NOXIOUS WEED SURVEY - AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES IN MONTANA

A telephone survey of Montana residents was undertaken to determine th eir knowledge of noxious weeds, their attitudes toward noxious weeds, how they use the outdoors with respect to spreading noxious weeds, and the best methods to distribute information to those most unaware abou t noxious weeds. Most Montanans (76%) thought that noxious weeds were a serious or very serious problem. Respondents from central (67%) and southwestern (59%) Montana were more likely to evaluate the noxious we ed problem as serious than respondents from western (37%) or southeast ern (33%) Montana, Most Montanans (80%) could name a problem associate d with noxious weed invasion, Farmers and operators of non-farm machin ery knew more problems associated with weeds than people not involved in these activities. Respondents knew ways weeds spread (89%) but many could not think of ways to prevent weed spread (70%) or identify acti vities they participate in that might spread weeds (64%), Television ( 89%) and newspaper stories (85%) were mentioned most often as the most effective ways to distribute information about noxious weeds.