Summit Cooperative Weed Management Area

WHO ARE WE?

Summit Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) empowers the community to help control noxious weeds in Summit County and restore native habitat. We work with partners and government agencies controlling noxious weeds in local open space and trail systems. The work we, our partners and our volunteers do improves the environment for wildlife, natural resources, wetlands, and other sensitive natural lands. We use various methods to control noxious weeds in order to restore ecosystem biodiversity and resilience. 

WHY DO WE CARE?                                                                

More noxious weeds invade our state every year causing damage to our valuable natural lands, reducing wildlife habitat, clogging water ways, increasing fire risk and reducing the quality of recreational experiences. 

Controlling these weeds is an expensive and long-term challenge that takes a community to achieve. 

WHAT ARE THE MOST CONCERNING NOXIOUS WEEDS IN SUMMIT COUNTY

Garlic Mustard, Houndstongue, Myrtle Spurge, Spotted Knapweed, Yellow Starthistle

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?

One of the goals of the Summit CWMA is to reduce the need for herbicide use. Our volunteer weed removal programs mix learning, fun and prizes to reduce the number of acres we need to treat with herbicide annually. In 2024, partner and volunteer hand weeding resulted in over 300 backback sprayers worth of herbicide application from being needed to control noxious weeds.

Join in the fun by participating in one of our local volunteer programs: 

Garlic Mustard Games -  a county-wide program in which Summit County residents, trail users, and visitors compete to see who can pull the most garlic mustard over the course of the summer. Over 13,000 pounds of garlic mustard were in pulled 2024!

Noxious Weed Ambassador Program - Summit County residents just like you roll up their sleeves and pull noxious weeds on local trail systems to protect local natural lands. Ambassador Program volunteers removed just under 1,000 pounds of noxious weeds in 2024.

Hounds Against Houndstongue Events - an event that enlists our furry friends, their unparallelled capacity to collect houndstongue seeds and their best human friend to participate in a competition to collect the most seeds. In 2024, this event removed over 76,000 houndstongue seeds from the PC Hill Trailhead.