Colorado Noxious Weed Act
Did you know that Colorado has an entire law about noxious weeds and their management?
The law is called the "Colorado Noxious Weed Act". The first noxious weed legislation was passed in 1990. The present bill was passed in 2003.
Why does Colorado have a Noxious Weed Act?
According to the act itself, "Noxious weeds are a threat to Colorado’s natural resources. Thousands of acres of cropland, rangeland, wildlife habitat and native plant communities are being destroyed by noxious weeds each year."
Colorado State Law states,
“It is the duty of ALL persons to use integrated methods to manage noxious weeds if the same are likely to be materially damaging to the land of neighboring landowners.”
Noxious Weed Lists
Noxious Weeds in Colorado are categorized into one of the following “Lists” according to their statewide distribution and need for management.
- "List A" species are rare and are subject to ERADICATION wherever detected statewide in order to protect neighboring lands and the state as a whole.
- "List B" species have discrete statewide distributions that are subject to ERADICATION, CONTAINMENT, OR SUPPRESSION in portions of the state designated by the commissioner in order to stop the continued spread of these species.
- List "C" species are widespread and well-established noxious weeds for which CONTROL IS RECOMMENDED but not required by the state, although local governing bodies may require management.