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EAST GULL LAKE -- A new weed was added to Cass County's noxious weed list.

Tuesday, July 16, the Cass County Board voted to add Tall Buttercup to its noxious weeds list. This was in response to a request from a Moose Lake Township official, who reported the plant is spreading into hay grasslands and choking out the grass in that township.

This will give Moose Lake and private landowners the option to apply for Cass Soil and Water Conservation District funding to help eradicate it in that area of the county.

Minnesota statutes give counties the authority to create a noxious weeds list for their county.

Thirty years ago, Cass County employed a countywide weed inspector, whose job it was to respond whenever weeds on the list were reported by a township or private landowner.

Over 15 years ago, the county board decided different weeds were more problematic in one part of the county than another, so delegated weed control to townships. One weed might be a bigger problem in one part of the county than another.

There always has been a master county list. It includes weeds mandated for control by the state and weeds specifically a problem in Cass County. Cass also delegated the decision on which weeds recommended for control to the Cass Soil and Water Conservation District.

SWCD has the ability to obtain matching funds to help public or private landowners obtain money to eradicate noxious weeds.

Cass County's noxious weed list already includes yellow hawkweed, purple loosestrife, glossy buckthorn, hoary alyssum, orange hawkweed, tansy, absinthe wormwood, spotted knapweed, wild parsnip, garlic mustard, leafy spurge and oxeye daisy.

The only noxious weed spraying the county contracts to have done is on its own roadside ditches or on tax-forfeited properties that the land department manages. Private landowners need to go through their township and SWCD to obtain assistance.

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