Weed District secures $89,000 in grant funding

The Lincoln County Weed Board has received $98,156 in grants this spring. 

The money will go to wages and supplies in several projects to fight noxious weeds in Lincoln County. 

The Rush Skeletonweed Project will pay wages for workers to look for and kill the weed and other new invaders. It will pay wages for at least seven part-time Lincoln County and Forest Service employees. 

The Tansy Ragwort Project will pay wages for a coordinator to treat plants, move insects that kill the plant, and coordinate the efforts of all the partners in the project. It also will pay for a contractor to treat private roads in the project area as well as Forest Service and DNRC employees to treat plants and move insects on their property in the project area. 

The Hawkweed Project will pay wages for a contractor and two employees to treat Hawkweed throughout Lincoln County and surrounding counties and coordinate the Hawkweed education effort. 

The Biological Control Project will pay wages to Lincoln County High School in Eureka to maintain the knapweed insectory and wages for two teachers and two students to work in the insectory and gather insects and redistribute them throughout the county. It also will provide wages for a county employee to gather and redistribute insects in the west side of the county. 

Since 2000, the Weed District has received about $2 million in grant money and 90 percent has gone directly to wages to fight noxious weeds in Lincoln County. 

The other 10 percent has gone to supplies like fuel and equipment that mostly was purchased in Lincoln County. 

Unfortunately the district has not been able to provide full-time employment, but it has provided summer jobs to help the unemployed and college students that need short term employment.