HUNTSVILLE — Eying the expanse of yellow weeds, Gary Probasco, a road maintenance worker for Huntsville, shudders at the notion of trying to pull all the plants.

“Just to do that field would take hours,” he said.

And despite the bright, eye-catching color of the plant — called dyer’s woad — most in the Ogden Valley don’t want much to do with it. Indeed, Dave Messerly, also a maintenance man for Huntsville, notes its overabundance. “Any yellow flower you see, it’s dyer’s woad,” he said.

The non-native plant, which can overpower other greenery, has long been a scourge in the area, the focus of repeated and ongoing efforts to thin it out. Now Weber County officials are mulling a new approach. County Commissioner Gage Froerer seeks formation of a new body, the Weber County Weed Control Board, which would have authority to press property owners to rid their land of dyer’s woad and other noxious weeds.

As is, the county can contact landowners in unincorporated Weber County and ask them to get rid of excessive weeds on their land. But there’s no enforcement mechanism.

If the Weed Control Board is formed, the body — as outlined in state law — would have authority to remove noxious weeds from problematic parcels if landowners won’t and charge them for the work. The proposal creating the body should be coming to county commissioners for formal consideration in coming weeks, Froerer thinks.

Dyer’s woad is the most problematic noxious weed in the Ogden Valley while phragmites, which grow in swampy areas, are probably the chief weed problem in western Weber County, said Taylor Christensen, supervisor of the one-man Weber County Weed Department. He has pushed for creation of the Weed Control Board and those two weeds would probably be the focus of his initial efforts if county officials create the new body.

Dyer’s woad, according to the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, is in a class of weeds ”that pose a threat to the state and should be considered a high priority for control.” Plants have roots extending up to 5 feet into the ground, according to the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board, and each one can have 350 to 500 seeds or more, underscoring its hardiness and ability to spread.

Some Ogden Valley residents aired concerns about dyer’s woad at an April 30 meeting of the Weber County Commission, and Christensen said he understands. “I don’t blame them, because if one person doesn’t take care of it, it can spread for miles,” he said.

Messerly said there are pockets scattered around the Ogden Valley where the plant is so abundant that it appears as a sea of yellow.

Huntsville has an ordinance giving the town authority to take the sort of action Weber County is contemplating. And by coincidence, Mayor Jim Truett, contacted Thursday on the issue, said town officials were in the process of drafting letters to several property owners to get them to rid their land of dyer’s woad.

Most in the town are mindful of keeping the weed off their land, but some, particularly those who have seasonal homes in Huntsville, don’t always pay attention. Letters advising them of their responsibility usually result in action, but if dyer’s woad plants remain, town officials will get rid of them and charge errant property owners on their water bill.

The county proposal, Truett thinks, “is a good idea.” Property owners, he continued, should be responsible for what’s growing on their land.

Ogden Valley residents have held an annual “weed hunt” each spring for the last 10 years, gathering and pulling dyer’s woad where they find it. Inmates from the Weber County jail even assisted in the effort last month.

That’s helped, but more is needed and more need to be involved, Froerer said at the April 30 meeting. “We can’t do it all ourselves even though we’ve made a lot of progress,” he said.

The Weed Control Board would be made up of three to five volunteer members, including two farmers or ranchers, according to Sean Wilkinson, head of the Weber County Community and Economic Development Department. The body would probably spell out procedures in dealing with weeds, if commissioners OK its formation.

If the weed board is formed, the county would be able to put a lien on property for any weed removal efforts if property owners don’t heed calls to remove dyer’s woad and other noxious weeds.