Our Mission:
To serve as responsible stewards of the land and resources in the State of Oregon by protecting and preserving all lands and resources in the tri-county area from the degrading impact of exotic, invasive noxious weeds.
Serving the local communities of Baker, Union, and Wallowa Counties since 1994
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Introduction:
During the early 1990s, land managers recognized that controlling noxious weeds at a landscape scale required a multi-jurisdictional level of cooperation. With that in mind, the local governments of Baker, Union, and Wallowa Counties, along with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, and Boise Cascade agreed to form a cooperative weed management area. In December of 1994, Tri-County CWMA was formed by an Intergovernmental Agreement under the legal authority of ORS 190.010. Since founded, Tri-County has grown from a single part-time position, to a group of full-time staff, managing over 35 different projects, covering nearly 8 million acres.
funding:
Tri-County receives no tax revenues, local or state. The primary source of funding is through Federal and State Assistance Agreements, which providing revenues for specific projects and staff time. Some of these agencies include, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). State grants, such as those from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and the Oregon State Weed Board (OSWB) and county contributions make up the remaining funding sources.
role in the local communities:
For more information about future projects,
contact us or attend one of our quarterly meetings!
For nearly 25 years, Tri-County has played an essential role in the local communities of Baker, Union, and Wallowa Counties. Most of Tri-County's projects are on federal lands and adjacent private lands, usually with a specific target weed species. Other projects, funded by the OSWB, OWEB, ODFW, and/or NRCS, are done on private lands in coordination with neighboring public lands. Tri-County hires local, licensed, commercial pesticide applicators to complete these projects. While Tri-County is not be able to fund projects on all private landowners, working with the county weed departments to provide landowner cost-share can help fill in the gaps. In addition to "on the ground" work, Tri-County also coordinates and participates in outreach events, including: Baker and Union County Outdoor Schools, County Fairs, FFA/4-H competitions, Union County Crop Tour, conference or university presentations, and developing/distribution NE Oregon Noxious Weed Booklets.
Current Projects
Click on the photo below to see what's happening in your area and how you can be involved
Union
County
Baker
County
Wallowa
County
Other
Areas
our team
Natural Resources Grants Manager:
Gavin Carman
Program Director:
Shanda Zettle
Shanda has worked at Tri-County since 2016, after graduating from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science in Rangeland Ecology & Management and Agricultural Science
Noxious Weed Technicians:
Tyler Miler and Gen Wintersteen
Tyler has been working as a seasonal technician for Tri-County since 2023 and Gen started his fisrt season June of 2024.
Gavin started with Tri-County in March of 2022. He comes from a Noxious Weed and Bio-control background after working many seasons for APHIS.
Announcements:
The Budget Committee Meeting will be held on December 5th at 10:00 am at 10507 N. McAlister rd. La Grande OR 97850.
The Budget Hearing will be held on Dec. 18th at 10:00 am via zoom.
Please contact shanda@tricountycwma for a meeting invitation and a copy of the 2025 budget in review.
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For County Cost Share information, please select the page for your county from our menu, and follow the link to each individual county website for more information.
