Cogan grass brings fire worries

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Cogan grass

By Dal Cannady - bio | email

STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) - Cogan grass can look as harmless as dandelions blowing in the field. But forest rangers say it is spreading faster than Kudzu and will burn higher and faster than anything else they've seen.

"If you get Cogan grass up to the back of your house, we can't save that house. I don't care what fire department it is," cautions Georgia Forestry ranger Chip Bates. "We tell our guys if they're hung up on a tractor in Cogan grass, abandon the tractor and leave it."

It also chokes out other plants, including tree seedlings. The weed is now moving into Georgia from Alabama and Florida.

Bates says taking something as small as an ATV, let alone a tractor or bulldozer, into woods in an infected region can bring it back with you.

"All it would take is having under your back wheel well is a one inch of Cogan grass root in a cavity back here where mud builds up," Bates added.

Georgia Forestry offers a deal for anyone who finds Cogan grass on their land. They'll spray at no charge for up to five years to kill it as long as you give permission. Bates says they'd rather get rid of the weed now than later.

Bates recommends people pressure wash any off road equipment taken to another state or another region where Cogan grass is a problem.

For more pictures and information about identifying Cogan grass, visit www.cogangrass.org.