Jennifer Mohler spent much of her career managing invasive species and weeds, and figuring out how to get people to care about them. In 2014, when she set up a booth at a farmers’ market in Big Sky, Montana, folks stopped by and were interested. But for the wrong reasons.
“People would come up and be like, ‘Oh, we need to get weed! We want to buy weed from you!’” Mohler said. “And I’m like, yeah, different kind of weed.”
At the time, Mohler’s nonprofit was called the Gallatin/Big Sky Weed Committee, which changed names to the Gallatin Invasive Species Alliance in 2017. But neither iteration was generating much interest from passersby on summer evenings in Big Sky. People weren’t making the connection between weeds and the larger environment.
Mohler advocated for another name change in 2023: Grow Wild. And the reaction she now gets is completely different. The new name refocused the mission on the benefits of healthy land management, rather than the downsides of letting invasive weeds run wild.
Another thing was changing: the climate. Now, Mohler worries about funding and priority changes related to climate within the Trump administration, but she also sees people working more collaboratively and understanding the interconnectedness of weeds and wildlife – a different type of refocus.
Mohler brought a passion and creativity to her work, and it’s paying off. Connecting noxious weeds to wildflowers and bighorn sheep played a major role in her winning the Cooperative Weed Management Area of the Year Award in January. The award was presented by the Montana Weed Control Association and highlights active and innovative approaches to weed management. It’s been Mohler’s approach since she sought out enough property in Belgrade 25 years ago to house herself, her husband and the two horses she had at the time.
With a degree in botany from Colorado State University, Mohler had a background in plants, but didn’t know how to sustainably manage horses on the land. After taking a class in pastoral management, the instructor who was approaching retirement asked Mohler to take over.
“Teaching and beginning to manage my own land,” Mohler said, “really [helped me] understand that weeds are an indicator of poor land management and an indicator of ecological health.”
Ranchers and farmers have known this forever, she points out. They also have seen the connectivity between weeds and other parts of the production cycle more quickly than the layperson. That connectivity came into sharp focus for Mohler on her 10 acres in Belgrade.
When the couple bought the land, it had been destroyed by overgrazing. They spent years working to get its health back, only to have a crop of hoary alyssum, a white-flowered invasive, stake its claim.
“Teaching and beginning to manage my own land really [helped me] understand that weeds are an indicator of poor land management and an indicator of ecological health.”
Jen Mohler, Executive Director, grow wild
Hours of handpicking, targeted herbicide use and keeping the underlying grass healthy addressed the problem, but land managers understand that it’s impossible to eliminate weeds completely.
“It never will be because no one is perfect,” Mohler said. “[But] I knew I won when my husband said, ‘We have so much grass, Jen, we need to get more horses.’”
A variety of plant species adds richness to ecosystem health, so while the Mohlers didn’t buy more horses, they did plant shrubs, trees and native wildflower gardens. And while undergoing all this work on her own property, she was planting a native plants garden at the historic Crail Ranch in Big Sky.
After 15 years in Big Sky, Mohler’s seen a change in the way people think about weeds; a baseline of awareness, she says, about species connectivity. And landowners now seek her out at the farmers’ market to talk strategy and update her on their trials and successes.
But there are still many challenges to address, ranging from second-home owners who don’t spend enough time at their property to focus on its health, to people not admitting they’re part of the problem.
“It’s sort of like climate change,” Mohler said, “that exists because of our actions. We’re causing the problem and it’s up to us to make changes.”
Three Tips:
What can people do to support their local ecosystems?
1. Get rid of invasive plants and grow more native plants. As the foundation of our ecosystem, they convert sunlight into usable energy. Healthy ecosystems come from native plants.
2. Identify noxious weeds growing on your property and manage those weeds!
3. Focus on planting native species with a goal of having the magic number, 70 percent, on the landscape over time.
