Vegetation Management

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get information about Taos County’s dirty dozen noxious weeds:

Canada Thistle

Vegetative Management

Taos Soil and Water Conservation District advocates integrated management strategies with regard to noxious and invasive weed infestations. The District continues to research and fund alternative methods of weed management while continuing to provide vegetative expertise to private landowners. Partnering with local farmers and ranchers as well as NM State University, Taos Native Plant Society and concerned individuals, Taos SWCD assists local taxpayers with new and innovative strategies for weed control. The District continued to illustrate its commitment to the program by hiring Reynaldo Torres as our new Vegetative Management consultant. Mr. Torres was the Taos County Extension Agent for more than 27 years and we feel he will bring valuable professional expertise to this program. A brief summary of completed invasive weed management projects is listed below:

Taos SWCD assisted with 50 individuals with Noxious & Invasive Species related projects this past program year. Additionally, the District distributed weed identification books and calendars to hundreds of individuals as part of our Conservation Education program. This in turn, benefited approximately 139 acres at a cost of $20,800 during program year 2009-10.

A sizeable patch of Hoary Cress a.k.a. “Whitetop” located on the eastern side of Paseo del Pueblo Sur in Taos.

This picture illustrates the monoculture capabilities of this species as well as the extent that infestations can grow to when left unmanaged.