| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Ron Zellar |
| June 11, 2009 | (406) 444-3144 |
ARRA Funding OK'd for Weed Projects in NW Montana
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Department of Agriculture will administer a $377,000 federal grant to control noxious weeds in association with fire management activities in Northwestern Montana.
Lincoln County Weed District expects to hire a minimum of 25 people to apply weed control measures in the county and adjacent parts of Flathead and Sanders Counties. Preventing the spread of hawkweeds and rush skeletonweed is a primary objective of the project, which is funded by the U.S. Forest Service under provisions of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
"Preventing the spread of economically and environmentally destructive weeds is very important to Montana, and the award of this Forest Service grant shows that Montana is a leader in the war against weeds," said Governor Brian Schweitzer. A letter confirming the grant was received today.
The Montana Department of Agriculture annually administers $2.5 million in state and federal grant funds for education, research and local cooperative weed management projects. In 2005, Governor Schweitzer appointed a Noxious Weed Summit Advisory Council to collectively review statewide weed management efforts. The state also participates in a Zero Spread publicity campaign with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Montana Weed Control Association.
Wildfire management through fuels reduction and forest thinning is among the activities for which the Forest Service will receive stimulus funding from Congress. Weed management is related to that effort.
For more information, contact the Montana Department of Agriculture, at (406) 444-2402 or by e-mail at mailto:agr@mt.gov.
