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Noxious-weeds program to accept two grants for knotweed and Mount St. Helens treatments
Summary
The county noxious-weeds coordinator said the program will ask the board to accept a $25,000 two-year knotweed grant from the Washington State Department of Agriculture and a roughly $47,000 Secure Rural Schools-funded agreement to treat invasive plants within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument area.
Jennifer Mendoza, Cowlitz County Noxious Weeds coordinator, told commissioners the department will bring two consent-agenda items asking the board to accept grant funding: a Washington State Department of Agriculture award of $25,000 over two years for knotweed treatment in riparian areas and a roughly $47,000 grant from Secure Rural Schools to continue invasive-plant treatments inside the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. "Typically, we've we've been receiving $20,000 for 2 years. This year, we're receiving $25,000 for 2 years," Mendoza said of the knotweed grant.
Scope and partners: Mendoza said the Mount St. Helens funds will cover roughly one season of treatment on the county’s side of the monument — the area north of Highway 504, including Elk Rock and Castle Lake viewpoints and trails such as the Coldwater trail and hummocks — and that the county coordinates with Skamania and Lewis counties and WSDOT on treatments and right-of-way work.
Next steps: both grants are scheduled for the consent agenda at the next meeting; Mendoza said the increased knotweed funding reflects additional available state funding and that the mountaintop grant will help maintain invasive-species control and forage for wildlife. No formal board action was recorded during the briefing.
