Helicopter completes mapping of invasive weeds

A helicopter mapping invasive weed and tree species on the Republican River heads for the river south of McCook. (SWRC&D/Courtesy photo)

CAMBRIDGE -- A Texas helicopter mapping company completed mapping invasive plants on the Republican River and its main tributaries Aug. 24. 

NorthStar Aero out of Jasper, Texas, flew the length of the Southwest Weed Management Area river project in approximately 12 hours, said RC&D executive administrator Jennifer Rittenhouse-ten Bensel of Cambridge. 

NorthStar officials marked with GPS/GIS technology areas of saltcedar, Russian olive, red cedar and phragmites, which will be treated this fall.

Funding for this project is made possible through a grant that SWWMA received from the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.  

LB701 provided the State of Nebraska with $2 million for invasive species removal along rivers in the state, Rittenhouse-ten Bensel said.  SWWMA is one of two weed management areas working along the Republican River.  

The Republican River Project will be completed in two phases, Rittenhouse-ten Bensel said. Fiscal year one will remove invasive species from the stream bed of the river, and year two will move into the riparian area of the river. The total of the grant for two years is $1.2 million.

For more information about this project, contact the weed authority agency or Southwest Nebraska RC&D at (308) 697-3477.