Winneshiek County is hoping it can find funding for new roadside management software

Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management, as its named suggests, is an approach to weed control along roadsides which uses spot mowing, prescribed fire burns and spot spraying of herbicides rather than blanket-spraying in order to prevent undesirable weed species from taking over roadsides.  The approach goes beyond weed control to include erosion control, brush control and stormwater management.

Properly timed, these methods are effective, allowing healthy, deep-rooted native plants to outcompete with weeds.  But there's a lot to keep track of, especially in a county like Winneshiek County, with many miles of roads.

That's why the Winneshiek County Engineering Office is beginning to put together a grant application which would pay for new software which would track where spraying has been done--in order to prevent overlaps--and where other methods are being used.  The software, if purchased, would come with yearly updates which would allow Winneshiek County to track roadside management practices over many years.