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Department declines to list Palmer amaranth, advances Turkish thistle reclassification
Summary
After public meetings with broad stakeholder participation, the department did not add Palmer amaranth or myrtle spurge to Idaho's noxious weed list but moved Turkish thistle from Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR) to a control category to reflect wider distribution and allow more time for control.
The committee heard presentations on proposed changes to Idaho's noxious weed listing (docket 0206092402). Andrea Thompson, administrator of the Plant Industries Division, said two petitions (for Palmer amaranth and myrtle spurge) prompted negotiated rulemaking meetings attended by weed control professionals, seed industry representatives, county commissioners and members of the public. "The meeting discussions were very lively ... In the end there's really no consensus reached ... Therefore the species was not proposed," Thompson said.
The department also identified a missed edit from the 2023 rulemaking related to the Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR) definition and corrected it. Separately, the agency proposed reclassifying Turkish thistle from the EDRR category to a control category after finding it more widely distributed than previously believed; Thompson said public comments were supportive or neutral for that change.
The committee voted to approve the docket. Thompson said stakeholder participation was broad and meetings included both in-person and virtual attendees.
