NOXIOUS WEEDS 



NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE 



Weed seed is currently being dispersed in the 

 area primarily from motorized vehicle use. 

 There are probably some weeds being intro- 

 duced in the area from recreationists traveling 

 on horses. This activity would continue with 

 the No- Action Alternative and is likely to 

 increase with the continued population 

 growth in the Flathead Valley The surround- 

 ing ownership would probably receive more 

 traffic in the future, increasing the rate of seed 

 dispersal. Since this alternative would not 

 expose a great deal of mineral soil in the area 

 except in areas where road maintenance or 

 motorized recreation takes place, a slow 

 steady increase of weed populations in the 

 area would likely take place. With the adop- 

 tion of the SFLMP, more aggressive inventory 

 and treatment of noxious weeds on the 

 Stillwater State Forest would occur on a more 

 regular basis than has occurred in the past. 

 This ongoing treatment for noxious weeds 

 should help mitigate for increased use of the 

 area and may actually reduce the population 

 of weeds over the long term. 



ALTERNATIVES A AND B - ACTION 

 ALTERNATIVES 



Both action alternatives build roads, increase 

 the size of the existing parking area at the 

 entrance to State lands, and reconstruct exist- 

 ing roads, including the construction of turn- 

 outs and road widening. Both action alterna- 

 tives would also yard logs, creating skid trails 

 and landings. All of these activities would 

 expose some mineral soil, leaving an area 

 where weeds could become established. These 

 alternatives are very similar in the amount of 

 mineral soil that would be exposed, with 

 Alternative B possibly having slightiy less. 

 Both alternatives would increase both the 

 drivability of existing roads and recreational 

 use of the area, increasing a major source of 

 weed seed. Both action alternatives would 

 include the operation of heavy equipment and 

 log-ti-uck h-affic in the area, also sources of 

 weed introduction. Mitigation measures for 

 both alternatives would include contract 



clauses that require the washing of any heavy 

 equipment before it enters the project area and 

 grass seeding of areas distijrbed during road- 

 building activities. The grass seeding is 

 required concurrently with construction 

 activities, as well as after the final blading. 

 This series of seeding is done to establish grass 

 before weeds are introduced and control 

 erosion. 



An ongoing program of monitoring weed 

 populations and spot spraying would also 

 occur in the area in accordance with the 

 Flathead County Weed Management Plan. 

 Both action alternatives would close some 

 roads to motorized tiaffic and obliterate some 

 existing roads. This would decrease the total 

 area that is open to motorized traffic. While 

 the implementation of either of these alterna- 

 tives would risk increased weed populations 

 in the area, the combination of mitigation, 

 ongoing weed population monitoring, and 

 spot spraying of herbicides may reduce the 

 overall population of weeds in the area. 



Additional information on proposed herbicide 

 treatments: 



• Where noxious weeds occur along existing 

 access roads, an application of herbicide, 

 followed by grass seeding, would be used 

 to control established weeds and promote 

 desirable native plants and seed grasses 

 that would compete with the noxious 

 weeds and provide long-term soil stabili- 

 zation to control erosion. 



• Open roads and some segments of closed 

 roads in the Beaver Lake area would be 

 sprayed for weeds using the herbicide 

 Transline once a year for 3 years. There 

 would also be some site-specific hand 

 pulling of weeds along open roads where 

 sensitive plants or stieams prohibit the 

 spraying of herbicides. Transline would be 

 used because it is more selective than other 

 herbicides used to control noxious weeds. 

 Transline is not lethal to conifer trees and 

 would not be used within 100 feet of 

 streams. Application would be done by a 

 licensed applicator and the Environmental 

 Protection Act rules would be followed. 



Chapter IV: Environmental Consequences 



ilV-7) 



