About Us

What is the Utah County Coordinated Weed Education and Management Area?

With momentum building and a unified vision, local citizens, county, state, tribal and federal leaders began developing Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMA’s). The term CWMA refers to a local organization that shares the perspective of cooperative and integrated invasive weed management on a scale across all jurisdictional lines. Individual resources are combined to benefit entire communities. Neighbors, once critical of each other, roll up their sleeves and work, side-by-side, on the common problem of invasive weeds. Physical and social barriers fade away as partners discover new success in a mutually beneficial relationship of cooperation.

Cooperative weed management areas are not new concepts. State and County experts working with invasive weeds have helped private landowners for years. However, the scale of the problem was often confined to a particular land ownership instead of community, watershed or landscape basis.

For a variety of reasons one landowner often diligently combated invasive plant species while a neighbor did not; this exacerbated the problem. Varying levels of interest, knowledge, skills, resources and commitment were wasted while invasive plants continued to expand at an alarming rate.

It became apparent that a new approach was needed. Idaho’s Strategic Plan for Managing Noxious Weeds was developed. National leaders provided authority and funding to help combat invasive plants regardless of land ownership. Frustrated neighbors came together to share available resources. The phrase “pulling together” was coined nationally and neighbors began looking at the bigger picture with renewed hope and support. Welcome to Utah County’s Cooperative Weed Education and Management Area.