Roadside Spraying In Wright County

Press release from the Wright County Government:

April 22, 2021

Beginning on May 24, 2021 the Wright County Highway Department, as part of its vegetation management program, will be scheduling some roadside vegetation work along all Wright County highways. The unwanted brush and noxious weeds will be cut and/or treated with herbicide. This notice is to inform all property owners who have property abutting county highways of the work that is scheduled and their right to use alternative methods.

Our goal is to eliminate the brush and noxious weeds and promote grass cover along the roadside. Brush along the road reduces driving visibility, obstructs road signs and reduces driver reaction time to crossing wildlife. Brush presents maintenance problems by retaining water along the roadbed, obstructing ditches and damaging equipment.

To meet these goals, we use selective herbicides that control the brush and noxious weeds but allow the grasses to grow, unharmed. All herbicides we use have been fully tested and are approved for use by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

During the spraying operation, we’ll take care to avoid sensitive areas adjacent to the right-of-way such as tree plantations, ornamental plantings, crops, gardens, front yards, lakes and streams.

If you would like to maintain the right-of-way adjacent to your land in some other fashion, such as mowing, please follow these instructions:

• Prior to May 21, 2021 you can stop at the Wright County Highway Department Building at 3600 Braddock Ave Ne, Buffalo MN 55313 or email loren.green@co.wright.mn.us to receive a NO SPRAY form. All forms need to be submitted before May 21, 2021.
• Post, on your property, the “DO NOT SPRAY” signs that you will be given.
• Remove the brush and/or noxious weed plants (such as thistles, wide parsnip, and leafy spurge) within that site by June 07, 2021 and continue to maintain it. If the brush and/or noxious weeds are not removed, then we must treat the area as part of our vegetation management program.

If you have any questions, please call the Wright County Highway Department at (763) 682-7383.

This press release was produced by the Wright County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.