Weeds are a constant battle for many landowners but a new program is looking to help battle noxious weeds in Montana.
Montana State Representative Kelly Flynn (R-Townsend) has become increasingly concerned about the state of Montana s lands over the past decade.
"And I watched what was happening to habitat, public and private habitat, and watching how it was going away because of noxious weeds taking over and basically degrading a lot of that habitat," Rep. Flynn said.
So, Flynn — through legislation — created the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP), which allows landowners to apply for a matching grant to control weeds, improve habitat and benefit wildlife.
"The Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program is really intended for a landscape scale effort to control weeds and restore wildlife habitat across multiple ownerships; private, state, federal," said Rick Northrup with Montana Fish, wildlife and Parks.
The WHIP grant program managed by FWP will focus on long term solutions to controlling weeds and restoring lands.
"The intent of this program is to give a group of landowners five years, up to five years, to manage their weeds and really get on top of it in a way they may haven t been able to in the past," Northrup said. "And so it really is intended to improve things for the long term."
Applications for the new program will be accepted this fall.
