BLM adds to its herbicide arsenal to fight invasive plants in Utah and the West

Invasive plants are a big problem in Utah. Cunning interlopers like cheatgrass and red brome can outcompete native vegetation, crowd habitats and steal water and other vital soil nutrients.

It is a problem that’s spread across much of the West, too.

The Bureau of Land Management already deals with invasive plants on 79 million of its 245 million acres. That’s why the federal agency approved seven new herbicides to kill invasives on its land nationwide.

“If we don’t remove this now, what is it going to look like 10 years from now?” said Seth Flanigan, a BLM senior invasive species specialist based in Idaho.

The herbicides — Aminocyclopyrachlor, Clethodim, Fluazifop-P-butyl, Flumioxazin, Imazamox, Indaziflam and Oryzalin — join 21 others previously approved by the BLM. Flanigan pointed out that some of these chemicals are not necessarily new to Utah, since they already are allowed on other public lands.

Read the full story at kuer.org.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.

function onSignUp() { const token = grecaptcha.getResponse(); if (!token) { alert("Please verify the reCAPTCHA!"); } else { axios .post( "https://8c0ug47jei.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/dev/newsletter/checkCaptcha", { token, env: "PROD", } ) .then(({ data: { message } }) => { console.log(message); if (message === "Human