Invasive Plant Education

Noxious weeds and other invasive plants outcompete native vegetation, reduce biodiversity, degrade wildlife habitat, and negatively impact agriculture, water resources, and recreation.

• A plant growing where it is not wanted is a weed.
• A non-native plant that spreads aggressively is invasive.
• A native pant that spreads quickly and can outcompete other plants is an aggressive plant.
• A plant designated by law as harmful to the environment and must be controlled is a noxious weed.

Montana has 36 state listed noxious weed species that collaboratively affect about 8.2 million acres of Big Sky Country. Both new and continued infestations of these non-native species not only reduce the productivity of cropland and rangeland, but infestations of noxious weeds also diminish the productivity and biological diversity of ecosystems by negatively impacting wildlife habitat and by affecting the vitality and survival of native species due to competition for light, space, nutrients and water.