Learn about weeds
Learn to identify invasive plants. No one expects you to know all thirty-five noxious weeds, but try to identify Idaho’s worst offenders. And make sure they are not growing on your property. Idaho Code 22-2407 requires homeowners to eliminate noxious weeds on their property.

Talk to your neighbors. Weeds don’t respect boundaries. Your neighbor’s weeds will soon be your concern, too!

Don’t spread the problem
Wash all vehicles thoroughly. Noxious weed seeds can hide in the smallest of places – behind the license plate, in the tire treads, on the underside of your vehicle. Seeds have been known to travel hundreds of miles before being dislodged.

Make sure the plants you buy are not invasive. Purple loosestrife and Eurasian water milfoil are two plants that can easily wind up in gardens and aquariums. Replace them with non-invasive alternatives.

Clean boats, trailers and anything that comes in contact with water. It is easy to unwittingly transfer Eurasian water milfoil from lake to lake. Don’t let that happen.

Check your irrigation systems for Purple Loosestrife, Hoary Cress, and Leafy Spurge. Those weeds thrive on the banks of irrigation ditches and will spread through the irrigation system to other areas.

Don’t let livestock move from a weed infested area to an uninfested area without a quarantine. Livestock can transport weed seed in their fur, in dried mud in their feet, and in their digestive tracts. Weed seed can be in contaminated hay and therefore move throughout the pasture with the livestock.

Don’t release plants or live bait into the wild.

Don’t pick wildflowers if you suspect they might be noxious weeds.

Volunteer
Form a Cooperative Weed Management Area. These are formed when a group of landowners come together and agree to control noxious weeds in a particular geographic area.

Volunteer to work with various groups who see weeds as a serious problem. That includes your parks departments, and your county, your school and church.

For more information:
Owyhee County
Minidoka County
Washington County
Boundary County
Ada County
The Nature Conservancy
What can you do?