5/18/01 - Mason County, WA - After its second public
hearing, Mason County Commissioners have decided to
gather more information before forming a state-required
weed-control board.
Mason County is one of only two counties, including
Douglas, in the state that does not have the five-member
weed board required by state law.
A weed board, made up of volunteers and one state ex
officio member, helps county residents identify and get
rid of noxious weeds — non-native plants that invade
native habitats.
In the mid '80s, Mason County commissioners
dismantled a weed board when it deemed the board was not
cost-effective.
"Re-establishing that board doesn't fund it,
though," County Commissioner Herb Baze said.
Although the state does not enforce the noxious weed
law, if the state finds them in the county, the state
will do the cleanup and charge more than it would cost
the county to do the cleanup on its own, said state
extension agent for Mason County Joe Kropf from
Washington State University Cooperative Extension.
"I'd like to see an advisory board rather than a
weed board, though I don't object to some form of
control," Mason County resident Irene Goldsby said.
Mason County does not have a large noxious weed
problem, Kopf said, but weeds from aquariums or
wildflower mixes that people just don't know are noxious
weeds could be a problem.
"It's not weed cops," Knopf said. "Now
the weed board is more of an educational device."
A weed board formed two years ago in Kitsap County,
but it hasn't done anything, said Kitsap weed board
member Ron Ross.
"The function we serve is satisfying state
law," he said.
About one percent of people who are informed of
noxious weed problems on their property refuse to solve
it, said state extension agent for Kitsap County Arno
Bergstrom.
Weeds such as scotchbroom and Himalayan blackberries
came with people who settled in the area and now are so
commonplace and invasive, that they seem a natural part
ot the terrain.
But not all noxious weeds are so benign. Milfoil,
which now is the object of concern in area lakes because
of its tendency to choke fish and hinder swimming or
boating, was introduced to the area probably after
people dumped out aquariums without knowing it would
cause a problem, Bergstrom said.
"If there's no agency to deal with (milfoil) we
may have people buying chemicals and throwing them into
the lake," said Mason County resident Mary Swaboda
who lives near Mason Lake where a milfoil problem was
resolved — at a high cost — by Mason County's health
department.
"We're not looking for more bureaucracy or
another tax," County Commissioner Mary Jo Cady
said. "But I do believe we have a weed problem. We
want to do what's best."
Published in The Sun:
05/18/2001
http://www.thesunlink.com/news/2001/may/0518weedboard.htm
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