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Boulder County commissioners pause planned drone herbicide application at Red Hill parcel
Summary
After staff presented monitoring data and feasibility concerns, the Board of County Commissioners voted to temporarily pause a planned drone application of herbicide on a Red Hill parcel at High Valley Ranch and asked staff to return with more information at the January annual update.
A majority of the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners voted Dec. 9 to pause a planned drone application of herbicide on a parcel in the Red Hill area of High Valley Ranch while staff prepares additional information for the board's January annual update.
The action followed a presentation from Stephen Bridal, deputy director of Boulder County Parks and Open Space, who described the department's integrated weed management plan (approved Nov. 8, 2024), the project's selection criteria and monitoring results. Bridal said staff had identified more than 3,000 acres of high cheatgrass density across county holdings and that the Red Hill treatment polygon covers roughly 800 acres in difficult terrain. "We cannot get tractors in there," Bridal said, explaining that steep slopes and rocky ground make ground-based treatments unsafe or infeasible and that "using drones is the most feasible way" to treat the area.
Commissioners and other speakers raised concerns about water, runoff and agricultural impacts, and asked staff to present a clearer map overlay showing nearby farms, irrigation and drainage. One commissioner said constituents had sent thousands of emails and sought clarity on alternatives such as goats, prescribed fire and mechanical methods. Bridal responded that goats risk carrying pathogens harmful to local bighorn sheep and that prescribed fire is ineffective for cheatgrass because of its growth seasons.
The motion on the floor directed staff to pause the aerial application on the parcel named in the discussion and to return with more detailed information at the January annual update. County legal counsel Liana Larimore advised that a temporary direction to gather more information was properly noticed, while any permanent amendment to the integrated weed management plan would require additional public notice.
The pause is procedural: staff maintained that the IWMP includes criteria and expert herbicide reviews and described monitoring that shows more native species in treated plots. Commissioners emphasized they wanted more detail about alternatives tried in 2025, maps showing adjacency to agricultural lands, and clarifications on safety and timing windows for the herbicide indaziflam. One commissioner subsequently stated on the record that she would register a "no" vote on the motion, while others recorded "aye" votes at the dais.
Next steps: staff said it will provide the requested overlays, a summary of alternatives tried in 2025, safety/timing information from the weed-staff team and a fuller monitoring report at the board's January annual update.
