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. '>c: &J CQ "-l " <:>: @ " Russian kna.pweed has thistle-like flowers that are lav(~nder or white. i shallows are, in effect, nurseries. When those fill and the channel narrows, the current speeds up. "Without the nursery waters, " notes Wick, "the young squaw fish have no place to go. They get transported down- stream and end up in Lake Powell, where there's a real shortage of forage fish. "Young squawfish are very likely being picked off by the larger predatory game fish," he concludes. While wildlife enthusiasts battle the conspicuous threats to wildlife survival, exotic plant species go largely unno- ticed. Anyone can see brown air and recognize air pollution. People can see and smell polluted water. But exotic plants are green so they appear to be part of the natural environment. Exotics are, in fact, biotic pollution. Their effects on native wildlife are indi- vidually unfortunate, even sad. Taken collectively, exotic species, particularly plants, pose a severe threat to our native wildlife communities. We are not without recourse. Until 1990 Colorado law allowed weed dis- tricts to be established via a convoluted popular election process. Last year, the Colorado Legislature revised the weed law. "The old law is still in place," says George Beck, professor of weed science at Colorado State University. "It has not been repealed. Existing districts can continue to operate, but no new districts can be formed under the old law. " The old weed law was not successful, according to Beck. "We had less than 30 weed districts 14 '>c: &J CQ "-l " <:>: @ " Spotted knapweed bears single pink-purple flowers. statewide, and nine of them were in Weld County. We had no unified list of weeds to be controlled. "Under the new law, we have four species designated as noxious weeds statewide: leafy spurge plus Russian, diffuse and spotted knapweeds. "All counties and cities must form weed districts to deal with this issue, but a popular vote is no longer required. Also, any weed district can add species of their choosing to the list. " Beck was instrumental in devising the new weed law. And. though he didn't get all he hoped for,' he is pleased with many of its provisions. Basically, the weed law mandates that all landowners within a weed district implement some method of control for those plants designated as noxious weeds in the district. If a landowner fails to do so, the law stipulates an arbitration process through which com- pliance can be achieved. "This is a good-neighbor-policy type of weed law, " Beck says. "It tries to get people to pull together, get everyone headed in the same direction. "The most important thing about the new weed law is that it is oriented toward the intended land use of an area:' Individual attention to exotic plants can relieve some burden on our native plants and their dependent animal com- munities. A good first step is to realize exotic species constitute biotic pollution. As such, exotic species deserve as sin- cere attention as air and water pollution because biotic pollution presents us with many ethical questions and manage- ti LiJ CQ "-l " <:>: @ " Diffuse knapweed produces white or pur- ple flowers. ~, . ':'~-:;~?: f;~~r~. !:?~,'~'::., :.':......~'": ;;..r ;-"'{" ~'~z../ ~.. 4'" f \' ii}~~~\~i:~,i?~:;[.jJ~::j , . . ,If". \l " .-..' ,",'" ....". ;',iE)}:'~t:F:'f.~;~if:~J:'::~~; . -.,' -' ". ..... / " i " '''''''~'' }t'.f..~.:,;'.~r.,~i~il;~}<: - \~:.:~:;, ~'; -'it' ";''j''''. '>c: &J CQ "-l " <:>: @ " Leafy spurge grows in dense patches and spreads by underground stems as well as by seeds. ment dilemmas. Anyone can act on resolving biotic pollution by making better choices when buying plants for ornamental or wildlife habitat purposes. Rather than choosing exotics, select plants native to Colorado or adjoining states. Replace existing Russian olive trees with chokecherries, native hawthorns or plums or green ash. Landowners can practice good stewardship by mowing exotics repeat- edly then applying appropriate herbi- cides. The stressed plants succumb more completely. Any control should be fol- lowed by revegetating with native plants. Controlling exotic plants may seem expensive, but the cost of controlling exotics today is only the cost of not hav- ing controlled them all the years before now. We cannot worry about the cost of controlling exotics; we must worry about the costs of not controlling them. D Colorado Outdoors