In a normal year, Summit County employs five full-time seasonal workers to eradicate invasive plants like garlic mustard and educate residents about how to spot noxious weeds and why doing so is important.
But just like employers across seemingly all sectors, the county is short-staffed. Just one person is on that job right now.
Summit County council member Malena Stevens said that means less enforcement than in a usual year as the focus is on removing weeds.
“There was mostly focus this year on just getting rid of some of the weeds," Stevens said. "There was also some public outreach and volunteer opportunities for some of the garlic mustard and there was a fairly substantial turnout for that. Believe that with public health there was about 12,000 pounds of garlic weed that was pulled. So it's definitely something that the county cannot do single handedly something that we need the public to assist with.”
Stevens said several apps have been helpful in allowing people to show the county what noxious weeds they encounter and where they’re located.
Noxious weeds vary in their effect on landscapes and ecosystems. Generally, they can invade and choke out native and more delicate plants, and also pose risks during fires.
“Incidence of noxious weeds actually will create a more intense burn; if there is a fire those two go together with fire mitigation weeds noxious weeds also follow fire and after there's a fire they'll come in and kind of take over," she said.
The county maintains lists of which weeds are most troublesome in which neighborhoods. The list includes input from the state as well.
Find a link to a plant list and contact information for weed superintendent Dave Bingham and weed enforcement officer Dan Pena here.