With over 13,000 acres of parkland managed and operated by Spokane County Parks, the department has the responsibility and legal requirement to control, remove, and eradicate noxious weeds identified by the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board and the Spokane County Noxious Weed Control Board.
What is a Noxious Weed?
As defined, noxious weeds are any invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat. In Spokane County, this usually comes down to a handful of widespread species that out-compete native plants and impact the use of a property: Spotted Knapweed (Centurea stoebe), Canadian thistle (Cirsium arvense), Bugloss (Anchusa officinalis), Skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea), and Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica).
Noxious Weed Control Plan
With a limited budget, Spokane County Parks has created a Noxious Weed Control Plan (PDF) to help guide a planned, strategic approach to addressing noxious weeds on department-managed lands. The plan prioritizes annual treatments based on severity of conditions, the impact to the public's use of a property, and other elements. It also acknowledges that herbicide treatments alone will not completely eradicate noxious weeds. Instead, an integrated approach that considers chemical, biological, and preventative measures should be taken into consideration to control and eradicate these species.
Contact the Parks Operation Division at 509-926-4616 for more information.