In Blanchard, a drone hovers over a small cedar tree and drops tiny, poison pellets to kill the plant.
There are several ways to get rid of red cedars, including prescribed fires and mechanical removal, but using drones to drop herbicide is a different technique. A group of conservationists and lawmakers met in the central part of the state to watch the drones in motion.
In his presentation, Levi Wilson, president of Grass Ag, the Oklahoma company behind the technology, said it is more cost-effective than mechanical removal. Prescribed fires are a popular land management tool, and Wilson said they can be used in combination with the drone system.
"If you look at it, we can go kill our tree to tree to tree for anywhere from, it might be a dollar a tree, maybe up to a couple, $2 to $3 a tree, depending on the size," Wilson said. "But you take that times how many trees you have per acre, and you kind of have a ballpark of what you're looking at there."
The company can scan swaths of land to detect trees, then fly drones to target cedars. The company has formally treated about 500 acres. Once the organization began, people were skeptical about chemical applications.
"We don't necessarily like it but with the way we're doing it, we're putting down such a small amount in a very precise treatment," Wilson said. "It makes that treatment process much cleaner for the environment."
A green, costly Dust Bowl
In the past week, wildfires torched hundreds of thousands of acres of Oklahoma land. People on the ground working the fires said the flames in Woodward broke out in a wooded area with lots of cedars, and unmanaged fields posed a problem.
Eastern redcedars invade areas where native, more fire-prone trees grow. Their limbs grow close to the ground, and the foliage is highly flammable. The trees are also a "ladder fuel," meaning the flames spread from their crowns to other treetops or roofs.
In the crowd watching the drones was Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene. He said the wildfires in western Oklahoma are a reminder of the risk, and the technology presents an opportunity to address the issue.
"This is able to map and target specific invasive species, in this case, obviously, redcedar is the issue in our part of the state, but allow you to make a direct application on that without disturbing any of the ground or anything around it," Dobrinski said.
He is the author of House Bill 2988 in the legislature, which would make an income tax credit for people who remove harmful woody species through a qualified stewardship practice through the Oklahoma Conservation Commission.
Legislative analysts estimate enacting the bill would cost about $3 million, according to the bill's fiscal analysis. It unanimously passed the House Appropriations and Budget Natural Resources Subcommittee last week.
In the last couple of years, Dobrinski said there has been more education in the legislature about redcedar removal. But it's a tough budget year for Oklahoma, and he is working with leadership to make it a priority.
"I believe that this year will be something that we can be proud of, for addressing it a little bit higher level," Dobrinski said. "I'm counting on the governor (Gov. Kevin Stitt) to make that one of his priorities."
In the state, the conservation commission is experimenting with slowing the spread of eastern redcedars in the Terry Peach North Canadian Restoration Project. Trey Lam, the commission's executive director, said the organization will use the drone method to test its efficacy.
He likens the woody species to the next Dust Bowl. Where the bowl had dust pneumonia, he pointed to allergies and asthma with cedars.
"So we're really facing a risk that if we don't start to tackle it now, the next generation is going to really pay the price because it's only going to get more expensive, it's only going to do more damage, and it's only going to reduce the economic viability of agriculture in Oklahoma," Lam said.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
