Teton County Weed & Pest: Guardians of the Ecosystem

"Our mission is to protect, manage, and restore ecosystem integrity through comprehensive invasive species and vector-borne disease management - for the benefit of both ecological and human health. While this may sound like a lofty goal, it’s one we pursue every day with dedication and purpose. At the District, delivering the highest level of service to Teton County isn’t just our mission - it’s what we do. In this report you’ll see the many ways our small but mighty team of nine full-time staff and sixteen employees works tirelessly to care for this community. Beyond our “regular responsibilities, we are also proud to have hosted the 81st Wyoming Weed & Pest Annual Conference in October, welcoming more than 150 friends and colleagues from across the state. We extend a special thanks to the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board and the Sustainable Business Leaders program for their generous support, which helped make this outstanding event possible. From integrated invasive species management and West Nile virus prevention, to coordinating with Working Dogs for Conservation in support of our longest-running program - the Snake River Project (est. 2001) - to launching our newest initiative, Tick Blitz, this report highlights the many ways TCWP is working for you. Our team is made up of passionate, driven individuals who care deeply about their neighbors and the ecosystems we all depend on. I’m proud to share their work with you and invite you to learn more, get involved, and discover how we can work together to make Jackson Hole healthier and more resilient today, tomorrow, and for generations to come." - Erika Edmiston, District Supervisor

Historically, the Teton County Weed and Pest Lab served primarily the vector surveillance side — the PEST side — of Weed & Pest. A vital component of any effective vector surveillance program is, of course, species identification (microscopy). At one point, that was the lab’s primary function. As my colleague Mikenna Smith, Entomologist at TCWP, likes to say, the lab was once “a closet with a microscope.” But over time, Mikenna transformed that closet into a functioning laboratory — evolving it to meet the growing needs of a modern vector surveillance program. This included adding qPCR-based pathogen testing and implementing a tick surveillance program.

Thank you to Mikenna Smith, Teton County Weed and Pest Entomologist, for her contributions to this article from her recent research presentation. Biocontrol and Mosquito Control: Are They at Odds? As an entomologist working in both biological control (biocontrol) of weeds and mosquito abatement, I often find myself in a unique position to explore how these two practices interact. When researching whether mosquito control affects weed biocontrol agents, I found surprisingly little direct research. However, there’s a lot of literature on how mosquito pesticides affect non-target insects in general. That’s what I’ve used to guide this discussion.

When ticks test negative for pathogens, how can we be sure the results aren’t compromised by degraded sample quality and technical errors? That question drove a recent project by our team to improve the diagnostic accuracy for tick-borne viruses—and it’s already making a difference for Teton County public health! Thank you to Kelsey Mitchell, Teton County Weed and Pest Biologist, and Mikenna Smith, Teton County Weed and Pest Entomologist, for conducting this research and in preparing this presentation that drives solutions for our community!