What does NAWMA do?

NAWMA is a network of public and private professional weed managers who are involved in implementing any phase of a county, municipal, district, state, provincial or federal noxious weed law. There are active state weed and roadside vegetation associations and societies devoted to weed science organizations. Other organizations focus on federal legislation and others are comprised of federal and state middle level managers.

Until NAWMA, there was no North American organization serving the educational, professional improvement, and networking needs of the on-the-ground, local vegetation or exotic plant manager.

NAWMA is comprised of county weed managers, and local area managers in the state, federal, and provincial land agencies such as the Forest Service, National Biological Survey, and the Bureau of Land Management.

By joining NAWMA, you gain access to a wealth of information and experience from people who manage noxious and exotic vegetation programs on a day-to-day basis.

In NAWMA, you become a part of a North American-wide network of people involved in preserving our natural resources from the threat of invasive noxious weeds and non-native exotic vegetation.

What are NAWMA's Objectives?

To foster cooperation among noxious weed managers, throughout North America in the exchange of information, education, training, weed management practices, programs, and technologies.

To empower North American noxious weed managers by improving their professionalism and the image of noxious weed managers.

To assist in the development of uniform international, national, provincial, and state weed management legislation and regulation.

To foster cooperation and involvement in noxious weed management among federal, provincial, state, municipal district, county, and private land managers throughout North America.

To coordinate enforcement in noxious weed management among federal, provincial, state, municipal, district, county, and private land managers.

To promote the funding of weed management projects, research, and programs that are international, national, or regional in scope and effectiveness.

NAWMA Activities:

To provide education and professional improvement, NAWMA conducts an annual Conference & Trade Show presenting a forum for national speakers and enlightenment on state issues, and field tours to inform our members on local issues. Advances in the technology and tools of weed management are showcased at our Conference and Trade Show and proceedings are published for all topics presented.

To provide regulatory direction, NAWMA is represented on the Intermountain Noxious Weed Advisory Council (INWAC). A NAWMA member joins INWAC annually for its trip to Washington D.C. to inform and educate national leaders on weed issues.

To promote professional improvement and networking, NAWMA provides speakers and topics to help managers improve their efficiency at our Conference & Trade Show and publishes the quarterly newsletter NAWMAlogue.

To increase environmental awareness of the negative impacts of noxious weeds and exotic plants, NAWMA funds educational materials such as a weed ID booklet encompassing the 52 weeds on the Regional Weed Free Forage Certification Program list of invasive plants. NAWMA is the lead organization in the Weed Free Forage Program, providing leadership, central administration, budgeting and accounting, and promotional and educational direction for the program.

NAWMA Committees and What They Do:

Membership Committee

Purpose: To promote NAWMA and its goals with the intent to increase membership.

Duties:

National Issues/Regulatory Direction

Purpose: To keep the NAWMA board aware of weed management issues and to provide direction in the development of uniform and effective international, national, provincial, and state weed management legislation and regulations.

Duties:

1. Recommend a process for identifying and responding to weed management issues.
2. Bring identified issues to the attention of the board and recommend a response and/or action to be taken.
3. Identify innovative and effective regulatory approaches in weed management.
4. Distribute these regulatory approaches to the membership.

Personal Improvement/Education Committee

Purpose: To promote personal improvement efforts by individual weed control managers and make the membership aware of educational opportunities to improve their professionalism and the image of noxious weed managers.

Duties:

1. Identify ways to promote personal improvement efforts
2. Develop and distribute materials to aid in personal improvement
3. Request feedback from users of material to improve materials and guidance on use of materials
4. Develop a data base of educational opportunities for weed control managers
5. Make this data base available to the membership
6. Encourage states to develop and/or improve weed managers' certification programs
7. Evaluate the establishment of a NAWMA weed control manager's certification program.

Regional Weed Free Forage Committee

Purpose: To coordinate efforts of provincial, federal, state and county agency personnel toward establishing, maintaining, reviewing, and updating regional weed free forage standards.

Duties:

1. To facilitate Regional Weed Free Forage Committee meeting to achieve above stated goals.
2. To disseminate information concerning regional weed free forage standards to all affected/interested parties.
3. To develop a yearly Regional Weed Free Forage Directory

Nominating Committee

Duties:

To secure nominations with accompanying biographies for positions on the NAWMA Executive Board of Directors. This information is to be provided to the Executive Director for the Annual Conference.

Pre-Conference Duties:

Inform the current Executive Board members with expiring terms of their eligibility for future service.

Contact each Province or State organization or representative three months prior to the annual conference that some board terms will be open.

Inform Province/State that they can have up to two (2) persons serving on the board at any one time.

Have each State organization/representative provide a biography for each candidate nominated to the Nominating Committee Chairman or the Executive Director 30 days prior to the annual conference.

Fifteen days prior to conference the Executive Director should receive the nominee biographies to be placed on the ballot.

Conference Duties:

Explain the eligibility requirements, terms and limits of Executive Board members.

Review the current nominations with the attendees.

Ask for nominations from the floor (3 times).

Record any nominations from the floor.

Vote by secret ballot (Ballot should have " write in" spaces).

Announce the winners as soon as possible.

Awards Committee

Purpose: To provide for recognition of individuals for their service on the NAWMA board of director and for meritorious achievements. It shall be the duty of the committee to secure awards to be presented at the annual conference within the budgeted amount provided by the board.

Pre-Conference Duties:

Secure plaques for the President, vice-president and Secretary-Treasurer for the first year they serve in an office. Provide a desk-set plaque i.e. pen and holder with engraved plate for an officer completing a second year in same office.

Secure framed certificates for the rest of the board of director members upon completion of the second year of each term.

Gather all nominations for outstanding achievement award by July 1. Present these nominations to the Executive Committee for their selection of the recipient and secure a plaque for this award.

Confer with the executive committee for any special awards to be presented and get that award.

Conference Duties:

The awards will be presented at the Annual Conference by the committee chairman.

The committee chairman shall present a brief summary of activities which qualified the outstanding achievement award winner.

Audit Committee

Purpose: To insure that all financial and association records are kept in accordance with the bylaws of the Association and that all tax and incorporation records are current and correct.

Duties: Prior to the annual meeting, the audit committee shall audit the books of the North American Weed Management Association. At the Annual Meeting, the audit committee shall present the results of the audit to the membership.