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County weed supervisor warns of staffing gap, highlights plumeless‑thistle find and pushes for large federal grant work
Summary
Weed supervisor Corey Spenny briefed the board on a successful 10,000‑acre plumeless‑thistle survey and urged pursuit of a multi‑million regional conservation grant while flagging critical staffing shortages for mitigation and monitoring tied to renewable‑energy development.
Corey Spenny, the county weed supervisor, delivered a detailed quarterly report and urged county action on large‑scale weed control and staffing.
Spenny described a recent 10,000‑acre survey funded by an OWEB grant that located and eradicated a plumeless thistle infestation, removing about 20 plants at a newly discovered site and preventing what he said could have become a much larger infestation. He characterized the detection and removal as a success that likely prevented exponential spread in subsequent seasons.
Spenny told commissioners that state programs (ODA and ODOE) have added staff but remain undersized for the volume of energy‑sector development; he recommended the county press developers to fund on‑site weed coordinators or to obligate mitigation funding as a condition of county incentives. He also described multi‑county Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) grant possibilities that could provide substantial funding (discussed in the meeting as regional grants in the millions) to address post‑fire reseeding and invasive‑grass control, but cautioned that implementing such programs requires multiple FTEs and administrative capacity the county currently lacks.
Commissioners discussed incorporating clear weed‑mitigation expectations into project review, fee schedules and incentive agreements so developers understand likely costs. Staff said they would continue to negotiate monitoring arrangements with developers and pursue grant options while building internal capacity for spray apparatus, applicator licensing and additional FTEs.
