NM management areas battle noxious, costly weeds

Rio Arriba County rancher Delfin Quintana remembers buying hay for his cattle several years ago. It wasn't long before the 80-year-old realized he got more than he had bargained for with those bundles. Noxious weeds started popping up on the range where his family has ranched for more than a century. "That's where it all started. Then the seeds spread and you're dispersing it when you're putting (the hay) out for the cattle," Quintana said. "The problem, it's bad. ... The weeds are very dominant and aggressive. They take over other plants." Soil and water conservation districts have teamed up with federal, state and local land management agencies to create noxious weed management areas throughout New Mexico. Currently, 14 cooperative weed management areas have been created in 17 counties. Management areas are sprouting as quickly as the weeds they're working to battle. Three years ago, the state had only four noxious weed management areas. By the end of this summer, the number will increase to around 17, said Jim Wanstall, Los Lunas-based state noxious weed coordinator for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture...AP