BH National Forest to host open houses on invasive and native plant species management

GREYBULL — Bighorn National Forest officials are hosting two open house meetings for an upcoming project to address noxious, invasive and select native plant species on national forest lands.

The project is known as the Invasive and Other Select Plant Management Project.  A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is anticipated later this spring.

The first open house will be Tuesday, March 17 at the Big Horn County Weed and Pest Building, 4782 US-310, Greybull, Wyoming from 4 to 6 p.m. A second open house meeting will be hosted in Sheridan, Wyoming on Thursday, March 19 at the Forest Service Supervisor’s Office, 2013 Eastside 2nd St., from 4 to 6 p.m. Forest officials will be available to provide information and answer questions regarding the project.

The project includes treatment of noxious, invasive, and select native plant species through the integration of manual, mechanical, biological, ground herbicide, and aerial herbicide control methods on the Bighorn National Forest. Treated species of plants could include, for example, invasive annual grasses (including, but not limited to cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae), and ventenata (Ventenata dubia)) as well as select native plant species (i.e., larkspur and sagebrush).

The draft proposed action includes the following:

•Treating new infestations through adaptive management tools for assessing new treatments and new sites;

•Treating new and existing invasive species in addition to those listed as noxious weeds by the State of Wyoming;

•Permitting the use of newly developed, more species-specific, EPA-registered herbicides.

A Forest Service and state agency cooperator assessment team would be established to review the EPA issued registration eligibility decision and determine the new herbicide’s appropriateness for use on public lands;

Broaden control methods to include the use of aerial application of herbicides in limited or specific circumstance;

Broaden protection measures for ground and aerial applications of herbicides; and

Broaden management methods to meet desired conditions by treating select native plant species to include the use of herbicides.   

The forthcoming NOI will appear in the Federal Register signaling the official start of the 45-day public scoping period. A copy of the NOI will be posted on the project webpage at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57457. More information about the Invasive and Other Select Plant Management Project is available by contacting Chris Jones at 307-674-2627 or [email protected].