We normally associate weeds with disturbed areas, including roadsides, fields and our lawns, but invasive species can also find their way into the backcountry—their seeds transported by humans, dogs, other animals and the wind. There, it takes a little ingenuity to fight them.
Since 2011, RMEF has funded efforts by the U.S. Forest Service to battle weed infestations in public backcountry areas on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests’ Sulphur Ranger District in north-central Colorado. This longstanding partnership matches RMEF funds with Colorado Parks and Wildlife Habitat Partnership Program dollars, which are allocated by a local committee to improve habitat where livestock and big game share the land.
Contracting with Wilderness Weeds, a company that packs herbicides and equipment by mule into hard-to-reach places, the partners have maintained persistent, selective spot spraying of infestations scattered across thousands of backcountry acres to help keep invasive weeds from getting a permanent foothold on the landscape.
In 2025, the work was expanded to include the Parks Ranger District and adjacent remote Bureau of Land Management lands that have never been treated. RMEF granted $12,000 to help knock back weeds at three sites located in the Sulphur and Parks ranger districts. To date, these efforts have tackled infestations of Canada and musk thistle, houndstongue, mullein, yellow toadflax and ox-eye daisy on 6,000 acres, improving habitat for elk, mule deer, moose, pronghorns, mountain lions, black bears and other wildlife across the Centennial State’s backcountry.