Teton County Weed & Pest: Guardians of the Ecosystem

Help us celebrate PlayCleanGo Week this year from June 7–14!PlayCleanGo is a national campaign dedicated to protecting our wild lands from the spread of invasive species. It encourages outdoor recreationists to reduce the spread of dirt, seeds, and burs from noxious weeds during regular outdoor activities. The PlayCleanGo campaign works tirelessly to advocate for North America’s lands and waters by empowering people to take simple, proactive steps—like thoroughly cleaning mud and debris from gear, clothing, shoes, tires, and pets before and after outdoor adventures. Looking for inspiration on how you can protect public lands this summer? Follow us on social media throughout the week as we partner with conservation agencies across the country to share the top ways to #PlayCleanGo in our regions. When we commit to making small changes in how we prepare for and leave activities on public lands, we can make a big impact—preserving our parks, forests, rivers, lakes, and waterways for future generations to enjoy.

The 2025 Tick Blitz, held in Teton County on May 16–17, yielded impressive results! Our team was thrilled to work alongside dedicated community citizen scientists who volunteered their time to help advance our understanding of tick phenology and abundance locally. Check out the results from our two-day sprint to collect as many ticks as possible within 48 hours!

West Nile Virus is the major mosquito-borne disease in the state of Wyoming. One element of our District's Integrated Mosquito Management Plan (IMM) is the use of adulticides for the control of adult mosquitoes. Currently, there are limited modes of action available for their use as adulticides. This has resulted in an alarming degree of insecticide resistance in mosquitoes, particularly in vector species such as Culex tarsalis. Explore how abundance of West Nile Virus has exploded in recent years, the results of our field cage trials with Valent Biosciences and evidence of the resistant populations in Teton County, how resistance develops in mosquitoes, the types of resistance, and how our team prevents, detects, and manages resistance once found.

For this Weed of the Month, we’re calling out the black sheep of the cinquefoil family: the sulfur cinquefoil. Though there are desirable native cinquefoil species, the sulfur cinquefoil is a tenacious invader—it can push out native plants and even other invasive species! Luckily, we’ll help you come out on top.