CDA: Applications Sought for Noxious Weed Grants to Mitigate Natural Disasters
BROOMFIELD, Colo. –The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is now accepting applications for 2019 Post-Natural Disaster grants for controlling and preventing noxious weeds resulting from these events. This year, the Department plans to award $50,000 in grant funds to local governing entities, conservation districts, non-profit organizations and associations for projects that focus on controlling new noxious weed populations that result from natural disasters such as fire and flood.
“Due to significant wildfire activity in the state last year, noxious weeds may be particularly troublesome on those newly disturbed lands. We want to get out in front of these disturbance-based flushes of noxious weeds so they don’t become established and become a long-term and very expensive problem for counties and municipalities,” said Steve Ryder, CDA’s State Weed Coordinator.
These funds are a subset of the $700,000 appropriated annually by the General Assembly for noxious weed management projects statewide. CDA awards these “Weed Fund” grants annually to over 50 counties, cities, conservation districts and non-profit organizations. Following the 2013 floods, a part of this funding has been directed specifically at noxious weed management following large or severe disturbances.
For more information about these grant programs, including the application forms, please visit the Department’s Noxious Weed website at: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agconservation/noxious-weed-grants-and-financial-assistance
Applications can be submitted starting March 1, 2019. Awards will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis until funds are exhausted.
For questions regarding the Post-Natural Disaster Noxious Weed grants, please contact the State Weed Coordinator, Steve Ryder at (303) 869-9034, steve.ryder@state.co.us, or List B Noxious Weed Specialist, Lara Duran at (303) 869-9036, lara.duran@state.co.us.