by Leslie Kelly

Special to the Sounder

After a weekend of answering phone calls and emails from residents who oppose the use of herbicides on county right-of-ways, the San Juan Island County Council opted Nov. 9 not to allow them to be used.

The matter came to the council from the noxious weed board, an appointed county board, and the county’s public works department. Specifically, council members were asked to approve changes to an existing ordinance that would allow the use of herbicides to eradicate or control noxious weeds along these right-of-ways.

Noxious weeds are defined by the Washington State Department of Agriculture as non-native plants to Washington that have been introduced here via humans. Because they grow aggressively, the species can be highly destructive and are difficult to control. Among them is the notorious scotch broom.

According to San Juan County Public Works Director Brian Vincent, the county’s noxious weed board requested that he take up the issue with the county council.

But for many, the idea of possible changes to the ordinance came as a surprise. Mark Anderson, longtime resident, said when he learned that the topic was on an agenda for Nov. 9, he began contacting people who he thought would be interested and urged an email campaign to council members during the weekend prior to the meeting.

In his email to supporters, Anderson said he didn’t support the “efforts by the noxious weed board to solve a small plant problem by creating a large scale public health problem.”

San Juan County has not used chemicals or herbicides on noxious weeds for more than 20 years, Vincent said. There has been a prohibition against the use of herbicides since 1998, and it was the practice of the county to not use them in years prior to that. Vincent said he didn’t know what brands or types of chemicals were used before they were banned.

But, he said, the county has a legal responsibility to control the growth and spread of noxious weeds.

According to Bruce Gregory, chairman of the noxious weed board, the county spend as much as $15,000 annually for removal of Scotch broom, until 2005 when funding for the program ended. In 2007, the county hired a consultant and spent $10,000 on a management plan for short-term eradication and long-term maintenance.

In 2008, the county funded a roadside maintenance technician to control noxious weeds on county right-of-ways and implement an integrated weed management program. The program worked well, but the position was eliminated in 2010 and “since that time roadside weed control by public works has been sporadic and less than effective,” Gregory wrote in a letter to county manager Mike Thomas.

Besides requesting the use of herbicides, the noxious weed board has asked that more attention be paid by public works to the spread of weeds through mowing; that mowing be done when the plant’s life cycle would minimize the spread of those weeds; that public works consult with the weed board before adding any new seed mix in the right-of-ways, and that the roadside technician position be restored.

At the meeting, county council members heard more than 40 minutes of comments from the public, the majority of whom opposed the use of any chemicals or herbicides.

Following that, Vincent told the council that he wasn’t bringing the matter forward “lightly.”

“This is a difficult position to be in,” he said. “Legally, we are required to control noxious weeds on the property we own.”

He added that if you took the right-of ways on both sides of all the county roads that the county is responsible for, it would add up to 650 acres.

He also told the council that the use of herbicides didn’t mean random wide-spread spraying.

“Any use of herbicides would be as a last resort,” Vincent said. “Public Works would not just go out and start spraying. We would try best management practices first.”

If that proved inefficient, then use of organic herbicides would be by hand application to plants after they were cut to ground level. Possible use of pump-style backpack sprayers might happen.

But even with that, council members opted not to make changes to the ordinance. All three councilmen said they were not in favor of the changes as presented and urged Vincent to go back to the drawing board.

“The language is confusing,” said Chairman Bob Jarman. “The public is confused.”

Councilman Rick Hughes said he would like public works to take another growing season to look at what can be done to control noxious weed growth without the use of any chemicals, including the use of volunteer labor by neighboring property owners.

“Then, one year from now we can revisit this,” Hughes said. “But for now we need to continue (to limit) growth without chemical solutions.”

Vincent said he doesn’t plan to bring the subject back to the council any time soon. He said that there is no funding for a roadside maintenance technician which he said was a “rather technical job” and would cost about $60,000.

Bruce George, chair of the noxious weed board, however, said the board will continue to pursue a solution.

“The weed board will continue to create a practical set of documents for outreach, have island specific meetings to present these facts and collect input from the citizens who by-and-large have been left out of the conversation,” he said.

He added that having public works on board to help address weed issues is a step in the right direction.

“Having Brian Vincent step up and work with the weed board is the first time in a long time that the weed board sees some hope and we will continue to partner with Brian and public works,” George said. “There’s a lot of mistrust in the community and that is (the) biggest problem. We will have to educate (the public) to overcome that ignorance.”