Red Deer County councillors added their voices to the battle cry against both beast and plant foes at the Oct. 2 council meeting.They agreed to support two resolutions to be submitted to the Nov. 8 Central Regional Agricultural Services Board meeting, to push nuisance weed and boar problems toward provincial ears.Cody McIntosh, assistant manager of agricultural services, estimates the county spends about $10,000 a year dealing with some of the over 70 legislated weeds.He said it's a tough burden to deal with since aquatic invasive species fall into the jurisdiction of the federal government, which looks after waterways, or the province, which looks after the bed beneath the water and the shoreline.“They let us in there but they don't pay for it,” McIntosh said, noting flowering rush is a prohibited noxious weed county staff is battling south of Innisfail. “We don't give the province the bill.”Council members were quick to support this resolution, if more hesitant with official kudos for the anti-wild boar effort.While the county has had a wild boar problem previously, it no longer does, according to councillors.“I don't want wild boars in my backyard by any means,” said Coun. Lorenz, but he was cagey with support. “To me it'd be like a water skier without a boat.”Some council members suggested a resolution would carry more force with the province if only the affected areas signed on to support a particular initiative, but in the end only Coun. Hoar opposed the motion.
