Noxious Weed Grants and Financial Assistance

In 1997, the Colorado Legislature established the Colorado Noxious Weed Management Fund to provide additional financial resources for on-the-ground noxious weed management. Organized private interests, conservation districts, municipalities, and counties have been eligible to apply for assistance provided that awarded funds are used to enhance weed management efforts within the State of Colorado. Over the initial five years that the Fund was supported by the General Assembly, the Colorado Department of Agriculture disbursed $1,255,000 for noxious weed management, education, and mapping.

From 2008 to 2014, the Fund was supported by CDA’s Agriculture Management Fund, which contributed about $1 million to support local noxious weed management projects. Since 2015, the Fund has benefitted from a $700,000 annual appropriation from the General Assembly. On average, every dollar of the State's investment has been matched by more than five dollars of private, local, other state, and federal resources. Awards are made on a competitive basis as recommended by a committee of individuals representing the perspectives and experiences of professionals and academic researchers in weed science; state noxious weed managers; Colorado government officials; public natural resource managers; and representatives from agriculture, local weed programs, and environmental interests.

Additionally, the Noxious Weed Program continues to administer federal noxious weed management funds from the U.S. Forest Service’s State and Private Forestry program. These funds are devoted to managing noxious weeds on private lands in the vicinity of National Forests and Grasslands in order to prevent the spread of noxious weeds onto federal lands.