Montana knapweed researcher sees work paying off
Montana knapweed researcher sees work paying off. By Perry Backus. Missoulian.
Aside from cheatgrass, the spread of the knapweeds: spotted knapweed, diffuse knapweed, Russian knapweed, and yellow starthistle, is probably the biggest exotic noxious plant problem in the West.
Like cheatgrass, its adverse effects are often unappreciated by the casual observer of wildlife or those into single cause explanations of wildlife population sizes.
So this is good news except that noxious annual cheatgrass often replaces the dying knapweed because the seeds of native perennial plants have decayed away.
Image of spotted knapweed.

Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He has been a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and also its President. For many years he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
4 Responses to Montana knapweed researcher sees work paying off
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Recent Posts
- “Stick to the Facts”–How Green Groups Fail to Protect the Gallatin Range May 23, 2022
- Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court May 19, 2022
- BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review May 17, 2022
- Conservation Groups Threaten To Sue On East Paradise Grazing Decision May 12, 2022
- Gratitude for National Parks May 11, 2022
Recent Comments
- Ida Lupine on “Stick to the Facts”–How Green Groups Fail to Protect the Gallatin Range
- Ida Lupine on “Stick to the Facts”–How Green Groups Fail to Protect the Gallatin Range
- Nancy Ostlie on “Stick to the Facts”–How Green Groups Fail to Protect the Gallatin Range
- Jannett Heckert on Conservation Groups Threaten To Sue On East Paradise Grazing Decision
- Rich on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Jannett Heckert on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- rastadoggie on Gratitude for National Parks
- rastadoggie on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Megan on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Ida Lupine on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Ida Lupine on Bi State Sage Grouse Reinstated As Proposed Threatened By Court
- Robert Raven on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Martha S. Bibb on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Maggie Frazier on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
- Ida Lupine on BLM Fails To Protect Public Patrimony Through Renewal of Grazing Privileges Without Environmental Review
Ralph- You’re right on with your comment about cheat replacing knapweed. That’s exactly what I’ve seen on our ground. One of the biggest problems with restoring these areas is having enough native seed sources around to prevent cheat or crested wheat from filling the gap after the knapweed is removed.
A business that grows native plant seeds would be a great opportunity. The demand grows each year.
It would also be a new kind of agricultural business opportunity for rural areas.
I am seeing spotted knapweed more often in Valley County and I worry that it will return with a vengeance to my place where I have diligently pulled it over the years. I hope that we can avoid a massive infestation of it here with these kinds of biological controls. I am very worried about the back country now that everything has burned. I don’t want it to end up like the Selway has. Fortunately we don’t have large infestations of cheat grass this high and many areas still have mostly native plants but that could change with the climate and the fact that the fires have disturbed the soils giving knapweed a good clean slate to start from. At least this is on the radar of some people and work is being done. In places that I have seen knapweed in the past and reported it there has been some action to remove it and it has been successful.
Biologicals aren’t having a lot of luck — in the Payette N.F. anyway — seems that the winters up there are pretty rough on the bugs. Down in Hell’s Canyon they are doing a lot better — not as much cold in the winter.
The best approach that we have come up with lately for really controlling Knapweed is waiting until it flowers in the fall, then “beheading” it manually and spraying the remaining plants with Tordon. Next year — no knapweed!! Of course it’s pretty rough to do with a large infestation but it works really well on small ones. The flowers need to be burned because the seeds inside are probably already viable.
Layton