Officials try to eradicate invasive plant at Utah Lake

LINDON — It is a stealthy assailant accomplished at taking hold and choking the life out of its competitors.

It's hard to kill and it spreads rapidly.

Phragmites' invasive, prolific nature earned it a top spot on Utah County's Most Wanted Weed List, and officials are fighting back.

Tossing fire bombs and armed with fire-igniting flares, a bevy of firefighters conducted a 112-acre prescribed burn Tuesday in what is hoped to be the first of many successful attempts to eradicate the pesky phragmites plant, otherwise known as the common reed.

"It's very dense and so invasive that native cattails, reeds and other grasses are easily outcompeted," said Jason Curry, a spokesman with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

An estimated 6,000 acres along the shore of Utah Lake are infested with the plant, which also interferes with waterfowl's nesting abilities and acts as a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Because of the plant's dense nature, Curry said mosquito abatement efforts in the past have proven problematic because the chemicals designed to kill the larvae can't get enough penetration.

Ironically, even though firefighters were using flames to decimate the phragmites, the plant is capable of surviving the harshest conditions, including fire, frost, high pH, road salts and pollution. Left untouched, it can reach 14 feet high and, as it naturally dries out each year, constitutes an extreme fire hazard.

But Curry said officials are hopeful that the controlled burn will reach far enough to its bulbous root system to deter new growth.

It's a test effort, of sorts, but one Curry hopes proves effective.

"We hope it stays down and does not come right back up," Curry said, adding that the burned areas would get a selective herbicide application next year.

Kevin Cortez, Utah County's assistant fire warden, said the plant has rapidly proliferated in areas along Utah Lake, next to streams and even on roadside rest stops where there are hot springs.

Because of its destruction to native wetlands vegetation, the plant was added last year to Utah County's list of noxious weeds by county commissioners.

"It just multiplies and multiplies," Cortez said. "And after a while, you don't get the scenic stuff."

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