kcweeds

King County Weed Board seeks input on the annual noxious weed list

To protect people and the environment from harmful plants, the King County Noxious Weed Board will be adopting the 2021 noxious weed list at a public meeting on January 27 in order to set the priority level of noxious weeds in King County, as directed by the state noxious weed law.

Poison-hemlock is a high priority noxious weed on public lands and roads. Photo by Maria Winkler.

In order to hear public comments before adopting the 2021 weed list, the King County Noxious Weed Control Board is holding an online public hearing on January 27, 2021 at 3:00pm and public participation is encouraged. Event registration and details

Once a year, following the State Weed Board’s adoption of the State Noxious Weed List, the King County Weed Board reviews the changes in the state list, holds a public hearing, and adopts the King County Noxious Weed List. The noxious weed list reflects both the requirements of State Law to regulate certain species with statewide or regional importance, and the priorities of King County to reduce the impact of noxious weeds on the people, economy, and environment of King County.

The King County Weed Board administers the noxious weed program throughout the County, according to the requirements of the Washington State Noxious Weed Law, RCW 17.10. The Weed Board encourages public comment and input to help set the priorities of the noxious weed program each year. Comments can be made at the public hearing or submitted ahead to noxious.weeds@kingcounty.gov by January 26 at 4:00 pm.

There are over 90 species of noxious weeds that state law requires property owners and public agencies to control on their properties in King County, around 60 of which have been found growing in the county.

Regulated species are mostly those found in only a few locations where there is still a chance of eradication, or those with serious potential impacts on people, farms or the environment. For the widespread noxious weeds, the county focuses on education and providing technical assistance. Noxious weed sightings can be reported to King County online.

Knowing which plants are the worst and how to control them is the specialty of King County’s noxious weed program personnel, and they are ready to teach anyone who needs or wants to know more. And if people can’t control their noxious weeds themselves but want to do the right thing, the noxious weed program will find a way to help them.

County residents can learn about noxious weeds by taking a free class on noxious weeds, visiting the program’s website and Noxious Weeds blog. The noxious weed program also has a few specialty weed control tools for loan, such as large weed pullers for Scotch broom and injector tools for knotweed, and they offer vouchers for free disposal of regulated noxious weeds at county transfer stations. Visit https://kingcounty.gov/weeds for information.

Learn more about the King County Noxious Weed Control Program by calling 206-477-9333 or by contacting Sasha Shaw, communication specialist for the noxious weed program, sasha.shaw@kingcounty.gov.

4 comments

  1. for community gardens these are particularly noxious weeds: bind weed and quake grass

  2. Thank you Susan! I’ll share that with the Weed Board. I agree that those are really troublesome weeds in any garden but I can imagine it is much worse in a community garden setting.

    • Thanks for your comment and you are definitely correct on how much of a nuisance shotweed is!

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