Putting the Local Into Locally-led Conservation
Lava SWCD Farmer Tackles
Russian Knapweed
One of the passions of New Mexico's soil and water
conservation districts is the control of noxious weeds.
And, control of Russian knapweed is a particular
passion for Alfred Saavedra of the Lava Soil & Water
Conservation District.
Russian knapweed is a deep-rooted long lived
perennial. It forms dense colonies in cultivated fields,
orchards, pastures, and roadsides - and some stands
have existed for 75 years. It has been a particular
problem for the San Rafael area, so when the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) approached the Lava
Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) about
taking action all ears perked up.
Andy Iskra, with BLM, had expertise in noxious weed
control and was seeking to gain the Lava SWCD's
help when he contacted the SWCD board. BLM was
making an effort to control noxious weeds on the
BLM land, but would only have their tracts re-infested
if there was not also action on the privately owned
tracts in the area.
BLM came to the right place. Soil and water
conservation districts are the locally control entities
that represent their neighboring private landowners.
Alfred Saavedra was one of the private landowners
who had a problem with Russian knapweed. It
infested his alfalfa fields - so he took action and
secured a private applicator's license so he could treat
his land while BLM anted into the project a surplus
four-wheeler with a tank.
As happens in so many cases, when the neighbors
saw what Saavedra was doing they sought to have
this noxious weed tackled on their property too. And,
Saavedra pursued his growing interest in the Lava
Soil & Water Conservation District by running for and
winning a seat on their Board of Supervisors. So the
noxious weeds of the Lava Soil & Water Conservation
District not only had a program to control them, they
had created a champion who would lead the way on
many conservation issues.
The noxious weed programs of the soil and water
conservation districts are a great complement to
the conservation work of the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS and the soil
and water conservation districts work hand-in-hand in
a partnership that builds on each of their strengths, and
brings more and better conservation to the land.
For more information about the Lava Soil & Water
Conservation District's noxious weed success story
contact Cynthia Spidle at (505)287-4045.

Story courtesy of Barbara Garrett, NRCS