Skagit County updates noxious-weed program, reports progress on knotweed and Spartina

Skagit County on Tuesday received an annual update on the county noxious-weed program, including survey and treatment results for knotweed and Spartina, a small new garlic-mustard grant, ongoing outreach and a staffing update.

The county’s Natural Resources Division manager and the new noxious-weed coordinator told the Board of County Commissioners the program used state grant funding, seasonal crews and volunteers to run outreach, tool loans and targeted treatments last year.

The update matters because invasive plants such as knotweed and Spartina can change riverbanks and estuaries, damage native habitat and impose costs on shoreline landowners and shellfish growers. County staff said the program’s mix of monitoring, hand and chemical treatment, and grants is intended to push infestations down to small, treatable occurrences.

County staff described three grant programs and site results. On Spartina anglica, staff said the county monitors 21 sites and that seven returned negative in 2024; three sites have now met the county’s eradication threshold and are visited less frequently. ‘‘Spartina alterniflora has met complete eradication requirements in Skagit County,’’ Noxious-weed coordinator Evan Emerick said during the…