Photo: Sagebrush steppe near Pinedale, Wyoming. © 2018 Delena Norris-Tull
In addition to the video interviews conducted by Beckly McMillen, attached to the section titled, "Wyoming Weed & Pest," Dr. Delena Norris-Tull interviewed Slade Franklin. Slade has been enormously helpful to me in understanding the history and current policies related to noxious weed management in Wyoming and the US.
Slade Franklin, Weed and Pest Coordinator, Wyoming Department of Agriculture
Phone 307-777-6585
Interviewed by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, October 25, 2017. Reviewed and approved by Slade Franklin in 2018.
Slade provided me with quite a bit of historical background on the development of State and Federal statutes related to management of invasive plant species. He also provided me with various contacts in Wyoming engaged in re-vegetation projects, biocontrol, and herbicide research. And, as one of my earliest interviews, he helped me understand the complexities of the various County, State and Federal Agencies that deal with management of invasive species.
At the end of the one-hour interview, he loaned me some of the minutes of historical meetings of the Western Weed Control Conference from the 1940s, documents relaying historical information on the development of regulations, and videotaped interviews. I have summarized those in the appendices titled Western Weed Control Conference Archival Minutes.
“In 1895, Dr. Lyster H. Dewey, of the USDA Division of Botany, conducted research on Russian thistle in North Dakota and Nebraska. As a result of his research, he advocated for federal laws on weed management, but was ignored.
“The first Wyoming weed law was the Russian Thistle and Canada Thistle Act of 1895. Aven Nelson, from the University of Wyoming, started the first herbarium in Wyoming. In 1896, he published the first weed bulletin, which was critical of the new weed legislation and included recommendations for better legislation, based in part on Dr. Dewey’s recommendations. This started the process that led to the development of the Wyoming Weed and Pest Control Act in 1930.
“In 1937, Wyoming held its first Wyoming Pest Control Conference. This evolved into the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council about 1953. In 1938, the first annual Western Weed Control Conference was held. In 1944, one of the first western meetings of the Weed Science Society of America was held.
“Since 1973, the state has been divided into 23 Weed and Pest Control Districts. While the boundaries of these Districts are based on County lines, their funding does not come out of the normal County budget. They are funded by mill levies (up to two mill levies). The Wyoming Department of Transportation allocates funding to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, which in turn allocates funds to the districts. The Weed and Pest Control Districts manage weeds along state and interstate highways within their county.
“What Wyoming does with contracting out to the counties is very effective. By contracting out to the county-level districts, we are assured of better coverage statewide, and the state does not have to maintain or store the equipment, or hire the staff. Other states, such as Colorado, that try to conduct weed management through the state level Department of Transportation, are less effective.
“The railroads, as designated by state law (WS 37-9-311), are responsible for weed management on their rights-of-way. The National Park Service manages and sprays weeds along the park rights-of-way.
“Wyoming currently spends about $15 million annually for both weed and pest management [source: 2017 State of Wyoming Department of Revenue Annual Report]. [This number does not include any state grant funds]. These funds include management of pests such as grasshoppers and mosquitoes.
“Each weed district is run by a 5-7 member board. The members are appointed by the County Commissioner. Each district is required to hire a District Supervisor (i.e., someone who is licensed as a commercial applicator. They are also required, under Wyoming Rules and Regulations (Chapter 44) to “…have completed courses in Entomology and Weed Science or their equivalent from an accredited college or university” before hiring or within two years of being hired).
“Wyoming has a state ‘designated’ list of weeds and pests. Each Weed and Pest Control District may also have a county ‘declared’ list, which can include additional weeds or pests that are not on the state list. If the county-level District wishes to add a weed or pest to either the County or State list, they must submit the resolution to the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council. The request must include details, including the impact the species is having in Wyoming or the county (there is no requirement that the research on impacts must be published research), that provides the rationale for adding the weed or pest to the state or county list. The species must already be present in Wyoming in order to be added to the state ‘designated’ list, but that requirement is not necessary to add a species to the county ‘declared’ list. In other words, the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council will not approve adding a species to the state ‘designated’ list that is posing a problem in other states, unless it is already present here. If the Council votes in favor of adding the species to the ‘designated’ or ‘declared’ lists, the resolution then must be approved by the Wyoming Board of Agriculture. The Wyoming Board is required to hold a public hearing on resolutions to either add or remove species from the state ‘designated’ list.
“Wyoming law does allow native species to be included on the weed and pest list. For example, larkspur is a problem for ranchers (it is on several district ‘declared’ lists). Some milkweeds are on some district lists. Both can be toxic to livestock. I try to convince weed districts not to include natives on their lists. I am currently trying to convince the state to remove skeleton-leaf bursage, a native species, from the state list. It is challenging to control and does not respond to any herbicides. The state list currently includes several native species, including mountain pine beetles, grasshoppers, and prairie dogs. I am not opposed to including native species, but do feel that their should be additional data and more solid justification for including them. Recently, one district pushed to add sagebrush to their list, but sagebrush is critical habitat for sage grouse. There are many projects in the state trying to propagate more sagebrush.
“Wyoming has more problems with Russian thistle than with Kochia.”
[Note from Delena: Over the decades, a number of States have treated various native plants as weeds, and have attempted to eradicate them. This practice has led to disastrous results in some cases, and is generally a very poor practice. Native species have ecological benefits that are often poorly understood. For example, milkweed species are crucial food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Native plant species attract native insects, that provide food for native birds, such as grouse and quail. Refer to the chapter on Native Plants for more details].
“By the way, cheatgrass is not on the State list yet. 18 Wyoming Districts have added it to the ‘Declared’ lists. The State obtains funds for management of cheatgrass through Federal grants related to management of sage grouse habitat. Wyoming does not have nearly the problem with cheatgrass as do the states in the Great Basin Desert. But we are experiencing some problems with loss of sage grouse habitat, which are exacerbated by the spread of cheatgrass.
“The USDA is not putting much emphasis on management of invasive plants, other than annual grasses. Most of the federal funding is for annual grasses (e.g., cheatgrass) and aquatic pest species (e.g., mussels). There is some state and federal funding for medusahead and Ventenata dubia [an invasive grass], which are now posing problems in Wyoming. We are considering the management of both of these species as priorities in Wyoming. We have tried to align our medusahead and Ventenata dubia programs with the US Department of the Interior’s Safeguarding America’s Lands and Waters from Invasive Species, National Framework for Early Detection and Rapid Response program.”
I asked Slade what causes cheatgrass to be of such high concern in the west. He explained: “Adding cheatgrass to the sagebrush habitat changes a 10-15 year fire cycle to a 1-2 year fire cycle. Sagebrush and other Great Basin and Wyoming desert perennials are on a 10-15 year fire cycle. That means it is typical to have a wildfire in that habitat about every 10-15 years. This longer cycle is important because it takes several years for sagebrush and other perennials to be established. These fires traditionally were not so hot, nor so widespread, as to endanger perennials or their seed bank.
“If cheatgrass is allowed to grow ungrazed, cheatgrass forms fires that tend to burn hotter and are more wide-spread. And, cheatgrass produces much more seed than do the perennials. Because cheatgrass is an annual, it produces seed rapidly.
“Cheatgrass can be an early spring grazing grass, because it is available before the perennial grasses. If you graze livestock on cheatgrass in the early spring, you greatly reduce the amount of cheatgrass that can go to seed, thus reducing both the fire hazard and the seed bank.
“President Obama executed an Executive Order on ‘Strategy Plan on Wildfires’ that pointed out that if we put more money into prevention of wildfires [such as by managing cheatgrass], we can reduce the amount of money we need to spend on wildfires.”
[Note from Delena: High summer temperatures and drought, both exacerbated by climate change, have resulted in the hottest, driest summers, particularly in western states, in recorded history. Recent wildfire seasons have punctuated the critical need to reduce wildfires. In summer 2017, for example, a number of western states, including Montana, used up their state funds to fight wildfires long before the fire season came to an end. And in warmer, southern states, such as California, the summer fire season extended well into late fall.]
Slade went on to add, “The EPA requires the agrochemical companies to conduct their own research to prove the safety of their chemicals. The companies give grants to university scientists to conduct the research.
“To decide whether to put resources into the reduction of an invasive species, you ask yourself, how does the plant impact water availability? Some plants can severely alter a watershed or drainage by depleting water within the system, or can alter how a watershed works. Russian olive, salt cedar, and common reed are a few examples of invasive species that have significantly altered waterways.
“Currently, smooth brome is a controversial plant. It’s non-native and encroaching, but I’m not worried about it. I don’t consider it a priority to manage. It doesn’t colonize like cheatgrass. It does not provide the fire fuel that cheatgrass does. It doesn’t completely overtake native perennial grasses and forbs, like cheatgrass, medusahead, and Ventenata do. But if you take out cheatgrass and smooth brome in Wyoming, you end up with bare ground.
“In my job, I focus on removal of invasive species, but not on re-planting. The Wyoming DOT does the re-planting. Sometimes, we don’t have to re-plant, because native perennial bunch grasses have come back in. For example, in some of the early treatments for medusahead and Ventenata in north central Wyoming, we saw the re-emergence of native perennials after the treatment of the non-native annual grasses. In some places in the state, such as the Red Desert in southcentral Wyoming, the natural state of the landscape includes quite a bit of bare ground, so you have to think about how much native seed planting to include.
“The range management teams from the BLM and the USFS do the re-planting on federal lands. There are a number of grass seed nurseries in Wyoming that provide native seed for re-planting.
“We have had some issues with biocontrol agents in the past. For example, different southern agencies and states tried to use Diorhabda elongata to reduce tamarisk infestations. APHIS (USDA) claimed that it would not travel north, but it did. This resulted in threats to the nesting habitat of the willow flycatcher, an endangered species.
“The US Department of the Interior has a National Invasive Species Council. I am on the Invasive Species Advisory Committee. That committee sends recommendations to the federal council.”
Links to more interviews:
In addition to the video interviews conducted by Beckly McMillen, attached to the section titled, "Wyoming Weed & Pest," Dr. Delena Norris-Tull interviewed Slade Franklin. Slade has been enormously helpful to me in understanding the history and current policies related to noxious weed management in Wyoming and the US.
Slade Franklin, Weed and Pest Coordinator, Wyoming Department of Agriculture
Phone 307-777-6585
Interviewed by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, October 25, 2017. Reviewed and approved by Slade Franklin in 2018.
Slade provided me with quite a bit of historical background on the development of State and Federal statutes related to management of invasive plant species. He also provided me with various contacts in Wyoming engaged in re-vegetation projects, biocontrol, and herbicide research. And, as one of my earliest interviews, he helped me understand the complexities of the various County, State and Federal Agencies that deal with management of invasive species.
At the end of the one-hour interview, he loaned me some of the minutes of historical meetings of the Western Weed Control Conference from the 1940s, documents relaying historical information on the development of regulations, and videotaped interviews. I have summarized those in the appendices titled Western Weed Control Conference Archival Minutes.
“In 1895, Dr. Lyster H. Dewey, of the USDA Division of Botany, conducted research on Russian thistle in North Dakota and Nebraska. As a result of his research, he advocated for federal laws on weed management, but was ignored.
“The first Wyoming weed law was the Russian Thistle and Canada Thistle Act of 1895. Aven Nelson, from the University of Wyoming, started the first herbarium in Wyoming. In 1896, he published the first weed bulletin, which was critical of the new weed legislation and included recommendations for better legislation, based in part on Dr. Dewey’s recommendations. This started the process that led to the development of the Wyoming Weed and Pest Control Act in 1930.
“In 1937, Wyoming held its first Wyoming Pest Control Conference. This evolved into the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council about 1953. In 1938, the first annual Western Weed Control Conference was held. In 1944, one of the first western meetings of the Weed Science Society of America was held.
“Since 1973, the state has been divided into 23 Weed and Pest Control Districts. While the boundaries of these Districts are based on County lines, their funding does not come out of the normal County budget. They are funded by mill levies (up to two mill levies). The Wyoming Department of Transportation allocates funding to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, which in turn allocates funds to the districts. The Weed and Pest Control Districts manage weeds along state and interstate highways within their county.
“What Wyoming does with contracting out to the counties is very effective. By contracting out to the county-level districts, we are assured of better coverage statewide, and the state does not have to maintain or store the equipment, or hire the staff. Other states, such as Colorado, that try to conduct weed management through the state level Department of Transportation, are less effective.
“The railroads, as designated by state law (WS 37-9-311), are responsible for weed management on their rights-of-way. The National Park Service manages and sprays weeds along the park rights-of-way.
“Wyoming currently spends about $15 million annually for both weed and pest management [source: 2017 State of Wyoming Department of Revenue Annual Report]. [This number does not include any state grant funds]. These funds include management of pests such as grasshoppers and mosquitoes.
“Each weed district is run by a 5-7 member board. The members are appointed by the County Commissioner. Each district is required to hire a District Supervisor (i.e., someone who is licensed as a commercial applicator. They are also required, under Wyoming Rules and Regulations (Chapter 44) to “…have completed courses in Entomology and Weed Science or their equivalent from an accredited college or university” before hiring or within two years of being hired).
“Wyoming has a state ‘designated’ list of weeds and pests. Each Weed and Pest Control District may also have a county ‘declared’ list, which can include additional weeds or pests that are not on the state list. If the county-level District wishes to add a weed or pest to either the County or State list, they must submit the resolution to the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council. The request must include details, including the impact the species is having in Wyoming or the county (there is no requirement that the research on impacts must be published research), that provides the rationale for adding the weed or pest to the state or county list. The species must already be present in Wyoming in order to be added to the state ‘designated’ list, but that requirement is not necessary to add a species to the county ‘declared’ list. In other words, the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council will not approve adding a species to the state ‘designated’ list that is posing a problem in other states, unless it is already present here. If the Council votes in favor of adding the species to the ‘designated’ or ‘declared’ lists, the resolution then must be approved by the Wyoming Board of Agriculture. The Wyoming Board is required to hold a public hearing on resolutions to either add or remove species from the state ‘designated’ list.
“Wyoming law does allow native species to be included on the weed and pest list. For example, larkspur is a problem for ranchers (it is on several district ‘declared’ lists). Some milkweeds are on some district lists. Both can be toxic to livestock. I try to convince weed districts not to include natives on their lists. I am currently trying to convince the state to remove skeleton-leaf bursage, a native species, from the state list. It is challenging to control and does not respond to any herbicides. The state list currently includes several native species, including mountain pine beetles, grasshoppers, and prairie dogs. I am not opposed to including native species, but do feel that their should be additional data and more solid justification for including them. Recently, one district pushed to add sagebrush to their list, but sagebrush is critical habitat for sage grouse. There are many projects in the state trying to propagate more sagebrush.
“Wyoming has more problems with Russian thistle than with Kochia.”
[Note from Delena: Over the decades, a number of States have treated various native plants as weeds, and have attempted to eradicate them. This practice has led to disastrous results in some cases, and is generally a very poor practice. Native species have ecological benefits that are often poorly understood. For example, milkweed species are crucial food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. Native plant species attract native insects, that provide food for native birds, such as grouse and quail. Refer to the chapter on Native Plants for more details].
“By the way, cheatgrass is not on the State list yet. 18 Wyoming Districts have added it to the ‘Declared’ lists. The State obtains funds for management of cheatgrass through Federal grants related to management of sage grouse habitat. Wyoming does not have nearly the problem with cheatgrass as do the states in the Great Basin Desert. But we are experiencing some problems with loss of sage grouse habitat, which are exacerbated by the spread of cheatgrass.
“The USDA is not putting much emphasis on management of invasive plants, other than annual grasses. Most of the federal funding is for annual grasses (e.g., cheatgrass) and aquatic pest species (e.g., mussels). There is some state and federal funding for medusahead and Ventenata dubia [an invasive grass], which are now posing problems in Wyoming. We are considering the management of both of these species as priorities in Wyoming. We have tried to align our medusahead and Ventenata dubia programs with the US Department of the Interior’s Safeguarding America’s Lands and Waters from Invasive Species, National Framework for Early Detection and Rapid Response program.”
I asked Slade what causes cheatgrass to be of such high concern in the west. He explained: “Adding cheatgrass to the sagebrush habitat changes a 10-15 year fire cycle to a 1-2 year fire cycle. Sagebrush and other Great Basin and Wyoming desert perennials are on a 10-15 year fire cycle. That means it is typical to have a wildfire in that habitat about every 10-15 years. This longer cycle is important because it takes several years for sagebrush and other perennials to be established. These fires traditionally were not so hot, nor so widespread, as to endanger perennials or their seed bank.
“If cheatgrass is allowed to grow ungrazed, cheatgrass forms fires that tend to burn hotter and are more wide-spread. And, cheatgrass produces much more seed than do the perennials. Because cheatgrass is an annual, it produces seed rapidly.
“Cheatgrass can be an early spring grazing grass, because it is available before the perennial grasses. If you graze livestock on cheatgrass in the early spring, you greatly reduce the amount of cheatgrass that can go to seed, thus reducing both the fire hazard and the seed bank.
“President Obama executed an Executive Order on ‘Strategy Plan on Wildfires’ that pointed out that if we put more money into prevention of wildfires [such as by managing cheatgrass], we can reduce the amount of money we need to spend on wildfires.”
[Note from Delena: High summer temperatures and drought, both exacerbated by climate change, have resulted in the hottest, driest summers, particularly in western states, in recorded history. Recent wildfire seasons have punctuated the critical need to reduce wildfires. In summer 2017, for example, a number of western states, including Montana, used up their state funds to fight wildfires long before the fire season came to an end. And in warmer, southern states, such as California, the summer fire season extended well into late fall.]
Slade went on to add, “The EPA requires the agrochemical companies to conduct their own research to prove the safety of their chemicals. The companies give grants to university scientists to conduct the research.
“To decide whether to put resources into the reduction of an invasive species, you ask yourself, how does the plant impact water availability? Some plants can severely alter a watershed or drainage by depleting water within the system, or can alter how a watershed works. Russian olive, salt cedar, and common reed are a few examples of invasive species that have significantly altered waterways.
“Currently, smooth brome is a controversial plant. It’s non-native and encroaching, but I’m not worried about it. I don’t consider it a priority to manage. It doesn’t colonize like cheatgrass. It does not provide the fire fuel that cheatgrass does. It doesn’t completely overtake native perennial grasses and forbs, like cheatgrass, medusahead, and Ventenata do. But if you take out cheatgrass and smooth brome in Wyoming, you end up with bare ground.
“In my job, I focus on removal of invasive species, but not on re-planting. The Wyoming DOT does the re-planting. Sometimes, we don’t have to re-plant, because native perennial bunch grasses have come back in. For example, in some of the early treatments for medusahead and Ventenata in north central Wyoming, we saw the re-emergence of native perennials after the treatment of the non-native annual grasses. In some places in the state, such as the Red Desert in southcentral Wyoming, the natural state of the landscape includes quite a bit of bare ground, so you have to think about how much native seed planting to include.
“The range management teams from the BLM and the USFS do the re-planting on federal lands. There are a number of grass seed nurseries in Wyoming that provide native seed for re-planting.
“We have had some issues with biocontrol agents in the past. For example, different southern agencies and states tried to use Diorhabda elongata to reduce tamarisk infestations. APHIS (USDA) claimed that it would not travel north, but it did. This resulted in threats to the nesting habitat of the willow flycatcher, an endangered species.
“The US Department of the Interior has a National Invasive Species Council. I am on the Invasive Species Advisory Committee. That committee sends recommendations to the federal council.”
Links to more interviews: