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MISC Hosts October Meeting in Fort Peck |
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The Montana Invasive Species Council held their quarterly meeting at the Fort Peck Fishing Hatchery on October 16. Dr. Tahnee Symanski from the Montana Department of Livestock provided an update on a feral swine removal effort being conducted in Phillips County. Dale Knouse with the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation shared information about feral swine operations in Saskatchewan.
An end-of-season summary of aquatic invasive species activities was provided by FWP AIS Bureau Chief Tom Woolf and North Dakota Game and Fish ANS Coordinator Ben Holen.
Watercraft Inspection Station staff and MISC members at the Nashua Watercraft Inspection Station
On October 17, MISC members toured the Nashua Watercraft Inspection Station operated by the McCone Conservation District. McCone District Administrator Diane Black and FWP Watercraft Inspection Station Area Supervisor Carley Chapman discussed how this station provides an important check for boat traffic coming into Montana. During the visit the watercraft inspectors answered questions and conducted inspections on three out-of-state boats that arrived during the tour.
Out of state watercraft line up to be inspected at the Nashua Watercraftr Inspection Station
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Statewide Woody Invasive Species Management Plan Released for Public Comment
Montana — The Woody Invasives Working Group is pleased to announce the release of a public-comment draft of the Woody Invasive Species Management Plan for the state of Montana. All interested parties are encouraged to review the Plan and submit comments at woodyinvasives.mt.gov. Comments must be submitted by 5 PM (MT) on Sunday, December 7, 2025.
The Plan is focused on three woody invasive species in Montana: common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), and the resident saltcedar complex (Tamarix chinensis, T. ramosissima, and all associated hybrids). This document outlines management priorities, describes treatment and removal best practices, and identifies short- and long-term objectives. It serves as the product of collaboration from the Woody Invasives Working Group, comprised of dedicated natural resources managers and partners from across the state.
2026 AIS Grant Funding
The Montana Invasive Species Council is now accepting applications for 2026 Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Grants. Application are due by December 31, 2025.
AIS grants are intended to increase local capacity and involvement to address AIS issues. Projects that focus on these AIS management components are eligible: prevention, early detection, education and outreach, research, and treatment.
The grant application form is here: http://grants.dnrc.mt.gov. Scroll down to AIS 2026 Grant Application.
To learn more visit the AIS Grant Program Guidelines are here: https://invasivespecies.mt.gov/montana-invasive-species/Aquatic-Invasive-Species-Grant-Program or contact Liz Lodman, MISC Administrator, at 406-594-9816 or dnraisgrants@mt.gov.
2026 Noxious Weed Grant Funding
 The Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) announces noxious weed grant funding is now available through the 2026 Noxious Trust Fund (NWTF) Grant Program. Established by the 1985 Montana Legislature, the NWTF grants provide funding for noxious weed research projects, development projects, state and community education, and local cooperative - landowner cost share. Funding assistance is provided to counties, local communities, researchers, and educators to assist with their efforts to solve a variety of weed problems in Montana.
Applicants may apply for funding up to $75,000 per project through Montana Grants and Loans at https://mtagr.webgrantscloud.com/index.do. The deadline to apply is January 6, 2026. To learn more about these opportunities, visit the Noxious Weed Trust Fund website or contact Greta Dige, NWTF Program Coordinator, at 444-7882 or greta.dige@mt.gov.
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Two-Day Grant Writing & Grant Management Training
Join Grant Writing USA and the Montana Association of Conservation Districts (MACD) for a two-day workshop designed to enhance your grant-related skills and knowledge. Whether you are a novice grant writer/manager or you have significant experience, you'll learn universally applicable strategies to:
- Craft standout proposals,
- Improve budgets, and
- Develop meaningful and feasible deliverables.
Supported by the Western Montana Conservation Commission (WMCC) and Montana DNRC, these grant management workshops will help grant managers navigate the new landscape of compliance and the importance of using grant reporting to tell a story, develop a relationship with their grantor, and build the case for additional funding.
- Zoom: Grant Writing - Dec. 8-9
- Zoom: Grant Management - Nov. 24-25 or Feb. 2-3, 2026
Eligible entities include Conservation Districts, Watershed Groups, Tribes, Municipalities, Counties, State Agencies, Special Districts, Local Conservation NGOs
This workshop is provided by DNRC, Western Montana Conservation Commission and the Montana Association of Conservation District.
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The 2nd International Invasive Species & Climate Change Conference
Dec. 9 & 10, 2025
 Registration is now open for this FREE, online inter-RISCC event, which will include sessions on management success stories, understanding and managing pathways of spread, restoring to the future, early career research, and more!
Wild Spotter Invasive Species Ambassador Training
February 3–5, 2026
Lake Guntersville State Park & Lodge, Alabama
Are you ready to step up as a champion for wild places?
The Wild Spotter Invasive Species Ambassador Training is a fast-paced, hands-on program designed to build leadership skills, engage communities, and launch ground-up invasive species campaigns where they matter most. Visit https://invasivesfree.org/ to learn more.
Protect the Places You Love. Lead the Change.
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Northwest Weed Biocontrol in Changing Environments
Thursday, November 20, 2025, Noon (MT)
NW RISCC will host a 1-hour multi-speaker webinar on the impacts of different climate variables on weed biocontrol agents and their success in the Northwest.
The webinar will begin with a brief overview of weed biocontrol and then discuss how climate change may impact biocontrol systems at different stages of planning and implementation. Speakers will highlight as examples the control agents and their host dynamics for St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), and knotweed (Reynoutria spp.).
This event will also serve as the launching point for a working group to address knowledge gaps around Northwest biocontrol in a changing climate, including modeling population dynamics and geographic distributions of agents under different climate scenarios and developing a framework for collecting data to disentangle climate impacts from other drivers of population dynamics. Other potential working group topics include disruption in the phenological synchrony of agent and host and evolutionary changes in response to climate change.
 Fall 2025 EDRR Webinar
Tuesday, December 16, 9:00 a.m.
Please join the Montana Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) Early Detection, Rapid Response (EDRR) Program’s fall webinar.
Early detection, rapid response requires partnerships, and guest presenter Jason Allen, Montana Department of Transportation’s State Weed Coordinator, works with weed managers in every part of Montana. Jason battles blueweed, scuffles with Scotch broom, victimizes ventenata, wrestles with rush skeletonweed, and much more. He will share his experiences and give recommendations about how you can best partner with him. Attendees are eligible for one Montana Right of Way/Regulatory Weed credit.
No registration is necessary. Join the webinar and have your license number ready.
9:00-9:20 a.m., Josh Wagoner, MDA, EDRR species summer 2025 update
9:20-9:50 a.m., Jason Allen, MDT, EDRR species work
9:50-10:00 a.m., Q&A
Additional Webinars
- November 18. 12:00 to 1:00 PM (MST). MDA Webinar. Vertebrate Pests and Public Health. MDA. 1 PA credit. No fee. Register online [bit.ly]or contact Beth Thomas (406) 444-3732 or beth.thomas@mt.gov.
- November 20. 12:00 to 1:00 PM (MST). Montana IPM-Cultivating Healthy Plants Webinar. Houseplant Diagnostics. 1 PA credit. Register online [usu.zoom.us] or contact Brandy Moses (406) 461-5870 or brandy.moses@montana.edu.
- December 2. 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (MST). MDA Webinar. Vegetation Management to Control Weeds and Help Bees. 1 PA credit. Register online [mt-gov.zoom.us] or contact Beth Thomas (406) 444-3732 or beth.thomas@mt.gov.
- December 3. 9:00 AM to 2:15 PM (MST). Pest Control Technology (PCT) Magazine. Rodent Virtual Conference. 4 PA credits. $99 fee. Register online [gie-net.zoom.us] or contact Ed at (630) 768-1404 or ed@demaskmarketing.com.
- December 4. 12:00 to 1:00 PM (MST). MSU Extension Seminar. The Status of Precision Agriculture in Montana. 1 PA credit. Register online [montana.edu] or contact Amy Bowser (406) 994-5178 or amy.bowser@montana.edu.
- December 18. 12:00 - 1:00 PM (MST). MSU Extension Webinar. Pesticide Storage and the Montana Pesticide Disposal and Recycling Program. 1 PA credit. Register online [montana.edu] or contact Amy Bowser at (406) 994-5178 or amy.bowser@montana.edu.
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