Weed calendar opens window to Garfield County agriculture, vegetation management efforts

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“Fall Gathering” is a painting by artist Lanny Grant that’s functiond Inside the 2022 Weeds of Garfield County calfinishar.
Garfield County Vegetation Administration/Courtesy

Although “weed” has taken on A particular which means in Coloradverto over the previous decadverte or so, most rural counties have complete divisions devoted to educating landpersonalers Regarding the noxious varieties and The biggest Method To regulate them.

Do You’d like to Want to get to know your Coloradverto weeds a bit greater — full with A lovely scenic photograph of the month from the Garfield County countryside — simply decide up A duplicate of the annual Weeds of Garfield County calfinishar.

The 2022 mannequin is now out tright here Freed from cost In any respect Garfield County Public Library District branches, and the county advertministration buildings in Glenwood Springs and Rifle.



Steve Anthony has been Garfield County’s Vegetation Supervisor since 1999. For a quantity of yrs, he labored with the nonprofit Coloradverto Huge Nation Useful resource Conservation and Enchancment Council To current a statewide weed calfinishar.

That enterprise was finally turned over to the Coloradverto Weed Administration Affiliation, however after A pair of yrs of not doing it Anthony said he missed it.



So, about eight yrs in the past he acquired permission from the county commissioners To current Garfield County’s very personal weed calfinishar. His division hadvert a price range Put aside for group outreach, education and consciousness, and the calfinishar appeared like An excellent Method To carry out that.

“It’s A pretty good system to, in a delicate method, get weeds On the market Inside the vocabulary Of people and enhance consciousness,” he said.

Every month options An picture taken by An space photographgrapher or painted by An space artist of scenic landscapes, residents, wildlife and livestock.

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Accompanying each photograph and month-to-month calfinishar is Particulars about numerous noxious weeds, The biggest Method To cease them from unfolding, biggest agricultural practices, wildfire restoration, what’s edible — if that’s your factor — and The biggest Method to Watch out to maintain away from dangerous look-alikes when out foraging.

For event, the February entry tells of Queen Anne’s Lace, or wild carrot, which is properly-appreciated with foragers. Beware its relative, poison hemlock, though.

Tright here’s advertditionally a Little bit of Garfield County agriculture historic previous functiond Inside the calfinishar, collectively with a January trihowevere to the Coffman household of Carbondale, who currently purchased their ranch to the Aspen Valley Land Notion So as To take care of its ranching heritage.

The Grizzly Creek Hearth behind the Spring Valley Schoolhouse by photographgrapher Ann Driggers is functiond Inside the 2022 Weeds of Garfield County calfinishar.
Garfield County Vegetation Administration/Courtesy

Garfield County Vegetation Administration Program Coordinator Sarah LaRose is In cost of lining up the inventive content material for the calfinishar Yearly.

“Prior to now we’ve employed photographgraphers to Exit and take footage that we needed To function, however two yrs in the past we started doing it as A photographgraph contest and requested people to submit their photographs,” LaRose said.

Featured photographgraphers for 2022 are Todd Patrick, Tommy Sands, Chalana Wilson, Shania McCain, Ann Driggers, LaRose and the Glenwood Springs Post Indepfinishent’s personal Chelsea Self.

The enterprise has advertditionally expanded In current events To incorporate a quantity of work by native artist Lanny Grant.

“A lot of the photographs illustrate the fullly different vectors for weed-seed unfolding all by way of the county, like hay and cattle operations, and what they do To regulate weed unfold,” LaRose said.

“I utterly Choose it,” she said. “It’s in all probability Probably the most favourite An factor of my job. It’s good education for landpersonalers, as a Outcome of Many people don’t understand how noxious weeds have an effect on their lives And the method They might be unfolding weeds with out even realizing it.”

A Garfield County hay operation by photographgrapher Sarah LaRose is functiond Inside the 2022 Weeds of Garfield County calfinishar.
Garfield County Vegetation Administration/Courtesy

Anthony said Garfield County Is persistently seeing new, non-native crops coming into the area and discovering ones Which have been right here for awhile however are simply now propagating.

Coloradverto has a noxious weed itemizing collectively with A few hundred crops with various levels of concern for unfold. Garfield County has about 40 of them current, he said.

The Coloradverto Weed Administration Affiliation continues To current an annual weed calfinishar, however not many fullly different counties have Their very personal, so Garfield County Is unique in that sense, Anthony said.

“A lot of counties have gone extra to social media For his or her education and outreach, and fullly differents do a brochure,” he said. “Every county’s strategy is Barely fullly different.”

Garfield County this yr printed 2,000 weed calfinishars — double that produced Through the pandemic final yr — They typically’re going quick, Anthony said.

For extra information, contact the Garfield County Vegetation Administration Department at 970-945-1377, ext. 4305 or 4315.

Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud Might be reached at 970-384-9160 or [email protected].