Changes to the 2014 Noxious Weed List

Wendy DesCamp November 7, 2013 Today’s talk

• Weed law review • New species for the 2014 noxious weed list • Other changes for 2014 to noxious weed list

Noxious Weed • “Noxious weed” means a that when established is highly destructive, competitive, or difficult to control by cultural or chemical practices. RCW 17.10.10 The Noxious Weed Laws • RCW 17.10 – Limit economic loss due to the presence and spread of noxious weeds – Holds landowners responsible for controlling noxious weeds on their property – Noxious Weed Control Boards—county and state • RCW 17.04 and RCW 17.06 – Weed Districts

The Noxious Weed Laws

• WAC 16.750 – Weed list and schedule of penalties

• WAC 16.752 – Prohibited , aka the quarantine list

Noxious Weeds

• Plants are noted as aggressive and highly difficult to control • Plants have a significant ecological impact, economic impact and/or cause harm to humans and other animals • 3 class of noxious weeds

Class A Noxious Weeds • Class A consists of those noxious weeds – not native to the Washington – of limited distribution or are unrecorded in the state and – that pose a serious threat to the state • Eradication is required of all Class A noxious weeds • Currently 41 species

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) Class B Noxious Weeds

Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) • Class B: not native to the state and are of limited distribution or are unrecorded in a region of the state and that pose a serious threat to that region.

• "Class B designate" means those Class B noxious weeds whose populations in a region or area are such that all seed production can be prevented within a calendar year. WAC 16-750.003(2g)

Image: Thurston County NWCB • Currently 62 species

Class C Noxious Weeds

• All other noxious weeds – Already widespread in Washington or are of a special interest to the agricultural industry • Some counties may enforce control, but many choose to pursue education and Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense consultation avenues • Currently 44 species The Noxious Weed listing process

• Jan-April: submission of proposals • May: Noxious Weed Committee (NWC) begins to review requested changes • September: NWC makes recommendations to State Weed Board • November: Public hearing, State Weed Board votes on changes • January: New changes take effect in new Noxious Weed List

2014 Noxious Weed List Changes • Species additions – Lesser celandine, Ficaria verna—Class B – Non-native species and their hybrids—Class C – Russian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia—Class C • Changes to listed species – Velvetleaf--Class A to B – Buffalobur--Class A to C – Yellow -flowered hawkweed species—two subgenera • Minor amendments to listed noxious weeds • Update on other proposals – Giant reed – Japanese eelgrass

Lesser celandine, Ficaria verna Huds.

• Class B noxious weed • Herbaceous perennial to 12” • Tuberous roots

• Yellow flowers single on Tom Forney, ODA

stems, ~ 1 inch wide Laurel Baldwin – March to April • Achenes, several to many in a globe-shaped head • Pale-colored bulbils are produced along stems

Laurel Baldwin Lesser celandine Laurel Baldwin • Vigorous growing groundcover Short life-cycle

– • Can spread by roots, bulbils, seeds • Ornamentally planted • Moist, shaded woodlands, wetlands, streambanks, lawns, roadsides • Outcompeting native plants and negatively impacting wildlife habitat • Difficult to control due to spread All Pictures Laurel Baldwin

Lesser celandine • County survey – Whatcom: 30-40 individual sites, totaling close to 20 affected acres. – Present in King, Snohomish, Clark, Klickitat – No known populations in Stevens, Grays Harbor, Okanogan, Kittitas, Walla Walla, Chelan, or Cowlitz. – But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist in these counties.

Control

• Prevention: do not plant • Small infestations: dig out • Do not mow • Sheet mulching • Herbicide: glyphosate, spray before flowering – 1%-2% • Follow up treatment and monitoring

Nonnative Typha species and their hybrids • Class C noxious weed • Non -native cattail species and hybrids, including Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaf), Typha domingensis (southern), Typha x glauca (hybrid), and Typha minima (miniature)

Andrea Moro, University of Trieste, Progetto Jenifer Parsons Dryades, http://luirig.altervista.org Ben Legler, 2005 Non-native Typha species and their hybrids • Perennial plants with thick • Stems are unbranched and either vegetative or flowering, up to 4 m • Alternate linear leaves • Cylindrical spikes, male flowers occur above female flowers • Spread by rhizomatous growth and by seed (except for in most cases by T. x glauca) Typha angustifolia, Jenifer Parsons Left, T. latifolia Center T. angustifolia Typha angustifolia Right T. x glauca Typha latifolia

Ben Legler Ben Legler MN Board of Water & Soil Resources Nonnative Typha species and their hybrids • Non-native Typha species and hybrids displace native plants – deeper water, higher salinity tolerance • Hybridize with our native Typha latifolia • Invade managed aquatic systems Narrow-leaf and hybrid cattail, WDFW • Limited distribution in WA

Control • Mowing, burning, tilling and flooding can be used in combination • Cut stem covered by water • Repeated mowing • Tarp small patches • Herbicide: – 2,4-D in spring before flowering; – glyphosate after flowers formed, before frost; – imazapyr after flowers, before frost • Read and follow herbicide labels • Retreatment may be necessary T. angustifolia, Jenifer Parsons, DOE Russian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia L. David Moorhead,J. University of Georgia, Bugwood.org • Class C Noxious Weed • Deciduous multi-stem shrub or tree, up to 7 m • Stems may have sharp thorns • Alternately arranged,

narrow leaves, silvery

2008, G. D. Carr Ben Legler, 2005 Joseph Berger, Bugwood.org Russian olive, Elaeagnus angustifolia

• Fragrant yellow flowers Conservancy, Bugwood.org John M. Randall, NatureThe form olive-like fruit • Plants primarily reproduce from seed

• Spreads along waterways and has naturalized along many of our major rivers in the interior western U.S. • Planted on CRP land • Crowds out important native riparian plant species and communities that provide wildlife habitat • May have important effects on ecosystem nutrient dynamics – Larger input of nitrogen Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org Russian olive

• Primarily found in eastern Washington • Some ornamental plantings in western Washington • Spreading along irrigation waterways, right-of-ways and around lakes such as in Grant County

J. Scott Peterson, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org Control • Watch out for thorns! • Seedlings and small plants can be dug out • Cutting alone will not kill the plant • Herbicide: cut stump method (best in late summer, early fall), foliar applications – 2,4-D when fully leafed out – Crossbow, leaves fully expanded, dormant treatment National Park Service – Glyphosate, fully leafed out – Imazapyr, fully leafed out – And others Proposed reclassifications of listed noxious weeds • Reclassify velvetleaf, Abutilon theophrasti, from a Class A to a Class B noxious weed, to be designated everywhere except Yakima and Franklin counties Proposed reclassifications of listed noxious weeds

• Reclassify buffalobur, Solanum rostratum, from a Class A to a Class C noxious weed

John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University, Bugwood.org Reclassification of yellow-flowered hawkweed species by subgenera

• Class B listing, Hawkweeds: all nonnative species and hybrids of the Meadow subgenus (Pilosella)

• Class B listing, Hawkweeds: all nonnative species and hybrids of the Wall subgenus (Hieracium) Challenges of current listing • Having 10 separate yellow hawkweed listings can be overwhelming • Possible confusion within a county where control is required of some yellow hawkweed species but not others. • Hybrids between hawkweed species would either need to be listed separately tall hawkweed Yellow-devil hawkweed • Variation of traits among species can make a definitive identification difficult. Even hieraciologists have differing opinions. This challenge can make enforcement especially difficult. Smooth hawkweed leaf

European hawkweed leaf Subgenus Pilosella: the meadow hawkweeds • Includes orange, yellow, whiplash, king-devil, yellow-devil, pale, mouseear, tall, and queen-devil

hawkweeds. Mouseear hawkweed, Hieracium pilosella • In general: – Stolons present – No or few stem leaves – Leaves entire or

minutely toothed Yellow hawkweed, Hieracium caespitosum Yellow-devil hawkweed, Hieracium x floribundum Subgenus Hieracium: the wall hawkweeds • Includes smooth, common, European,

polar, spotted, and wall 2004, Ben Legler hawkweeds (and two

native species). • In general: – Stolons absent – Stem leaves present European hawkweed, Common hawkweed, – Leaves toothed or lobed Hieracium sabaudum Hieracium lachenalii Proposed minor amendments to listed noxious weeds including Class B designations

• Undesignate wild chervil in Island County • Designate yellow archangel in Island County • Undesignate spurge laurel in Pierce and Jefferson counties • Undesignate myrtle spurge in Clallam and Jefferson counties • Modifying Eurasian milfoil designation to include Pend Oreille County in all lakes with public boat launches except Fan Lake • Designate hairy willow herb in Pend Oreille County • Designate tall hawkweed in Pend Oreille County (pending hawkweed reclassification) • Designate meadow knapweed in Pend Oreille County • Designate Bohemian knotweed in Pend Oreille County • Designate policeman’s helmet in Pend Oreille County • Designate plumeless thistle in Pend Oreille County • Modify yellow starthistle designation in Stevens County to read: Stevens county except T36 R38 in the area contained within Hwy 395/Hwy 20, Pingston Creek Road, and Highland Loop Road.” • Reinstate exemption “with the exception of bulbing fennel, F. vulgare var. azoricum” to common fennel listing (unintentionally omitted in 2013) Update on other proposals Giant reed, Arundo donax L.

Considered as: • Proposed as a Class B noxious weed to be designated within riparian areas, wetlands, special flood hazard areas (100- year flood plains), open irrigation waterways, or in a 100 ft. buffer beyond the edge of these areas in regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This is not meant to affect commercially cultivated giant reed grown outside of these designated areas. Giant reed, Arundo donax • Native to parts of Asia • Tall perennial, rhizomatous grass, up to 20+ ft. • Spread by rhizomes, and stem fragments, and layering • North American populations do not produce seed • Cultivars of Arundo – Mostly variegated

John Ruter, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org Giant reed, Arundo donax

• Invasive in riparian areas • No significant escaped – Forms dense monocultures, populations in WA lower biodiversity, excess • Landscape plantings water consumption, and poses a fire risk • Giant reed is being tested as a regulated biofuel crop in Oregon due to its high biomass yield • Building materials, reeds for musical instruments – Washington, Oregon and Internationally

At the board meeting . . .

• Weed Board did not vote to list at this time since WSDA is in the process of quarantining it and creating a compliance agreement. • Would allow cultivation in approved areas, not allow to be planted in areas that would be susceptible to invasion • No known escaped populations. Board will revisit listing if found. Proposed amendments to currently listed noxious weeds • Reinstate 2012 listing language of Japanese eelgrass, Zostera japonica (i.e., Class C on commercially managed shellfish beds only) History: • 2012: first listed as a Class C noxious weed on commercially managed shellfish beds only • 2013: listed as a Class C noxious weed everywhere • 2014: proposed that the 2012 language be reinstated (Class C on commercially managed shellfish beds only

Japanese eelgrass, Zostera japonica

• Native to Eastern Asia • Annual to perennial, aquatic, • Creeping, perennial rhizomes • Reproduces vegetatively via rhizomatous growth and also produces seeds

• In Washington, found along the coast and Puget Sound – Intertidal marine waters – Mudflats, sandflats

2005, Ben Legler

Japanese eelgrass, Zostera japonica

• Japanese eelgrass has numerous positive, negative, neutral, and u nknown ecological impacts Negative • Japanese eelgrass is causing negative economic harm to the shellfish industry • Slows water flow by up to 40% relative to unvegetated mudflat Positive: • Can provide habitat functions similar to native eelgrass (Zostera marina), and other submerged aquatic vegetation – Structure, cover, food, spawning surfaces • Provides a food source for migrating birds and wintering waterfowl Neutral/Unknown • Effects of many interactions in intertidal zone unknown • Effects on nutrient cycling

At the board meeting

• The Board does recognize that there are positive and negative impacts • The Board left the listing the way it is Thank you! Contact: Wendy DesCamp [email protected] (360) 725-5764

Website http://www.nwcb.wa.gov