New resources are available to help local agencies identify and report harmful weeds and insects. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has created a 74-page guide that illustrates Minnesota’s noxious weeds and their safe look-alikes. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has also created guidelines and an app to help identify and report harmful plants and pests.
MnDOT’s noxious weed guide describes more than 60 species, in these categories:
- Prohibited: eradicate
- Prohibited: control
- Restricted noxious weeds
- Specially regulated plants
- Nonnative plants (provided for comparison)
- Minnesota nonnative plants (provided for comparison)
For each species, the guide provides color photos and instructions for identification and management.
The agriculture department’s “Arrest the Pest” guidelines and app make it easy to report a pest. Follow these three steps:
- Take pictures of the pest or disease and the immediate area on which it was found, and take notes of the surroundings.
- Capture the insect, if possible, or take a sample of the plant.
- Report findings to Arrest the Pest using any of the following methods:
- E-mail photos to arrest.the.pest@state.mn.us.
- Use the new user-friendly smartphone/tablet app: download the free Great Lakes Early Detection Network (GLEDN) app from the Google Play Store or the Apple AppStore.
- Call Arrest the Pest at 1-888-545-6684 and leave a detailed message. Voicemail will be forwarded to the agency in charge of that pest.
More Resources:
- Minnesota Noxious Weeds (MnDOT, Feb. 2017, 8.9 MB PDF)
- Arrest the Pest
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture Noxious Weeds