To: Board of Supervisors
From: Agricultural Commissioner
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
SUBJECT:
title
Approval of Cooperative Agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA, Known as the 2023 Noxious Weed Grant Program with the California Department of Food and Agriculture in the Amount of $42,421.00 (4/5th Vote Required)
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve Cooperative Agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA, known as the 2023 Noxious Weed Grant Program with the California Department of Food and Agriculture;
2. Authorize the Chair to sign the original agreement, then return the signed original to the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office for further processing;
3. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15304/Class 4 and 15308/Class 8; and
4. Grant a waiver from the provisions of the Nuclear Free Ordinance (4/5th vote required).
Body
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Agricultural Commissioner 1100-261-525033
DISCUSSION:
In January 2020, CDFA began offering weed control funding to County Agricultural Commissioners through a weed grant program made possible through the Governor’s Biodiversity Noxious Weed Management Initiative. The 2023 Noxious Weed Grant Program (NWGP) continues CDFA’s support of cooperative and comprehensive efforts to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive weed species. Cooperative Agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA provides funding to Humboldt County to continue weed control projects begun during the first year of the grant program in 2020. The agreement provides $42,421.00 to Humboldt County for work performed from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025. The NWGP supports ongoing invasive weed control projects that result in permanent and measurable work mapping, planning, and reducing populations of invasive weeds. Approval of this agreement will provide funding to perform the following weed control projects:
Knotweeds and Shiny Geranium: Three species of invasive knotweeds have become established in Humboldt County (Japanese Knotweed, Reynoutria japonica, Giant Knotweed, Reynoutria sachalinensis, and Himalayan Knotweed, Polygonum polystachyum). Knotweeds are invasive weeds native to Asia and arrived in North America in the 19th century as an ornamental plant. Unchecked, knotweeds can spread very quickly and form dense colonies that out-compete native vegetation by blocking sunlight and robbing nutrients and water from the soil. Knotweeds pose the greatest threat to riparian areas where they spread and significantly impact waterways in a variety of ways. Knotweeds in river systems can eventually impede water flow, displace streamside vegetation and lead to increased risk of flooding. Knotweeds can also cause damage to man-made structures such as bridge abutments, roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and building foundations. In 2015, the Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) sponsored the North Coast Knotweed Eradication Project which was approved by the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) and funded through their Habitat Restoration Grant Program. Under the project, RCAA, the agriculture department and other members of the Humboldt County Weed Management Group worked cooperatively to treat knotweed populations that occur in Humboldt County. In 2023, the agriculture department will continue working with RCAA on the Knotweed Eradication Project. Cooperative Agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA will include 17 identified populations of knotweed to be treated by RCAA. The agriculture department will treat 5 sites where knotweed infestations occur on county property. At most sites, infestations are limited in size to a few plants and occur in the public right-of-way adjacent to county roads. As there is no proven effective alternative vegetation management, knotweeds will continue to be treated with applications of Arsenal (Imazapyr, U.S. EPA Registration No. 241-346) applied directly to knotweed plants during the late summer when seasonal senescence of vegetation increases translocation of herbicide to the roots and treatment efficacy is increased as a result. Applications of herbicide made to sites by agriculture department staff will be done following the terrestrial weed control program best management practices. Agriculture department staff who are responsible for pesticide applications are licensed in pesticide regulation by CDFA and considered trained for the purposes performing regulatory weed control applications. Post treatment, all sites will be surveyed to assess treatment effectiveness and to identify any new or previously undiscovered knotweed locations.
Shiny Geranium, Geranium lucidum, is a low-growing annual ornamental of Eurasian origin that has escaped from gardens into wildlands. Shiny Geranium is of limited distribution in Humboldt County (5 total documented sites, 2 of which occur in county rights-of-way). Agriculture department efforts to control Shiny Geranium will focus on populations that occur in county rights-of-way using manual methods including hand removal and mulching.
Tansy Ragwort: Tansy Ragwort, Jacobaea vulgaris, is an invasive biennial weed native to Europe
which is locally common in widely scattered locations around Humboldt County. Tansy can be toxic to livestock if ingested and will cause illness and death. Tansy is commonly found in pastures and along roads and trails. The largest populations of Tansy occur in the Bear River Valley, an area important to the livestock industry. Another smaller population of concern occurs on Woodley Island in Humboldt Bay. The agriculture department has sought to establish self-sustaining populations of two biological control organisms which feed exclusively on Tansy. These two species from different insect families (Tansy Flea Beetle, Longitarsus jacobaeae, and Cinnabar Moth, Tyria jacobaeae) feed on different plant parts which reduces and prevents growth, development, and reproduction of Tansy plants. Both insect species have been widely used in the western United States for decades to control Tansy and are already present in isolated populations in Humboldt County. Agriculture department staff will make collections from self-sustaining populations in Del Norte County for release in Humboldt with the goal of reducing populations below economic levels using bio-control insects. Success collecting Tansy biocontrol flea-beetles is highly dependent upon weather conditions during the growing season with best conditions occurring after the first late summer or early fall rains.
Spotted Knapweed: Spotted Knapweed, Centaurea maculosa, is a European invasive that threatens wildlife habitat, pastures, and grasslands. Spotted Knapweed is a CDFA “A” rated noxious weed. The agriculture department has identified widely dispersed populations of Spotted Knapweed along an approximately 4.5-mile stretch of the Mad River beginning 3 miles upstream of the Mad River Fish Hatchery and continuing downstream to Blue Lake. Each year agriculture department staff survey the Mad River downstream from the original infestation removing Knapweed and other invasive weed species. Manually removed weeds will be bagged and heat treated prior to disposal.
Reporting: The agriculture department will submit a first progress report to CDFA on Sept. 15
including visual representations of the project’s progress. Final project reports to CDFA are required 30 days after completion and no later than July 31, 2025.
Environmental: Approval of the agreement is not a project for purposes of the California
Environmental Quality Act pursuant to section 15304 of the CEQA Guidelines, Minor Alterations to land, because the invasive plant removal activities include minor public and private alterations to land which do not include the removal of mature, healthy trees. In addition, the activities are not a project for purposes of CEQA pursuant to section 15308 of CEQA Guidelines, because the agreement involves restoration, enhancement, and protection of the environment by a regulatory agency pursuant to state and local ordinances. Furthermore, none of the exemptions set forth in CEQA Guideline 15300.2 apply to the proposed project.
The waiver from the provisions of the Nuclear-Free Ordinance is requested because the State of California will not modify its cooperative agreements to accommodate local ordinances. This agreement is before your Board after the start date due to delays in contract development.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
|
Expenditures (1100, 261) |
FY23-24 Adopted |
FY24-25 Projected |
FY25-26 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$21,000 |
$21,421 |
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$21,000 |
$21,421 |
|
|
Funding Sources (1100, 261) |
FY23-24 Adopted |
FY24-25 Projected* |
FY25-26 Projected* |
|
State/Federal Funds |
$21,000 |
$21,421 |
|
|
Total Funding Sources |
$21,000 |
$21,421 |
|
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
Narrative Explanation of Financial Impact:
Cooperative Agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA provides $42,421 in funding for invasive weed control projects approved under the agreement from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025. There is no net cost to Humboldt County for projects approved under the agreement. All costs associated with the NWGP are billed to CDFA on a quarterly basis and payment is made in arrears to Humboldt County and received by the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office (budget unit 1100-261). Revenue and expenditure accounts to support department activities supported by the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 NWGP were budgeted in the amount of $21,000. The remaining $21,421 is anticipated for FY 2024-25 and will be included in the annual budget cycle.
STAFFING IMPACT:
There is no staffing impact as noxious weed control is part of existing staff duties.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:
This action supports the following areas of your Board’s Strategic Framework.
Core Roles: Enforce laws and regulations to protect residents
New Initiatives: N/A
Strategic Plan: N/A
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
CDFA
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Your Board could choose not to approve cooperative agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA. However, that is not recommended as it funds noxious weed eradication efforts in the county.
ATTACHMENTS:
One complete Cooperative Agreement No. 23-0282-000-SA
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Board Order No.: D-1
Meeting of: 6-22-2021
File No.: 21-747