Herbicide approval: BLM approves active herbicide ingredients, including Indaziflam
On July 11, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the approval of seven active herbicide ingredients used to control noxious weeds and invasive species on public lands, including Aminocyclopyrachlor, Clethodim, Fluazifop-P-butyl, Flumioxazin, Imazamox, Indaziflam and Oryzalin.
This announcement is welcome news for the state of Wyoming and several industry organizations who, for a handful of years, have been pushing to utilize Indaziflam in the fight against noxious and invasive weeds on Wyoming rangelands and forests.
Following the record of decision in the July 12 Federal Register, Indaziflam and other approved herbicides can now be used by all state and federal agencies on public lands and field and district offices can now begin considering the use of these tools in their control strategies.
“One of BLM’s highest priorities is to promote ecosystem health, and one of the greatest obstacles to achieving this goal is the rapid expansion of noxious and invasive weeds,” says BLM Assistant Director of Resources and Planning Sharif Branham in the corresponding press release.
“Invasive annual grasses (IAGs) like cheatgrass and ventenata accelerate wildfire risk and outcompete native plants essential to maintaining healthy lands and waters. They are one of the greatest threats to important wildlife habitat for sage grouse and mule deer,” Branham continues.
The fight against IAGs
IAGs such as cheatgrass, medusahead and ventenata have plagued the Cowboy State for years, damaging Wyoming’s vast sagebrush steppe ecosystem and causing economic implications such as direct losses of forage quality and indirect losses of habitat, aesthetic value and the potential to delay oil and gas reclamation bond leases.
Gov. Mark Gordon and other individuals from across the state have spent large amounts of time, money and effort brainstorming ways to combat IAGs, which Gordon has deemed a “losing battle” on more than one occasion.
In June 2019, the Western Governors’ Association and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue efforts to “meaningfully address” the large-scale infestation of IAGs on Western landscapes.
In response, the University of Wyoming launched the Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE) in 2021.
The purpose of IMAGINE is to develop long-term strategies for large-scale IAG management through hands-on research, and since its launch in 2021, has conducted more than 12 research projects, 20-plus presentations and published multiple peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and USDA.
In 2022, IMAGINE partnered with David and Terri Kane of Sheridan to study ventenata control methods on their ranch, including the aerial application of Rejuvra, which has the active ingredient Indaziflam. They found the herbicide worked to mitigate the problem three out of the four years it was applied.
Other research across the West has shown the same effectiveness, including a recent study conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) on pastures owned by Banner County, Nebraska Rancher Jack Revelle.
“After one year of data collection post-treatment we saw over three times more biomass being produced in treated areas compared to the untreated areas. We also saw significant increases in important nutrient quality metrics, including crude protein and total digestible nutrients, along with increases in some micro and macro minerals in the treated areas,” said UNL Graduate Research Assistant Miranda Mueller.
Indaziflam has also been used by specific agencies, including the BLM, for years with similar success.
Welcome news in Wyoming
Because the governor and the state of Wyoming have been urging the approval of Indaziflam for years, the announcement was welcome news and comes just a month after Gordon released a statement criticizing the agency’s “sluggish approval process” and keeping “one of the most effective tools against the cancer on rangelands” out of the hands of people who need them most.
On July 11, Gordon published a statement saying, “Overall, the BLM’s approval is welcome news. Albeit it would have been even more welcome months ago as states and counties were planning a coordinated spraying program for the season.”
“Having additional tools to ensure a consistent, thorough and effective invasive plant eradication effort benefits Wyoming’s wildlife, fire prevention and habitat improvement programs,” he adds. “It is important to Wyoming’s fight against cheatgrass that federal land management agencies use consistent, proven methods which focus on the goal of landscape health foremost.”
With this approval, Indaziflam will be eligible for application on 18 million acres of BLM lands in the Cowboy State.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
