This week Lane County Commissioners decided to change how weeds and invasive species are managed on roadways. This shift ends a "last resort" policy on the use of herbicides.
Orin Schumacher is the Road Maintenance Manager for the County. He says since he began in 2005, the "last resort only" directive on herbicides hasn't worked.
Schumacher: "We didn't have a policy that gave us the tools to combat the problem. A lot of these weeds are distributed by seeds, and in turn when we go and mow them, we disturb and move those seeds down the corridors, the roadways."
Schumacher says before the last resort policy the county mostly used herbicides to combat weeds. After public outcry, it went to the extreme of using no chemicals in roadside vegetation management. Then came the complaints about seeds blowing into yards and agriculture areas.
Schumacher says the new policy allows limited and targeted spraying for noxious weed control, on guardrails, and for some tree removal.
Lane County maintains more than 14,000 miles of road spanning from Florence to the Cascade Mountains.
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