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
      • Soil Solarization
      • 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

Wyoming Road Logs

 Photo: Devil's Tower, Wyoming. © 2017 Delena Norris-Tull

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 north from Texas to Montana. This segment follows the Colorado Road log for Oct. 2017)
 
October 25, 2017, Cheyenne to Pinedale
 
I-80 - Cheyenne to Laramie
 
Email notes from JOHN SAMSON, agronomist at the Wyoming DOT:
 
“Once you dropped off Elk Mtn. foot slopes on I-80 at ~ MP. 235 (Walcott Jct) you entered the "Wyoming Basin" (a.k.a. Red Desert). Dominant native species here:  Thickspike wheatrass, Streambank wheatgrass, Great Basin wildrye, Indian ricegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, Bottlebrush squirreltail, Sand dropseed, Rocky Mtn. beeplant, Western yarrow, Rubber rabbitbrush and Gardner's saltbush.  They continue north of Rock Springs along US 191 to just about Boulder, WY at ~ MP. 88 and upper Green River plain where you meet up with Wind River Range foot hills (e.g, "Rky Mtns.-West & Foothills").  From here into Jackson conversion to: Bluebunch wheatgrass, Mtn. bromegrass, Blue wildrye, Idaho fescue, Indian ricegrass, Big bluegrass, Blue flax, Rky. Mtn. penstemon, Mtn. snowberry, Mtn. Big sagebrush as dominants.
 
“I attempt to make it a journey through ecology with a few native plant species thrown in.  Helps keep me awake under the wide western vista and vast horizon and hopefully a few other travelers. Slade actually compiles annual State report on invasive plant data per County Weed & Pest Districts. I've been looking for my Field notes from Sweetwater Co. R/W weed inspection I did back in July 2017 for Maintenance Div.  I'm thinking I have them at home yet in another briefcase. From memory, noxious & undesirable weeds were < 10% total plant cover, most road section shoulders, I-80 & US 191 surrounding Rock Springs.  Bottlebrush squirreltail and Sandberg bluerass both early Spring emergers for heads-on competition with annual winter annuals like halogeton and downy brome (a.k.a. cheatgrass).”
 
SECOND SAMSON EMAIL LATER:
“The light bulb came on and realized I had taken my raw weed data sheets to Nat Right-of Way Veg Mgt. meeting in Missouri, last month.  My guesstimate a bit strong as to noxious & undesirable weeds.  Starting at Superior Interchange east of Rock Springs, MP.122.3 and taking old US Hwy 30 adjacent to I-80 EBL's (I-80 Service Rd.) for shoulder safety.  Cheatgrass & halogeton shldr. rated 1.0 each (from scale 1-5,v. low - high), I won't bore you with bare ground kills around delineator posts.  Then skipping heavy truck traffic on I-80 Urban, west of Green River, starting Labarge Interchange, MP. 83.  Halogeton & kochia rated 2.0, cheatgrass & gumweed at a trace on shoulder.  Then turning back Northeast along WYO 28, MP. 100, paralleling Oregon trail.  Cheatgrass & halogeton & sweetclover rated 1.0, gumweed at trace to Farson.
 
“The following day, started on your route North of Rock Springs, MP. 20.  Cheatgrass rated 2.0, flixweed & Russian thistle at 1.0, sweetclover at trace.  South of Eden (i.e., desert irrigated farming) I picked up kochia escapes and yellow sweetclover all way into Farson, MP. 40.4.  As you may know, kochia has a number of weed biotypes resistant to ALS inhibitors, glyphosate, and some growth regulators like dicamba.  Interesting I hadn't seen much kochia in desert rangeland up to this point.  
 
"Slade's WY County weed reports may pick this up since Sweetwater Co. Weed & Pest office is located in Farson.  Again, my observations only visual ratings at random mileposts ~ 150 ft. long transect X 10-12 ft. wide highway shoulders.
 
“Glad I found my mis-placed data.”
 
Delena’s NOTES:
 
I-80: Cheyenne to Laramie

Grasses in roadsides
 
Pronghorn antelope in the distance
 
I am now in full-on sagebrush habitat.
 
Dense stands of sagebrush, with abundant rabbitbrush, and some pines

There are some tumbleweeds and/or kochia
 
Wetland valleys have a lot of shrubby dogwoods (red twigs) and broadleaf native trees.
 
There are a lot of Wyoming wooden snowfences, and some living fences (with pine, spruce?)
 
The areas along the interstate look healthy.
 
I saw a large windmill farm in this very windy area.
 
I-80, Laramie to Rock Springs
 
The environment continues to look much healthier than in either New Mexico or Colorado. This is a high elevation desert, ranging from 5000-7000 feet. Although it is not historically designated as any specific western US desert, it has the indicator species for the Great Basin Desert. You pass through what is known as the Red Desert in this area. I crossed the Continental Divide three times on this drive.
 
Grasses (native ?); sagebrush, rabbitbrush.
 
Another large windmill farm.
 
Lots of wooden snow fences in this very windy area.
 
I see diverse habitats with native species, all along the interstate and the surrounding hills and valleys. This is a beautiful desert habitat. I see no yuccas or cholla from my vantage-point.
 
More antelope.
 
Horses and oil rigs. In two areas, I saw black soil with little vegetation – is this an oil spill, or an area that is being reclaimed??
 
Colorado Highway 191, Rock Springs north to Pinedale
 
I pass through a number of farms and ranches. I see cattle, horses, and antelope, and one golden eagle.
 
The right-of-way and non-farmed areas remain in excellent shape, with rabbitbrush and sagebrush abundant.
 
October 26, 2017, Pinedale to Jackson, Highway 191
 
There are numerous cattle ranches with densely packed sagebrush. Cattle are browsing within the sagebrush. The area again looks healthy.
 
Many grasses, particularly along right-of-ways. Rabbitbrush is very prominent in right-of-ways also.
 
Low wetland valleys appear to have a healthy mix of native shrubs, with lots of willows and dogwoods.
 
Sagebrush habitat continues to dominate the landscape as I drive higher and closer to the Tetons. Aspens and high elevation conifers gradually become more dominant at the higher elevations, but I never completely lose sight of sagebrush.
 
THIS ROADLOG CONTINUES INTO IDAHO, Oct. 2017.
​
Links to additional Road Logs:​
  • Colorado Road Logs
  • Idaho Road Logs
  • Montana Road Logs
  • New Mexico Road Logs
  • Texas 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
      • Soil Solarization
      • 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