Concerns raised about knapweed in city

Purple dots of button-looking flowers have popped up around town and one Whitefish resident is worried about them.

Peter Aronsson does his best to keep spotted knapweed from taking over his yard and he’s even pulled the noxious weed from his neighbor’s yard.

But Aronsson points specifically to properties around the City Beach neighborhood as an area where knapweed has become prominent. He says this is particularly concerning because City Beach is “the summer jewel of Whitefish.”

“There are three or four other areas around town too,” he said. “I’m doing my part, maybe other people can do their part too.”

Whitefish Parks and Recreation Director Maria Butts said the city maintains its own property by cutting and spraying for weeds at the beginning, middle and end of the season.

“There’s a lot of knapweed this year,” Butts said. “The wet season early on followed by the sun made all the weed grow really well this year.”

She points out that while the city focuses attention on its parks, some undeveloped areas might not get as much focus.

“Don’t hesitate to contact us if you see weeds,” she said. “We want to help private property owners who might not know they have weeds, but also have the public help us because we don’t always see weeds on our property.”

In regard to knapweed because some people find it aesthetically pleasing they don’t know it’s actually a weed, Butts notes.

For weeds on private property, under its ordinance, the city can require private property owners to deal with noxious weeds. Enforcement on private property is complaint driven and handled by the Planning and Building Department.

“We can require them to mitigate it — by pulling, spraying or cutting,” she said. “The city makes sure it’s been done or we can hire someone to do it and charge the property owner.”

Montana has 32 noxious weed species, as determined by the Montana Department of Agriculture. The state defines a noxious weed as “any exotic plant species established or that may be introduced in the state that may render land unfit for agriculture, forestry, livestock, wildlife, or other beneficial uses or that may harm native plant communities.”

According to the Montana Weed Control Association, the state has about 7.6 million acres infested with state-list noxious weeds.

Spotted knapweed, which has a pinkish-purple flower coming up from stems that are grayish-green in color, can vary in height from two inches to four feet. One plant can produce up to 300 flower heads, thus producing up to 140,000 seeds, according to the state weed control association.

For more information about noxious weeds, visit weedawareness.org, the Montana Department of Agriculture at agr.mt.gov or the Montana Weed Control Association at mtweed.org.

For information on submitting information to the city about potential noxious weeds, visit http://www.cityofwhitefish.org/report-an-issue/report-an-issue.php.