Vegetation manager reports weed survey, outreach plans; requests staffing and equipment support

Julie Kolb, the county vegetation (weed) manager, told the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday that a public noxious‑weed survey is live and that outreach and mapping work will guide this year’s control efforts.

Kolb said the online survey had about 32 responses at the time of the meeting and will be promoted in the local newspaper and on the county website. Early results cited in the meeting: roughly 84% of respondents said they were aware that controlling noxious weeds is a state mandate; about 11% said they would not use herbicides under any circumstances; and roughly 67% of respondents said the county should take action on private properties where owners do not manage weeds.

Kolb reviewed the vegetation management scope: contract work for the U.S. Forest Service and a state park, outreach to homeowners associations, planned work on Miller Mesa pending contracts, and annual mapping of infestations. She said she maps county roads and known infestations each year and estimated she covers more than 35,000 county acres in her work but directly manages roughly 150 acres of targeted infestations. Kolb reported progress on high‑priority sites, including a Myrtle spurge (state A list) population in the Ouray river corridor that has been reduced with recent treatments.

Equipment and staffing were recurring constraints. Kolb said the primary spray truck is often unavailable for early spring because of freeze/thaw damage to spray equipment; she expected the truck to be operational around May 15 without repairs. She also said her seasonal position recently turned over and that the county created a year‑round, shared position intended to be split between vegetation management and Road & Bridge to address recruitment and retention challenges.

Commissioners suggested boosting public outreach through a podcast and local public radio (KVNF) and urged more prominent placement of the survey on the county home page to increase responses. They also discussed aerial or drone imagery and GIS support to help map infestations and track trends; a county staff member volunteered that a drone exists in county resources and that GIS staff might assist.

Kolb said she will present proposed updates to the county noxious‑weed management plan at the next weed board meeting and will continue to pursue cost‑share programs. No county appropriation was requested at the meeting; Kolb asked for coordination on equipment repairs, assistance with staffing recruitment, and help with outreach and mapping.