Bureau of Land Management Volunteer Feature

Weeds on the Public Lands

One of the greatest obstacles to maintaining healthy ecosystems and restoring impaired ecosystems on the nation's public lands is the rapid expansion of noxious weeds. These invasive plants can dominate many sites and often cause permanent damage to native plant communities. Noxious weeks are spreading on BLM lands at over 2,300 acres per day, and on all western public lands at approximately 4,600 acres per day. This is occurring in both disturbed and relatively undisturbed areas. While weed infestations are increasing at an ever-accelerating rate, currently only about 8.5 million acres of BLM's 270 million areas have serious weed populations. If cooperative weed management efforts are not dramatically increased, approximately 19 million acres of BLM land will be infested with these invasive plants by the year 2000.

Back...