About Us

About our CWMA

Who we are & what we do

The Summit CWMA

Facilitating collaborative land management

The mission of Summit Cooperative Weed Management Area is to facilitate collaboration, coordination, and education regarding the identification and control of noxious weeds, integrated weed management procedures and restoration of ecosystem health.

Education and Outreach

An informed public is a powerful force. With the rate at which noxious weeds are spreading, we need the support and help of the community to protect our natural and agricultural lands. Through training, outreach materials and volunteer events, we aim to empower our residents and landowners.

Strategic Noxious Weed Control

We rely on an integrated weed management approach that matches the most effective method for the noxious weed, site and situation. Not one method is the right choice every time. It takes careful assessment of each situation to choose the control method that will provide the most benefit with the least unintended impacts.

Ecological Restoration and Enhancement

While control and removal are important early steps in noxious weed control, restoration is equally important for establishing healthy ecosystems that can be more resistant to reinvasion and resilient to disturbances. As we reclaim land from noxious weeds, we jumpstart recovery of native plants through soil amendments, seeding and planting.

Where We Work

Our primary work is within and adjacent to Summit County Utah, however, we recognize that noxious weeds know no borders. As a cross jurisdictional partnership, we remain open to projects beyond our current project boundaries when new partnerships and project areas will expand our capacity to make meaningful impact on noxious weeds and enhance habitat quality.

Objectives

Working together to help our community

Summit CWMA is a partnership consisting of government organizations, non-profits, private businesses, and private citizens who work to improve cross jurisdictional collaboration, facilitate acquisition of funding to support noxious weed management and ecosystem restoration and implement noxious weed control using the most current science. The organization strives to be a resource for our local community.

Strategic Plans

Maintaining strategic noxious weed control and land restoration plans based on integrated weed management practices and other relevant science.

Reducing impact

Supporting land use actions that improve natural resource health, wildlife habitat, water quality, agriculture, and human health while also controlling noxious weeds.

Grant Resources

Seeking grant sources to support noxious weed control and noxious weed impacted lands restoration plans and outreach initiatives.

Collaboration

Promoting coordination of programs and resources to optimize impact while minimizing the duplication of efforts. We improve the capacity of each partner when we work together toward a shared goal.

Habitat Restoration

Improving habitat restoration strategies throughout and adjacent to Summit County, Utah, by incorporating research, partnerships, land management practices and monitoring into projects to produce effective, repeatable results.

Education/Outreach

Harnessing the power of our community by educating and incentivizing participation.

How We Work

Working with volunteers and contractors to achieve our goals

The Summit CWMA consists of and is run by land managers, biologists, ecologists and environmentalists including representatives of government agencies, local private business and concerned citizens. The Summit CWMA is effective because of partner collaboration. Not one partner alone has the resources necessary to control noxious weeds with an ecosystem health-based approach, region-wide. Our organization does not have a budget to support staff; rather our work is achieved through leveraging partner resources, grants and sponsors. On the ground work is achieved by hiring professional contractors and engaging concerned citizens in volunteer efforts. All herbicide application is accomplished by contracting local, licensed, commercial pesticide applicators.

We are funded annually by Invasive Species Mitigation grants through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and, when available, additional grants. Our funding supports the primary efforts of mapping, monitoring, and controlling noxious weeds, as well as, ecosystem restoration and community outreach. Each of our funding sources have clear reporting expectations and direction as to how funds can be used. This ensures these valuable funds are effectively used to meet the goals of the organization and the funders.