03/28/05 Noxious weed booklet available

Spring has sprung and so have the weeds. There are 36 noxious weeds that have been identified in Idaho and they're listed in a 76-page booklet put out by the Idaho Weed Awareness campaign. Coordinator Roger Batt says it can help Idahoans with the first step, identifying the weeds. BATT "That informs people on what these noxious weeds look like both in the early stages and in the blooming stages of the noxious weed. In the very back of the book it provides for a noxious weed control guide to talk to about which kind of control methods are best for that particular noxious weed." Weed officials estimate that noxious weeds cost the Idaho economy some $300 million in annual damages. The state annually spends upwards of 15 million dollars to combat noxious weeds but still loses control of over one thousand acres of land every day to noxious weeds. The booklet is free. BATT "They're available on the Idaho weed awareness website, that's www.idahoweedawareness.org or you can call our hotline number at 1-866-ID-WEEDS and request a book and from our office here we'll be happy to just mail it to you." Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott