An Interview with Scott Bockness,
Yellowstone County Weed District Coordinator
Yellowstone County Noxious Weed Associationby Michel Olson
Scott Bockness, a noxious weed control specialist from Billings, Montana, is currently pursuing remediation efforts on the Little Big Horn River. He holds a board member position with the Montana Weed Control Association and is considered an expert on saltcedar. In an interview with Bockness, he explained some of his findings concerning saltcedar remediation.
It appears early on that we may have had good success employing the IPT (Individual Plant Treatment) Basal Bark Method. By utilizing a low volume basal stem application method to treat the individual Saltcedar plants, we appear to be achieving fairly high mortality rates, while causing minimal impacts to the existing non-target plant communities. Ongoing monitoring of these treatment areas over the next couple of years will be required to truly evaluate our success.
A variety of herbicides and surfactants are being utilized for evaluation, with an emphasis on a 25% triclopyr / 75% petroleum distillate surfactant mixture, which shows the most promise. Killing the root of the saltcedar is essential in remediation of the plant.
On two to three year old plants, Bockness has employed the CST (Cut Stump Treatment) using glyphosate chemistries at varying rates with water as the medium. This method works well on a limited number of plants, but becomes extremely labor intensive on a large stand of saltcedar.
At the Fort Peck Reservoir the National Park Service’s Exotic Plant Management Team is employing the Diorhabda elongata deserticola beetle. This beetle has had extensive testing to insure species specific tendencies. The beetle is native to the Middle East and Eurasia where Tamarisk originates and appears to be the plant’s main bio-exterminator. Results so far appear promising as large areas of Saltcedar have been adversely affected by the beetle.
Ultimately, the successful management of this exotic species will require ongoing research to identify many of the unknown variables that contribute to the spread of the hybrid Saltcedar that originates from T.Ramosissima and T.Chinesis. There are an estimated 50 plus genotypes on the ground and each genotype may react differently to the remediation methods discussed (Bockness).