2 plants named noxious weeds

PROVO — The Utah County Commission has voted to designate two of the most invasive plant species at Utah Lake as noxious weeds.

Commissioner Steve White said everyone on the commission knew both phragmites australis and tamarix ramosissima were noxious weeds and it wasn't a difficult decision to designate them in accordance with the Utah Nox-

ious Weed Act.

County public works officials have tried to rid the lake of both plants. With the county commission putting them on a noxious weed list, fighting the plants will be easier, said Clyde Naylor, Utah County public works director.

"It opens up possible doors for funding," he said. "(But) it doesn't guarantee anything."

The county can now apply for federal and state grants to help fund the eradication of the invasive plants.

The tamarix plant is being treated with beetles that survive only on the weed, Naylor said. Once the beetles eat all the leaves the plant dies, getting rid of it without harming other plants.

Phragmites, which look like reeds with a feathery top, aren't easy to get rid of. They grow on both land and in the water and spread quickly and abundantly. The county intends to use firebreaks and burn them out in the next two or three months, followed by a spray to get the rest of them. The burning will be the second area the county has targeted. Phragmites not only spreads quickly and forces out native plants, it also has a negative effect on recreation.

"In the case of the phragmites, it makes access to the lake very difficult," Naylor said. "They grow very thick and very high and so it makes it pretty hard to get to the lake."

Naylor added that it might take two or three years to exterminate the weeds.

The Utah Lake Commission has also declared war on the weed and in several meetings has discussed supporting the effort to destroy the plant as a non-native species.

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E-mail: csmith@desnews.com