.
• Meet with landowners on their property for weed walks to identify plants and problem weeds, and to recommend options and solutions.
• Loan out spray equipment to landowners at no charge. We do require a $100.00 deposit (check only) that is fully refundable when the sprayer is returned in the same condition. Call ahead to make sure a sprayer is available.
• At a landowner’s request, provide maps and assistance to commercial sprayers to facilitate weed control on a landowner’s property. This is especially beneficial to absentee landowners who own vacation / non developed property in the county.
• At a landowner’s request, release biocontrol insects on property. The landowner will need to buy the insects from a supplier, and we will release the insects at no cost to the landowner. Often, the bio controls are sent to our office for release, and the bill from the supplier is sent to the landowner. We will GPS and mark where the insects have been released and monitor their survival and spread in later seasons.
• Coordinate efforts with other public agencies, such as the USDA and WSU, on the release of bio controls in the county. WSU Extension sometimes provides bio controls, at no cost to local landowners.
• Provide information to landowners on the intelligent use of herbicides. We have updates on the latest research for safety and effective control.
• Provide information to landowners on alternate means of weed control including over-seeding native grasses and beneficial plants.
• For prospective home buyers and landowners, share information on past noxious weed infestations so they know what obligations they may be taking on with the purchase of real estate.
• Identification of all local plants. If we can’t identify the plant, we have the resources to find out what it is.
• Protecting Yakima County from infestations of new noxious weeds is one of our top priorities. We are constantly on the look-out for new invaders.