MDA Awards $120,000 to Combat Noxious Weeds
RELEASE FROM MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE:
(St. Paul, MN) — The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has awarded $120,000 to combat noxious weeds across Minnesota. Twenty-seven projects are being funded though the 2022 Noxious Weed and Invasive Plant Grant.
The money, awarded to cities, counties, townships, conservation districts, and tribal nations, will be used to purchase equipment and supplies, conduct mapping and outreach activities, and hire private applicators to manage noxious weeds.
Noxious weeds are plants that have the potential or are known to be harmful to human or animal health, the environment, public roads, crops, livestock, or other property. There are currently 48 plants on Minnesota’s Noxious Weed List.
Grant projects were awarded up to $5,000 to be spent in one year to support local activity.
The MDA has awarded over $1 million since 2017 to local municipalities and tribal nations for projects that focus on noxious weeds throughout the state.
Visit the MDA website to learn more about the state’s Noxious Weed Program.
| Organization | County | Award Amount | Project Title |
| Aitkin Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) | Aitkin | $4,500 | Expansion of noxious weed control at gravel pits to include surrounding properties/rights-of-way |
| Anoka County Parks | Anoka | $5,000 | UTV tank sprayers for noxious and invasive plant control |
| Bellevue Township | Morrison | $5,000 | Weed control |
| Bemidji Parks | Beltrami | $4,950 | Lake boulevard |
| Birchdale Township | Stearns | $5,000 | Weed spraying project |
| Burnhamville Township | Todd | $1,625 | Spray ivy |
| Carlton SWCD | Carlton | $5,000 | Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA), partners, and local citizens tackle invasives |
| Cedar Mills Township | Meeker | $5,000 | 2022 ditch spraying |
| Chisago SWCD | Chisago | $5,000 | CWMA program enhancement for wild parsnip control |
| City of Fertile | Polk | $4,636 | Fertile Sand Hills buckthorn control |
| City of Isle | Mille Lacs | $2,500 | Noxious weed plants |
| City of New Brighton | Ramsey | $5,000 | Creekview Park buckthorn removal |
| City of Winona | Winona | $5,000 | Sugar Loaf Oriental bittersweet control |
| Kandiyohi SWCD | Kandiyohi | $5,000 | Weed grant |
| Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe | $5,000 | Controlling Bakaan ingoji ga-ondaadag (non-local beings) on the Leech Lake Reservation | |
| May Township | Cass | $5,000 | Noxious weed removal 2022 |
| Mille Lacs SWCD | Mille Lacs | $1,000 | Targeted eradication and control 2022 |
| Norman SWCD | Norman | $5,000 | 2022 noxious weed and invasive plant inventory, treatment, and education |
| Pennington SWCD | Pennington | $1,100 | Tools for Pennington buckthorn removal |
| Sumner Township | Fillmore | $5,000 | Project wipeout: ending the wild parsnip pandemic |
| Traverse County | Traverse | $3,600 | Weed control |
| Traverse SWCD | Traverse | $4,280 | Poison hemlock eradication project |
| Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization | Ramsey | $5,000 | City hall wooded wetland restoration |
| Wabasha SWCD | Wabasha | $5,000 | Management of common tansy and poison hemlock |
| West Otter Tail SWCD | Otter Tail | $5,000 | Road right-of-way noxious weed control |
| Wiscoy Township | Winona | $5,000 | Invasive species sprayer |
| Workman Township | Aitkin | $1,900 | Noxious weed reduction |