Evaluation of TEAM Leafy Spurge Project
Abstract
Leafy spurge ( Euphorbia esula L.) is an exotic, noxious, perennial weed which is widely established in the north central UnitedStates and is an especially serious problem in the northern Great Plains. In 1997, the Agricultural Research Service and Animaland Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, initiated a major Integrated Pest Management (IPM)research and demonstration project to develop and demonstrate ecologically based IPM strategies that can produce effective,affordable leafy spurge control. In 1998 and 1999, a survey of ranchers, local decision makers, and public land managers wasconducted to evaluate managerial, institutional, and social factors that might affect the rate and extent of implementation ofvarious control strategies. In 2001, a second survey of the same ranchers, local decision makers, and public land managers wasconducted to 1) assess any changes in land managers’ perceptions of weed problems, control alternatives, and related issues and2) evaluate the impact of The Ecological Area-wide Management (TEAM) Leafy Spurge (TLS) project on the respondents’ weedcontrol practices. Findings from the first survey identified a number of constraints limiting land managers’ ability to utilizeavailable control techniques to manage leafy spurge infestations. The TLS project used a variety of tools and communicationstrategies, such as presentations at local meetings, demonstration plots, and field days, to communicate and demonstrate weedcontrol strategies and address the impediments to leafy spurge control identified in the first survey. Findings from the secondsurvey indicated TLS efforts had effectively addressed many of the constraints to leafy spurge control previously reported bylandowners and land managers