Overview

To ensure our program is effective and proactive the County employs one (1) Environmental Services Supervisor and four (4) Vegetation Management Technicians. Our Vegetation Management Technicians inspect for noxious and prohibited noxious weeds and record their locations in our weed database, they then work with the landowner to help find the best possible solution for eradicating the weed. We record the locations in our database so we can continue to monitor the populations in following years to gauge the effectiveness of the strategies we implement for control.

The Director of Agricultural Services, Manager of Agricultural Services, Environmental Services Supervisor, Agricultural Technicians, and Vegetation Management Technicians are always available to our land owners to offer technical assistance, weed identification services and control program assistance to all landowners within the County of Newell. In cases where weed control is not being done by residents, enforcement under the Weed Control Act of Alberta must be undertaken by law.

Weed control is also implemented by ASB staff on roadsides and municipal owned properties. Weed control along County roadsides is a big priority due to the following reasons: 

• To allow clear site lines to signs and intersections and make sure wildlife crossing roadways are visible
• To reduce snow accumulation, promote road drainage and drying
• To facilitate snow removal
• To control noxious and prohibited noxious weeds which threaten agriculture

The objective of our roadside spraying program is to eliminate trees, shrubs, and weeds that create problems while leaving a thick growth of herbaceous vegetation to prevent erosion and enhance aesthetic appeal. Methods of weed control are biological control, mechanical control (mowing) and chemical spraying.

The Agricultural Service Board also implements many other weed control programs along the rivers and public lands within the County, within our urban centers and along the CPR tracks.

If you have any questions or think you may have come across a noxious weed, please feel free to contact us at 403-794-2293 or by email hokc@newellmail.ca, we are always happy to lend our assistance.