Every vehicle owner in the state of Montana pays $1.50 fee when licensing vehicles.  This amount is placed in the Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund for special county sponsored grant projects.  These funds can be utilized for education, control, prevention, research and/or management of Noxious Weeds or Invasive Species through public and/or private cooperative groups.

Yellowstone County currently has one special cooperative grant projects in place as  follows:

The Custer-Musselshell-Melstone Cooperative Weed Project encompasses 188,600 acres in Yellowstone and Musselshell Counties.  The major noxious weed concern in the project area is Dalmation Toadflax with about 15,000+ acres currently infested.  Spotted Knapweed is the secondary problem in the area with the majority of the infestation along the Musselshell River.  There are several other weed problems including Scotch Thistle, Houndstongue, Russian Knapweed, Canada Thistle and Saltcedar which are also being addressed.  The grant project provides 50% cost share for herbicide and 50% cost share for commercial application.  The initial stage of the grant is complete with 100% participation among landowners.  The project is also being considered for federal funding due to the nature of the problem.  There have been several wildfires in area as well as a large wildlife population that have contributed to weed spread in addition to other avenues.
 

- Yellowstone County will also be piloting an education program within the schools in 2001. 

- Realtor education will also be forefront in 2001 with a new Realtor education module piloting the state through the work of the MWCA Noxious Weed Awareness and Education committee.

- Yellowstone County Weed Department will become integrally involved with GPS mapping 2001-2002 to better assess existing and potential problem areas.