Important note to landowners: With many thanks to the Alabama Forestry Commission, the US Forest Service, and Governor Bentley we can officially announce the project will continue until the end of August 2012.
We have begun spraying along the eastern side of the state and are opening up more sites for spraying each week. Our singular focus is to spray as much cogongrass as possible in the time remaining. Because the project will end in late August we will have a shortened spray season. Click on "Latest News" to the left to read more about this.
We have selected all properties to be sprayed with current funding. However, we will continue to document cogongrass on new properties and provide a list and map of cogongrass free of charge. All participants--regardless of the cogongrass being treated or not--will receive a map of the documented cogongrass that they can keep. This can be a very significant cost savings to you, even if we don't select you for spraying. This is because 50% or more of the entire cost of treating cogongrass is finding it. And having your cogongrass in the system allows us to pick up where we left off when more funding comes available. Having as much cogongrass documented gives the program leverage when trying to secure more funding.
Thanks to everyone who has made this program a great success so far! Want to know some of the recent statistics on what we've found? Click here.
If you would like your cogongrass mapped, click here. We cannot accept new landowners for treatment at this time, only for documentation.
To identify cogongrass, download the field identification guide here.
To control cogongrass, click here. This information is provided free of charge by the Alabama Forestry Commission.
To learn about the program and our success to date, click here. To download a map of the different strategies in this program, click here or here.
The latest news is on our blog, including some recent statistics on what we've completed to date.
Funding for this project was provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). USDA is working to implement provisions of the Recovery Act to put Americans back to work and rejuvenate the nation's economy. The Recovery Act provided USDA with nearly $28 billion in funding; of that, $1.15 billion has been allocated to the US Forest Service for project work in forest restoration, hazardous fuels reduction, construction and maintenance of facilities, trails and roads, green energy projects, and grants to States, tribes, and private landowners.
Through the Alabama Forestry Commission’s leadership, a $6.281 million grant was funded to 1) create jobs and 2) control, mitigate, and eradicate cogongrass—a federally listed noxious weed—in Alabama. Larson & McGowin, Inc. was selected to administer the project in September 2009 through May 2012.
Larson & McGowin, Inc. is a full-service forest management and consulting firm headquartered in Mobile, Alabama. The company was founded in 1957 and has branch offices in Greenville and Birmingham, Alabama as well as Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The firm has decades of experience providing property management services to small and large ownerships. Consulting and large scale project management experience includes forest inventory, appraisal, technical mapping, and analysis. Though focused on the southern United States, the firm has experience in other regions including U.S. Northeast, Pacific Northwest, Canada, Central America, and South America. Its subsidiary, Silvics Solutions, offers natural resource-focused software and information technology services.
Barrett McCall, RF/ACF and President of Larson & McGowin: “Alabama is a world leader in forest management as a result of decades of cooperative efforts between landowners, the Alabama Forestry Commission, and forestry professionals across the state. Tackling the complex management problems posed by invasive species such as cogongrass is important for us to continue this history of excellence. This grant gives us a much needed boost in these troubled economic times to get started. I am confident our forestry community is up to the challenge, and our team at Larson & McGowin very much appreciates the opportunity to be of service in the war on cogongrass.”
More information about this can be found on the Landowner page or with our General Information document. If you have any questions and would like to speak to one of the ACCC staff, please contact us.
