Montana Weed Prevention Areas Home

Weed Prevention Areas: Protecting Montana from Invasive Weeds

Call-to-action programs in eastern Montana encourage hunters to report new invasions of spotted knapweed to local weed districts.
“Nightmare” searching for the odor of spotted knapweed on a dryland pasture. Photo: R. Gorsuch
“Tsavo” searching for spotted knapweed plants. Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation.
“Rio” takes a break with his reward after locating spotted knapweed plants. Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation.
“Nightmare” following the odor gradient to a knapweed plant. Photo: R. Gorsuch
WPA signs are posted at ranch entrances to educate visitors and reinforce rancher commitments to prevention. Prairie County.
Prevention efforts in the Hill County WPA aim to protect the upper Milk River Valley—one of a few large stretches of the Milk River that still remain weed-free. Photo: Hill County Weed District
Weed prevention area entrance signs mark weed-free areas and educate visitors. Photo: Garfield County Weed District
The Willow Creek WPA is 172,000 acres in size and located near Choteau at the Rocky Mountain Front in Teton County. Photo: Teton County Weed District
The Prairie County Weed District trains WPA ranchers on GPS technology to map new weeds early.
The Custer County WPA aims to protect over 461,000 acres of weed-free rangeland. Photo: Custer County Weed District
Weed scouts are outfitted with GPS units and spray equipment to inventory rangelands and eradicate new invasions. Photo: Liberty County Weed District.
Ranchers in the South Phillips County WPA are taking collective steps to keep 850,000 acres of healthy prairie rangelands weed-free over the long term.

News and Information

Border collie sniffs out noxious weeds on Missoula mountainside. By Chelsi Moy of the Missoulian
Dogs sniff out invasive plants on Western lands. By Laura Zuckerman, Reuters
Detection dog research article published in June 2010 issue of Invasive Plant Science and Management (PDF)
Map shows location of Montana's weed prevention areas
A weed prevention awareness campaign begins with a call to action:
- Weeds Not Welcome Here
- Weed Prevention Areas: Protecting Montana from Invasive Weeds
Detection Dogs Slide Program shows trained dogs locating invasive weeds
Range riders and weed scouts assist ranchers with early detection surveys
Developing Invasive Weed Prevention Areas for Rangeland Ecosystems. NRCS Invasive Species Technical Note Number MT-15

A long-term approach

The Montana Weed Prevention Program at Montana State University is a long-term approach to protect rangelands in eastern Montana from weed spread. Weed Prevention Areas are a designation aimed at keeping rangelands that currently have few or no weeds from being infested. These local level prevention systems direct proactive approaches to weeds, which are more successful than common reactive approaches that focus on land already dominated by weeds.

In a WPA, stakeholders collectively

implement site-specific strategies to protect weed-free landscapes from invasion over time, and
design local education campaigns to influence public opinion and policy for long-term support and investments in prevention.

Funding sources include the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Center for Invasive Plant Management, and Western Region SARE.

Site maintained by the Center for Invasive Plant Management