Idaho poised to instigate milfoil plan

BOISE – Just days after a new $4 million milfoil eradication program became law, the state Department of Agriculture is calling for grant applications to start spending the money.

“The governor and the Legislature made it clear they want to get a handle on this problem immediately and have instructed us to begin aggressively working to eradicate this noxious weed,” said Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Pat Takasugi.

The department wants to hear from agencies, counties, weed management areas, and any other interested organizations that want to help eradicate the aquatic weed.

“If you have the ability, we want to hear from you,” said spokesman Wayne Hoffman. “We really want to hear all sorts of ideas from all sorts of different groups and entities that feel they can contribute toward ridding Idaho of this aggressive noxious weed.”

The deadline for the first round of grants is May 15.

Eurasian water milfoil infests 4,000 acres of Idaho’s lakes and waterways – including a major infestation in Lake Pend Oreille.

The fast-spreading waterborne weed grows into thick, unsightly mats that can pose a danger to swimmers, boat motors, fish and fish habitat, and mar scenic waterways.

State lawmakers talked a lot about milfoil in their just-concluded legislative session, prompted in part by Rep. Eric Anderson, R-Priest Lake, who lobbied fellow legislators so much that he began introducing himself as “Morty Milfoil.”

Late in the legislative session, a two-year, $4 million milfoil eradication plan emerged as HB 869, and it passed the House with just three “no” votes and passed the Senate unanimously.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne signed the bill into law on Wednesday.

Matt Voile, noxious weed bureau chief for the state agriculture department, said, “It takes only a postage-stamp(-size) fragment of Eurasian water milfoil to re-root and start a new infestation. That is why we plan to begin our eradication program without delay.”

Milfoil can be spread by something as simple as a strand of the weed wrapping around a boat trailer’s axle, then floating off when the boater visits another lake.

Roger Batt, head of the Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign, called the $4 million eradication grant program “a significant step towards the elimination of Eurasian water milfoil,” but said that the public will also play a role in stopping the spread of the weed.

“During the coming months, we will be active in reminding Idahoans to check their boats, watercraft, trailers and bilge water for this noxious weed so that we don’t inadvertently carry milfoil from one lake to another,” Batt said.

For more information and for grant applications, visit the state Department of Agriculture’s Web site at www.idahoag.us.