MANAGEMENT OF INVASIVE PLANTS IN THE WESTERN USA
  • Defining the Problem
    • What is a Weed? >
      • Federal Definitions of Noxious Weeds
    • Costs of invasive plants
    • Human Factor
    • Challenges of Invasive Plants
    • Wildfires in the Western USA >
      • Forest Fires: Structure
      • Bark Beetles & Forest Ecosystems
      • Rangeland Fires
    • Climate Change Impacts on Plants >
      • Climate Change: CO2, NO, UV, Ozone Impacts on Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Crops
      • Climate Change Impacts on C4 Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Rangeland
    • What are we doing?
  • Focus of this Project
    • Why Western States? >
      • Audience for these reports
    • History: Are we doomed to repeat it? >
      • Dust Bowl Re-visited >
        • China: Past & Present
        • UN Biodiversity Report
    • Policy vs. Practice
    • Ecosystems & Economics >
      • Reductionist Approach to science
      • Ecology & Feminism
      • Systems View of Life
      • Ecosystems Health
      • Economic Growth
      • Impact of the Petrochemical Industry
      • Interrelation of Economics & Ecology
    • Federal Agencies >
      • Federal Agencies and Invasive Species
      • History of Coordination with States
      • Challenges of Coordination between Federal Agencies
      • Collaboration or Confusion
    • Organizations to assist landowners
    • Federal Legislation on Invasive Species >
      • 1930s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Seed Act 1939
      • 1940s-1960s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1970s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1980s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1990s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2000-2010 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2011-2022 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Bills on Invasive Species not passed
      • Executive Orders on Invasive Species
      • Federal Excise Taxes
    • State Laws and Lists of Noxious Weeds
    • My Inspirations
  • Why we need plants
    • Native Plants
    • Plant Resources
  • Invasive Success Hypotheses
    • Unified Framework
    • Role of Diversity >
      • How Ecosystems Maintain Diversity
      • Fluctuation Dependent Mechanisms
      • Competition-based coexistence mechanisms
      • Niche Differences
      • Species Richness
    • Enemy Release Hypothesis
    • Constitutive Defense Mechanisms
    • Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability
    • Role of Microbes
    • Indirect Defense Mechanisms
    • Novel weapons hypothesis
    • Evolutionary Shifts
    • Resource Allocation
    • Evolutionary Dynamics >
      • Pre-introduction evolutionary history
      • Sampling Effect
      • Founder Effect
      • Admixture, hybridization and polyploidization
      • Rapid Evolution
      • Epigenetics
      • Second Genomes
    • Role of Hybridization
    • Role of Native Plant Neighbors
    • Species Performance
    • Role of Herbivory
    • Evolutionary Reduced Competitive Ability
    • Summary Thoughts on Research
  • Historical Record
    • Regional Conferences
    • Timeline
  • Innovative Solutions
    • Agricultural Best Practices >
      • Ecologically based Successional Management
      • Perennial Crops, Intercropping, beneficial insects
      • Natural Farming
      • Permaculture
      • Organic Farming
      • Embedding Natural Habitats
      • Conservation Tillage
      • Crop Rotation
      • Water Use Practices
      • Tree Planting: Pros & Cons
    • Grazing Solutions >
      • Sheep and Goat Grazing
      • Cattle & Sheep Grazing
      • Cattle and Bison Grazing
      • Grazing and Revegetation
    • Rangeland Restoration >
      • Federal Goals for Rangelands
      • Novel Ecosystems
      • Prairie Restoration >
        • Prairie Restoration Workshop
        • Weed Prevention Areas
        • California grassland restoration
        • Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve
      • Sagebrush Steppe Restoration >
        • Low Nitrogen in Sagebrush Steppe
      • Revegetation with Native Plants
      • Dogs as detectors of noxious weeds
    • Nudges
  • Biological Control
    • Insects as Biocontrol >
      • Impacts of Biocontrol Agents on Non-Target Species
      • Indirect Impact of Biocontrol on Native Species
    • Challenges of Using Biocontrols >
      • DNA studies on Biocontrol Insects
      • Biocontrol takes time
    • Prioritization process for Biocontrol Programs
    • Evolutionary changes impact Biocontrol
    • Vertebrates as Biocontrol Agents
  • Herbicides: History and Impacts
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Agricultural Lands
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Rangelands
    • History of Use of Herbicides and Pesticides Prior to and During WWII
    • Herbicide use during and post-World War II >
      • 2,4-D Herbicide Use
      • 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, post-World War II
    • Modern use of Herbicides >
      • Atrazine Herbicide
      • Dicamba Herbicide
      • Glyphosate Herbicide
      • Paraquat Dichloride
      • Picolinic acid family of herbicides >
        • Picloram (Tordon 22K) Herbicide
        • Triclopyr Herbicide
    • Herbicide Resistance in Invasive Plants >
      • Herbicide Resistant Crops
      • Controlling herbicide-resistant weeds in herbicide-resistant crops
      • Best Management Practices
    • Myth of the Silver Bullet
    • Myth of Eradication
    • Merging of Agrochemical Companies
    • Impacts of Pesticides on Environment and Human Health >
      • Pesticide Drift
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Biological Diversity
      • Impacts of Herbicides on Native Plants
      • Pesticide Impacts on Insects >
        • Butterflies: The Impacts of Herbicides
        • Monarch Butterflies: Impacts of Herbicides
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Wildlife >
        • Reptiles & Amphibians: Pesticide Impacts
      • Pesticide Residue in Foods
    • Funding for Research on Pesticides
    • Commentary on Herbicide Use
  • Interviews
    • Interviews Biocontrol >
      • Biocontrol Wyoming
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Maggio
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Breitenfeldt
    • California Interviews >
      • Robert Price
      • Doug Johnson
    • Colorado Interviews >
      • George Beck Interview
      • Scott Nissen Interview
    • Idaho Interviews >
      • Purple Sage Organic Farms in Idaho
    • Montana Interviews >
      • Jasmine Reimer Interview Montana
      • Organic Farms Montana Interviews
    • Texas Interviews
    • Washington Interviews >
      • Ray Willard
    • Wyoming Interviews >
      • Slade Franklin Interview
      • John Samson Interview
    • Wyoming Weed and Pest Districts >
      • Josh Shorb Interview
      • Slade Franklin Interview 2
      • Lars Baker Interview
      • Steve Brill Interview
      • George Hittle Interview
      • Peter Illoway Interview
      • Robert Jenn Interview
      • Sharon Johnson Interview
      • Larry Justesen Interview
      • Gale Lamb Interview
      • Stephen McNamee Interview
      • Allen Mooney Interview
      • Rob Orchard Interview
      • Robert Parsons Interview
      • Dick Sackett Interview
      • Comments by Delena
    • NRCS Interviews: Wyoming
  • Western Weed Control Conference 1940s Minutes
    • 1942 Conference
    • 1945 Conference
    • 1946 Conference
  • Who am I?
    • My Work
    • My Adventures
    • Contact Page
  • Road Logs
    • Colorado Road Logs
    • Idaho Road Logs
    • Montana Road Logs
    • New Mexico Road Logs
    • Texas Road Logs
    • Wyoming Road Logs
  • Bibliography

Texas Road Logs

Photo: Longhorns, Austin, Texas. © 2017 Delena Norris-Tull

Road logs for Texas
 
These notes were taken while driving between Montana and Texas.
Summarized and prepared by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, Professor Emerita, University of Montana Western.
 
[Note: all the road logs were recorded by myself or my traveling companions, Laura Tull or Debra Noble, as we drove. We occasionally stopped to verify species or collect specimens for later identification. Thus, we only recorded what we could see from the road, and could readily identify at driving speeds. Thus this evaluation is not thorough, but provides the impressions of what we observed.]
 
(This is part of the trip south from Montana to Texas.)
 
September 9, 2017: See New Mexico road logs.
 
September 9, 2017:

Texas Road Log
 
Texas State Highway 87
 
We entered Texas from the northeast corner of New Mexico. We had been seeing a lot of snakeweed in the overgrazed cattle rangeland in New Mexico. Once we entered Texas, we did not see it anymore.
 
Texas right-of-ways are full of grasses, which at this time of year are very tall, and have not been mowed. This is by design – the Texas Dept of Transportation policy is to mow after the native grasses have set seed in the fall.
 
We see lots of yuccas in right-of-ways.
 
We passed through, or north of, the Rita Blanca National Grassland.
 
There are large acreages of agriculture in the northwestern section of the state.
 
At Dalhart, we saw lots of corn fields. In town, there are lots of amaranth and tumbleweeds along the roadways.
 
A few miles south of town, we get back into heavy grasses along roadways. We don’t see any yucca for a while.
 
There is lots of agriculture: corn, sorghum, cotton, grasses (hay?), and a number of fallow fields.
 
Dumas, Texas – large windmill farm, hay fields, Remington Seed Corn area
 
This land is above the Ogalala Aquifer, which explains why there is so much agriculture here.
 
South of Dumas, cattle rangeland with healthy looking sagebrush habitat.
 
Further south, there is a lot of cholla.
 
Further south, there is yucca and creosote bush. Creosote bush is an indicator species for the Chihuahuan Desert, but does grow beyond the boundaries of the desert. But has the desert expanded its range into overgrazed areas? There are scattered mesquite. Grasses are thick in the right-of-way.
 
September 10, 2017
 
State Highway 84, south from Dumas
 
Just north of Amarillo we see lots of mesquite
 
South of Amarillo, the right-of-ways have lots of tall grasses – looks healthy.
 
Canyon, Texas, I-27
 
West Texas A&M University exit - there is a prairie dog town along the side of the road, in the right-of-way, at exit 106. There are cattails in the river.
 
South of Canyon, roadside with thick unmowed grasses.
 
Farmland appears relatively weed-free: pumpkins, corn, sorghum. There are also cattle.
 
South of Happy, Texas, there are some weeds in the center-strip, but there are still thick unmowed grasses in the right-of-way.
 
Plainview, Texas, lots of cotton. Lots of high-power lines.
 
Plainview to Lubbock: More large fields of cotton, corn, pumpkins. Roadsides with dense unmowed grasses. The cotton waste is composted and sold as compost.
 
Post, Texas: Oil drilling. Highly eroded clay soils with ATV tracks running through them. Heavy mesquite encroachment.
 
East of Post: Large wind farm.
 
Near Sweetwater: Cotton, oil drilling, large wind farm. We notice that the windmills are not noisy. Roadsides with thick grasses, some mesquite.
 
The land near the agricultural fields appear to be healthier than the areas around the oil wells. There appear to be very little weeds within the farmed fields. The land within the wind farm is being farmed with cotton.
 
Southwest and southeast of Sweetwater: Two more large wind farms on hilltops.
 
Between Sweetwater and Abilene: Lots of mesquite and junipers. There is oil drilling both within farmed fields and non-farmed fields. Heavy mesquite infestation. Dense areas of prickly pear.
 
Abilene: Dense infestation of mesquite and prickly pear. Mesquite provides shade for the prickly pear and other plants.
 
Brown County Line to Brownwood: Still many dense stands of mesquite and prickly pear.
 
South of Brownwood (Mills County): we are now in the Texas Hill Country. Dense stands of mesquite and prickly pear. Fields with copious snow-on-the-mountain. Roadsides with dense grasses (healthy or invasive?).
 
We are now getting into the Hill Country habitat: lots of live oak, ashe juniper, and cedar elm. Soil looks limey. We see Johnson grass, giant reed (invasives). Goats, cattle, horses. Yucca, pecans sumac.
 
Goldthwaite: We see a few windmills. South of town, there is a large wind farm within the ashe-juniper hills.
 
Agriculture: pecans, cattle, and signs to sell “cedar” (which is ashe-juniper).
 
This appears to be a relatively healthy Hill Country habitat with occasional dense stands of ashe- juniper, and fewer stands of mesquite than to the northwest.
 
October, 2017:
 
(This is the Texas section of a trip back north from Texas to Montana)
 
Big Bend National Park
 
Big Bend National Park was a gift from Texas to the nation. It was deeded over to the US government in 1944. The park encompasses 1250 square miles, and is slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.
 
There are several major ecosystems within the park. The lowlands are desert. The vast Chihuahuan Desert stretches from Mexico to New Mexico and the southeast corner of Arizona. The Rio Grande river forms the southern boundary of the park. The Chisos Mountains, with peaks to 7835 feet high, are completely enclosed within the park, include oak-juniper-cholla at lower elevations, and conifers in the higher elevations.
 
Conditions of vegetation in the park appear to be excellent. I saw few invasive species in the desert and mountains. But along the Rio Grande, the river banks are covered with abundant salt cedar, giant cane, and Bachharis halmifolia? (a native species used for erosion control in the Dust Bowl years, but now considered invasive). In the Rio Grande village picnic area, there are giant salt cedar trees (over 100 feet tall???) with massive trunks. There was evidence of some trees being cut down.
 
We were shocked to discover that the national park no longer has a botanist on staff. That position was eliminated about a year ago. One of the largest national parks in the nation now has only one scientist, the Chief of Science, on staff.
 
The roadsides were in the process of being mowed.
 
Texas state highway 90 – Alpine to Marfa
 
The ranchlands have abundant grasses, mostly invasive grasses? – Johnson grass, KR bluestem. There is also quite a bit of Russian thistle, yucca, prickly pear, mesquite, and perhaps snakeweed.

West of Marfa, there is an area with creosote bush. The ranches have burned areas. We start to see abundant four-winged saltbush, as we are entering the salt flats areas of west Texas.
 
West of Valentine, there are more small areas of creosote bush. In areas where there is not much creosote bush (i.e., the more disturbed areas), there are denser stands of mesquite, yucca, and Russian thistle.
 
Does creosote bush keep out the invasives and moderate the prevalence of mesquite and yuccas?
 
Valentine to Van Horn
 
There are extensive creosote bush areas (Chihuahuan Desert), and we are moving into the mountainous areas. Red clay soil. We pass a large pecan farm, and a farm with short red fruit.
 
While there are extensive areas with creosote bush, we are not seeing ocotillo since we left Marfa. Is this due to a change to sandy soil?
 
North of Van Horn
 
Limestone soil. Creosote bush with dense grasses growing densely around the creosote bush. Is there switch grass? Native grasses? It is not KR bluestem. We are seeing ocotillo again (an indicator species for the Chihuahuan Desert), prickly pear, mesquite, and yucca in this area as well.
 
Moving further north, into clay soil, we see creosote bush without ocotillo. The Permian Basin is to our east, with oil drilling. We see the Guadalupe Mountains National Park reef to the north. We see limestone soil as we approach the mountains.
 
We see creosote bush, mesquite, and yucca from the road, but ocotillo is less prevalent.

As we approach the Guadalupe Mountains, what types of grasses are among the creosote bush?
 
Along state highway 62, we are now in the Guadalupe Mountains, within the national park. Near McKittrick Canyon, there are lots of junipers, pinyon pine, but still some creosote bush, prickly pear, and yucca. We see a lovely stand of madrones near Nickle Creek. It’s a desert habitat with high mountain habitat juxtaposed.
 
In the disturbed areas of the ranchlands there is a huge area of agave. There is also quite a bit of cholla, and some snakeweed?, and lots of grasses (invasives??).
 
We pass along part of the Goodnight-Loving Trail, the historical cattle trail run by Ted Loving and Charles Goodnight, who drove cattle, particularly longhorns, in the 1860s from Goodnight, Texas to New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.

This trip continues with the October 2017  New Mexico Road Log.

Links to additional Road Logs:​
  • Colorado Road Logs
  • Idaho Road Logs
  • Montana Road Logs
  • New Mexico Road Logs
  • Wyoming Road Logs
Copyright: Dr. Delena Norris-Tull, July 2020. Management of Invasive Plants in the Western USA.

These webpages are always under construction. I welcome corrections and additions to any page.
​Send me an email, and I can send you the original Word format version of any page you wish to correct.
contact Dr. Norris-Tull
Bibliography
who am i?
My work
my inspirations
my adventures
  • Defining the Problem
    • What is a Weed? >
      • Federal Definitions of Noxious Weeds
    • Costs of invasive plants
    • Human Factor
    • Challenges of Invasive Plants
    • Wildfires in the Western USA >
      • Forest Fires: Structure
      • Bark Beetles & Forest Ecosystems
      • Rangeland Fires
    • Climate Change Impacts on Plants >
      • Climate Change: CO2, NO, UV, Ozone Impacts on Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Crops
      • Climate Change Impacts on C4 Plants
      • Climate Change Impacts on Rangeland
    • What are we doing?
  • Focus of this Project
    • Why Western States? >
      • Audience for these reports
    • History: Are we doomed to repeat it? >
      • Dust Bowl Re-visited >
        • China: Past & Present
        • UN Biodiversity Report
    • Policy vs. Practice
    • Ecosystems & Economics >
      • Reductionist Approach to science
      • Ecology & Feminism
      • Systems View of Life
      • Ecosystems Health
      • Economic Growth
      • Impact of the Petrochemical Industry
      • Interrelation of Economics & Ecology
    • Federal Agencies >
      • Federal Agencies and Invasive Species
      • History of Coordination with States
      • Challenges of Coordination between Federal Agencies
      • Collaboration or Confusion
    • Organizations to assist landowners
    • Federal Legislation on Invasive Species >
      • 1930s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Seed Act 1939
      • 1940s-1960s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1970s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1980s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 1990s Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2000-2010 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • 2011-2022 Federal Laws on Invasive Species
      • Federal Bills on Invasive Species not passed
      • Executive Orders on Invasive Species
      • Federal Excise Taxes
    • State Laws and Lists of Noxious Weeds
    • My Inspirations
  • Why we need plants
    • Native Plants
    • Plant Resources
  • Invasive Success Hypotheses
    • Unified Framework
    • Role of Diversity >
      • How Ecosystems Maintain Diversity
      • Fluctuation Dependent Mechanisms
      • Competition-based coexistence mechanisms
      • Niche Differences
      • Species Richness
    • Enemy Release Hypothesis
    • Constitutive Defense Mechanisms
    • Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability
    • Role of Microbes
    • Indirect Defense Mechanisms
    • Novel weapons hypothesis
    • Evolutionary Shifts
    • Resource Allocation
    • Evolutionary Dynamics >
      • Pre-introduction evolutionary history
      • Sampling Effect
      • Founder Effect
      • Admixture, hybridization and polyploidization
      • Rapid Evolution
      • Epigenetics
      • Second Genomes
    • Role of Hybridization
    • Role of Native Plant Neighbors
    • Species Performance
    • Role of Herbivory
    • Evolutionary Reduced Competitive Ability
    • Summary Thoughts on Research
  • Historical Record
    • Regional Conferences
    • Timeline
  • Innovative Solutions
    • Agricultural Best Practices >
      • Ecologically based Successional Management
      • Perennial Crops, Intercropping, beneficial insects
      • Natural Farming
      • Permaculture
      • Organic Farming
      • Embedding Natural Habitats
      • Conservation Tillage
      • Crop Rotation
      • Water Use Practices
      • Tree Planting: Pros & Cons
    • Grazing Solutions >
      • Sheep and Goat Grazing
      • Cattle & Sheep Grazing
      • Cattle and Bison Grazing
      • Grazing and Revegetation
    • Rangeland Restoration >
      • Federal Goals for Rangelands
      • Novel Ecosystems
      • Prairie Restoration >
        • Prairie Restoration Workshop
        • Weed Prevention Areas
        • California grassland restoration
        • Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve
      • Sagebrush Steppe Restoration >
        • Low Nitrogen in Sagebrush Steppe
      • Revegetation with Native Plants
      • Dogs as detectors of noxious weeds
    • Nudges
  • Biological Control
    • Insects as Biocontrol >
      • Impacts of Biocontrol Agents on Non-Target Species
      • Indirect Impact of Biocontrol on Native Species
    • Challenges of Using Biocontrols >
      • DNA studies on Biocontrol Insects
      • Biocontrol takes time
    • Prioritization process for Biocontrol Programs
    • Evolutionary changes impact Biocontrol
    • Vertebrates as Biocontrol Agents
  • Herbicides: History and Impacts
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Agricultural Lands
    • Effectiveness of Herbicides in Rangelands
    • History of Use of Herbicides and Pesticides Prior to and During WWII
    • Herbicide use during and post-World War II >
      • 2,4-D Herbicide Use
      • 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, post-World War II
    • Modern use of Herbicides >
      • Atrazine Herbicide
      • Dicamba Herbicide
      • Glyphosate Herbicide
      • Paraquat Dichloride
      • Picolinic acid family of herbicides >
        • Picloram (Tordon 22K) Herbicide
        • Triclopyr Herbicide
    • Herbicide Resistance in Invasive Plants >
      • Herbicide Resistant Crops
      • Controlling herbicide-resistant weeds in herbicide-resistant crops
      • Best Management Practices
    • Myth of the Silver Bullet
    • Myth of Eradication
    • Merging of Agrochemical Companies
    • Impacts of Pesticides on Environment and Human Health >
      • Pesticide Drift
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Biological Diversity
      • Impacts of Herbicides on Native Plants
      • Pesticide Impacts on Insects >
        • Butterflies: The Impacts of Herbicides
        • Monarch Butterflies: Impacts of Herbicides
      • Impacts of Pesticides on Wildlife >
        • Reptiles & Amphibians: Pesticide Impacts
      • Pesticide Residue in Foods
    • Funding for Research on Pesticides
    • Commentary on Herbicide Use
  • Interviews
    • Interviews Biocontrol >
      • Biocontrol Wyoming
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Maggio
      • Montana Biocontrol Interview Breitenfeldt
    • California Interviews >
      • Robert Price
      • Doug Johnson
    • Colorado Interviews >
      • George Beck Interview
      • Scott Nissen Interview
    • Idaho Interviews >
      • Purple Sage Organic Farms in Idaho
    • Montana Interviews >
      • Jasmine Reimer Interview Montana
      • Organic Farms Montana Interviews
    • Texas Interviews
    • Washington Interviews >
      • Ray Willard
    • Wyoming Interviews >
      • Slade Franklin Interview
      • John Samson Interview
    • Wyoming Weed and Pest Districts >
      • Josh Shorb Interview
      • Slade Franklin Interview 2
      • Lars Baker Interview
      • Steve Brill Interview
      • George Hittle Interview
      • Peter Illoway Interview
      • Robert Jenn Interview
      • Sharon Johnson Interview
      • Larry Justesen Interview
      • Gale Lamb Interview
      • Stephen McNamee Interview
      • Allen Mooney Interview
      • Rob Orchard Interview
      • Robert Parsons Interview
      • Dick Sackett Interview
      • Comments by Delena
    • NRCS Interviews: Wyoming
  • Western Weed Control Conference 1940s Minutes
    • 1942 Conference
    • 1945 Conference
    • 1946 Conference
  • Who am I?
    • My Work
    • My Adventures
    • Contact Page
  • Road Logs
    • Colorado Road Logs
    • Idaho Road Logs
    • Montana Road Logs
    • New Mexico Road Logs
    • Texas Road Logs
    • Wyoming Road Logs
  • Bibliography