Newsletter Vol 20 Issue 3, 2012 – California Invasive Plant Council

Vol. 20, No. 3

Summer 2012

Cal-IPC News
Protecting California’s Natural Areas from Wildland Weeds
Quarterly Newsletter of the California Invasive Plant Council

Bentgrass stymies
wetland plans
Jeremiah Mann of the USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service holds up windblown
pannicles from Australian bentgrass (Agrostis
avenacea) from a seasonal wetland managed by
the Sonoma Land Trust.

Photo: Karl Kraft, NRCS

Inside:
Bentgrass clogs wetlands………………….4
Symposium in Sonoma County………….6
New management guidebook………….. 10
Got permits?………………………………… 11

From the Director’s Desk

Front page news
Cal-IPC
1442-A Walnut Street, #462
Berkeley, CA 94709
ph (510) 843-3902 fax (510) 217-3500
www.cal-ipc.org info@cal-ipc.org
A California 501(c)3 nonprofit organization

Protecting California’s lands and waters
from ecologically-damaging invasive plants
through science, education, and policy.
STAFF
Doug Johnson, Executive Director
Carol Bardoff, Program Assistant
Elizabeth Brusati, Science Program Manager
Alice Chung, Project Manager
Heather DeQuincy, Outreach Program Manager
Agustín Luna, Business Manager
Bertha McKinley, Program Assistant
Dana Morawitz, Mapping Program Manager
Cynthia Powell, Project Manager

DIRECTORS
John Knapp, President
Native Range, Inc.
Jason Casanova, Vice-President
Council for Watershed Health
Doug Gibson, Treasurer
San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
Julie Horenstein, Secretary
California Department of Fish & Game
Edith Allen
University of California-Riverside
Peter Beesley
Pacific Gas and Electric
Edmund Duarte
Alameda County Department of Agriculture
Jason Giessow
Dendra, Inc.

ere at Cal-IPC we consider the environmental impacts of invasive plants to
be front page news. It is not often that the media does, too. On May 26 the
Sacramento Bee carried a front page article on yellow starthistle and state budget cuts
to weed programs. Cal-IPC staff and members provided information for the article,
and the story was picked up by national press and radio.The article describes what’s at
stake in the effort to stop yellow starthistle from infesting higher elevations in the Sierra
Nevada. By focusing on “leading edge” populations at the 4000-foot level, the project is
a cost-effective approach to protecting uninvaded areas higher up. An example like this
helps convey the dynamic nature of weed spread, and how land management strategy is
set.
The author gets a few things wrong in trying to dramatize and personalize the threat.
When was the last time you encountered starthistle six feet tall, with spikes “perfectly
placed to stab a shoulder or poke an eye”? And though it reduces abundance of native
grassland species, starthistle cannot literally “turn meadows into deserts.” Such inaccuracies are inevitable with media attention. Online comments appended to the article
make it clear that there are skeptics ready to use any such weakness to dismiss the entire
topic. But many more readers are informed about an issue that affects them.
Environmental communications experts caution against alarmist messages that can, in
aggregate, contribute to resignation in the face of seemingly insurmountable problems.
We are challenged to convey the urgency of this issue while pointing to positive work
that can and should be done. Like us, you may get excited when you see or hear
invasive plants covered in the news. When you do, send us clippings or links to help us
track invasive species and public perceptions. We will continue to push for increased
covereage.
Regarding the article on page 8, all I can say is that is has been and continues to be an
incredible team effort, and I am privileged to hold this position. See you at our 21st
Symposium, October 10-13 in Sonoma County!

Kim Hayes
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Sue Hubbard
Federal Employee
Shawn Kelly
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project
Dan Knapp
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
Chris McDonald
UC Cooperative Extension
Peter Schuyler
Ecological Consultant
Andrea Williams
Marin Municipal Water District
STUDENT LIAISONS
Chelsea Carey
UC Merced
Kai Palenscar
UC Riverside
Affiliations for identification purposes only.

Cal-IPC News

Summer 2012 – Volume 20, Number 3
Editors: Doug Johnson, Elizabeth Brusati, Heather DeQuincy
Cal-IPC News is published quarterly by the California Invasive
Plant Council. Articles may be reprinted with permission from
the editors. Submissions are welcome. Mention of commercial
products does not imply endorsement by Cal-IPC. We reserve
the right to edit all work.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Goats browsing Spanish broom on lands of the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo
Indians in Lake County. The goats successfully treated 5 acres, eating leaves and young
shoots and barking the remainder of the plants, which were finished off by applying
clove oil to the crown in the summer. Photo courtesy of Greg Dills, East Lake & West Lake
RCDs and Alisa Carlson, Cow Mountain Kiko Goats.

Wildland Weed NewsNewsNewsNewsNews
Nevada, Placer and Sierra counties
received Sierra Nevada Conservancy
grants for weed work. Two grants totaling
$73,867 will allow the counties to treat
invasive plants at 25 strategic locations
totaling 120 acres on the west side of
the Tahoe National Forest, reducing the
threat of catastrophic fires by removing
ladder fuels and improving stream bank
habitat. Removal of musk thistle along
the Truckee and Little Truckee River and
reservoirs will also be supported.
California’s Wildlife Action Plan is being
updated. The plan was first completed
in 2007 by the state Department of Fish
and Game (DFG) and UC Davis to fulfill
federal requirements for receiving wildlife
grants. Invasive species were identified
as a major statewide stressor. DFG is
coordinating an update of the plan with
the goal of developing detailed regional
priorities. Cal-IPC aims to partner with
DFG and others in identifying invasive
plant management priorities for the new
plan. (www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/WAP/)
Non-native and native plant species
use different strategies to be successful.
German researchers compared features
such as lifespan, type of pollination, and
habitats occupied for native and non-native plants. They found differences, such

as non-native plants typically flowered
later than native German species and were
more likely to be self-pollinated, therefore
avoiding competition for pollinators. On
the other hand, native plants tended to
live in a wider variety of habitats, while
non-natives specialized in fewer habitats.
These differences persisted even for
species that were introduced centuries
ago. According to one researcher, “These
results are an argument in support of
the view that the need to differentiate
between native and non-native species in
ecological systems remains”. The study
was published in Ecology Letters. (Science
Daily, May 4, www.sciencedaily.com/news/
plants_animals)
The Sacramento Bee covered yellow
starthistle and state budget cuts. The
article highlighted the Yellow Starthistle
Leading Edge project which coordinates
projects in 14 counties to prevent the
spread of the weed into higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. In 2011 the
program received $2.7 million in state
funding. Now it receives nothing. The
mapping effort, as of last year, identified
586 “outlier” starthistle populations that
have already jumped across the Leading
Edge line and edged higher into the
Sierra. Without treatment, these will

likely become the origins of new infestations. (Sacramento Bee, May 26, www.
sacbee.com/2012/05/26/4517821/budgetcuts-hurt-long-battle-against.html)
A dock dislodged by last year’s tsunami
in Japan brought 100 tons of organisms and dozens of species to Oregon.
Scientists have collected barnacles,
starfish, urchins, anemones, amphipods,
worms, mussels, limpets, snails, solitary
tunicates and algae that survived the trip
across the Pacific. They include a brown
alga (seaweed) called wakame (Undaria
pinnatifida) which has never before
been found north of Monterey (and is
on the Cal-IPC Inventory). (Eureka
Science News, June 7. esciencenews.com/
articles/2012/06/07/floating.dock.japan.
carries.potential.invasive.species)
Four botanical gardens will compile
information on 400,000 plant species
worldwide. The New York Botanical
Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, The
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and the
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh have
announced plans to develop the World
Flora, the first modern, online catalog
of the world’s plants, by the year 2020.
(Phys.org, April 23, phys.org/news/201204-online-botanical-gardens.html)

Cal-IPC Updates

Regional Strategies

Thank You, Funders!

Fire BMPs Coming Soon

Cal-IPC is working with regional partners
to develop strategies for top priority
eradication targets using our online
CalWeedMapper tool. From there, we
work together on proposals for funding
to implement projects. The central Sierra
(Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado,
Tuolumne counties) is applying for grants
to eradicate several species in its region.
See calweedmapper.calflora.org.

We recently received grants from the
California Landscape Conservation
Cooperative for regional planning,
as well as from the US Forest Service
and the US Fish & Wildlife Service
to develop an online version of the
WHIPPET prioritization tool with
Calflora (see Winter 2011 issue).

A new chapter of our Prevention Best
Management Practices Manual will
cover prevention for wildfire-related
activities, with funding from the US
Forest Service. www.cal-ipc.org/ip/
prevention.

Watchlist Updated
This list of new plants of concern
has been updated and is available as a
spreadsheet or pdf. Send information
on new weeds to Elizabeth Brusati,
edbrusati@cal-ipc.org. www.cal-ipc.
org/ip/inventory/weedlist.php

Board Elections
Ballots will be mailed in late summer.
Please return yours by the deadline on the
ballot so your vote can be counted!

Error
The last issue stated that symposium
registration includes lodging. It does
not. We apologize for the error.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Feature

Best laid plans… Australian bentgrass (Agrostis avenacea)
invades following seasonal wetland enhancement
by Julian Meisler, Sonoma Land Trust
[The unanticipated impact of Australian
bentgrass on this hydrological restoration
project illustrates one of the myriad unpredictable ways in which invasive plants can
impede stewardship activities.]

he character of northern San Pablo
Bay, which spans portions of Marin,
Sonoma, Napa, and Solano counties,
is decidedly rural. In the right season
(and outside of rush hour), a drive along
its edge via State Highway 37 can be
a birder’s dream with large flocks of
waterfowl and shorebirds easily visible in
roadside marshes and sloughs.
However, it is by no means pristine.
Like most of the San Francisco Bay
Estuary, this area was largely diked and
drained some 150 years ago resulting
in an estimated 70 to 85% loss of both
seasonal freshwater and tidal wetlands
(Goals Project 1999). Through the efforts
of many public agencies, nonprofits,
and individuals, great progress has and
continues to be made in restoring the
area’s tidal marshes. Within five years the
total area of restored tidal marsh along
this stretch will exceed 15,000 acres and
more is planned.
Less effort, however, has been devoted
to seasonal wetland restoration despite
its widely recognized importance. Along
Sonoma County’s Bay shoreline and
adjacent uplands, the Sonoma Land Trust
(SLT) owns or has conservation easements
over nearly 5,000 acres, including a
279-acre property known as North Parcel.
Nearly 10 years ago SLT implemented
a project at the North Parcel property
intended to create seasonal wetlands on
formerly cultivated land, a project that
yielded successes but came with a significant unintended consequence.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Creating wetlands
The primary goal was to create roosting and foraging habitat for shorebirds
and dabbling ducks, particularly during
high tides and storms when the Bay’s
mudflats are unavailable. The parameters
for such habitat are simple: relatively
shallow pools without emergent vegetation accompanied by short statured plants
in the surrounding uplands for predator
detection.
The project entailed restriction of the
site’s surface and subsurface drainage to
promote ponding in natural depressions.
To keep vegetation low, cattle grazing, and
to a lesser extent mowing, are the tools
used. Initially the pasture was seeded with
perennial ryegrass, a species that although
non-native, dominates the region and is
easily managed with livestock.
The careful engineering used to
facilitate ponding was a great success with
wetter years yielding more than 160 acres
of wetlands. Shorebirds and ducks responded vigorously. Monitoring revealed
more than 22,000 individual waterbirds
using the site during 17 monitoring visits
in 2008 (Wetland and Water Resources
2009).

Bentgrass invades
But this habitat came at a price. By
the close of the first wetland season, the
site experienced a massive invasion by
Australian bentgrass (Agrostis avenacea),
a species only occasionally seen in the
region and never before in abundance.
Australian bentgrass is native to
Australia and apparently to some south
Pacific Islands. Classified as a perennial, it
may act as an annual (Bauder et al. 2002)
and most frequently occurs in temporarily

wet or flooded habitats (Zedler and Black
2004). Known also as blowngrass, its
seed-laden panicles disperse by snapping
off in the wind and tumbling in great
numbers to surrounding lands.
First collected in California in 1904,
bentgrass now occurs from Kern County
to Tehama County in coastal, valley, and
foothill areas from sea level to nearly
1,000 feet in elevation (Zedler and Black
2004, Calflora website 2012). A discontinuous population occurs in San Diego
County where it has invaded vernal pools.
Importantly, as of 2004, the San Diego
vernal pools were the only reported site
of significant invasion in all of California
(Cal-IPC website).
While bentgrass was first observed
in Solano and Marin counties in 1946
and 1957, respectively (Consortium of
California Herbaria, ucjeps.berkeley.edu/
consortium), the first record from Sonoma
County, which separates Solano and
Marin, apparently was not until 1991
(Best et al. 1996). However, it is likely
that it has been in Sonoma County far
longer but not reported, perhaps because
of its low numbers.
Although bentgrass inhabits temporarily wet or flooded habitats, it appears
to require disturbance before becoming
invasive. For example, bentgrass has been
observed for decades at Solano County’s
Jepson Prairie Preserve, a vernal pool
grassland, but it remains a minor component of the flora there.

Disturbance does it
The wetland project marked a radical
change in management at North Parcel
and the invasion seems to be the result
of several factors. For decades the site
had been disked and planted to produce

Bentgrass (the finely-textured, light-colored grass in the photo) lines the bottom and banks of this drainage ditch. The grass is tall
enough to hide predators of shorebirds and dabbling ducks, the species for which this property is being managed, and control has
proven challenging.
oat hay. It is likely that herbicides were
used and any weeds, including bentgrass,
would have been minimized. Following
the cessation of disking, the site was
seeded with ryegrass and given over to
grazing which in its first year included an
unfortunate episode of winter trampling.
Finally, and possibly of greatest
importance, the artificial impoundment
of water, particularly for extended periods,
appears to favor bentgrass. Zedler and
Black (2004) report that the species can
tolerate prolonged flooding and can
germinate in up to 30 cm of water. While
other species can do this, there are few
that can also tolerate prolonged drought.

Management challenges
At North Parcel, bentgrass is proving
extremely difficult to control. Grazing can

be effective in controlling its spread but
it must be grazed before going to seed. As
the plant matures it becomes unpalatable
to cows and the panicles are free to snap
and take flight with the region’s incessant
summer wind. As any land manager using
grazing as a management tool can attest,
timing can easily be thwarted by logistical
challenges including rapid changes in
weather, infrastructure failures, lessee challenges, and more.
At North Parcel a somewhat unique
factor limiting SLT’s ability to graze at
the proper time is a conservation easement over half the property held by the
USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) under the Wetland
Reserve Program (WRP). The WRP is a
successful national program that provides
financial incentives to private landowners

to enhance wetlands in exchange for
retiring marginal land from agriculture.
Because it is a wetlands program and not
an agricultural program, grazing of the
easement area is governed by an annual Cooperative Use Agreement (CUA)
produced by NRCS that dictates when
and whether grazing (or other agricultural
activity) can occur.
Although the goals of the WRP at
North Parcel may include shorebird
habitat, it cannot be at the expense of
other species’ habitats, grassland birds for
example, which are negatively affected by
close cropping of vegetation by livestock.
This challenge was exemplified in
2012. The CUA permitted grazing to
…continued page 10

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Cal-IPC’s 21st Annual Symposium
Bay to Basin: Coordinating Response
to Invasive Plants across California
October 10 – 13, 2012
Wine Country Doubletree, Rohnert Park
Join us in Sonoma
County for this
year’s Symposium!

Presenters
Posters

From oak woodlands
to redwood groves,
San Francisco Bay
shoreline to the planned
Blueridge-Berryessa
National Conservation
Area in wild Napa
County, Sonoma
County is a spectacular
part of California.

Discussion
Groups
Awards
Banquet
Exhibitors

Join natural resource
managers, ecologists,
students, and
restoration volunteers
from across the state
to learn a bout and
discuss the latest in
control techniques
and research results
while networking and
mingling during the
awards banquet, social
hour and field trips.

Photo
Contest
Raffle &
Auction
Field
Trips
Pulling Parentucellia is the focus of an annual volunteer workday organized
by Americorps at the Van Hoosear Wildlflower Preserve in Sonoma County.
Parentucellia viscosa (yellow glandweed) is parasitic, so land managers have
avoided herbicide treatments that could translocate to the preserve’s diverse
native plants.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Discussion Groups

Special Sessions
“Working Across Landscapes”

• Weed control methods Q&A

“Working Across Taxa”

• Prevention Best Management Practices video

“Working Across Time”

• Reducing the potential for wildlife impacts
from herbicides

Invited speakers will discuss large-scale and long-term
efforts on invasive plants.

• Protecting native pollinators
• A coordinated statewide management
strategy for stinkwort (Dittrichia graveolens)

Credits are pending from the Department of Pesticide
Regulation, including 2 hrs. of Laws and Regulations.

• Seeking funding in a competitive
environment

And More!
• Cal-IPC project updates
• Student lunch
• Photo contest voting (entries due September 7)

Habitat Restoration Workday: Wednesday, October 10
Cal-IPC’s newest training opportunity! Get your hands dirty and learn about specific management techniques,
on-the-ground. Location to be announced!

Field Trips: Saturday, October 13
Half-day and full-day field trips. Detailed descriptions are
available on the Symposium webpage.
Mount Tamalpais: Learn about innovative trials on
nonchemical methods for removing broom, as well as
meadow restoration.
Pollinator Tour: Visit one of Sonoma’s many organic farms,
featuring native hedgerows supporting pollinators.

Mount Tamalpais overlooks San Francisco Bay from
Marin County and is home to both Mount Tamalpais
State Park and watershed lands of the Marin Municipal
Water District. Photo by Dana Morawitz, Cal-IPC

Sonoma Restoration Hotspots: Sonoma County has
numerous reserves managed by Audubon Canyon Ranch,
the Sonoma Ecology Center, the Pepperwood Preserve, State
Parks and others. Visit some of the region’s top wildland
restoration sites, from native wildflowers and woodlands.
Blue Ridge-Berryessa Natural Area: Venture to restoration
sites deep in the wilds of northern Napa and learn about
the effort to create the Berryessa Snow Mountain National
Conservation Area.

www.cal-ipc.org/symposia
Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Doug Johnson: 10 years with Cal-IPC!
by Joe DiTomaso, UC Davis, Cal-IPC President 2002-03

s far back as 2000, the Board of
Directors for Cal-IPC discussed the
possibility of hiring an executive director.
At that time, nearly everything we did was
through volunteered time from our Board
or membership. We hired Sally Davis to
put out the newsletter, but that was pretty
much the extent of our budget in those
days. Our primary revenue was through
the annual symposium.

allowed Cal-IPC to hire Doug for two
years and only pay half of his salary, as
the Fellowship paid the other half. Prior
to being hired as the Executive Director,
Doug was a geographer by training, but
he also had experience with wildland
weeds from field work conducted in
Mendocino and the San Francisco Bay
Area. As he stated in his introductory ar-

fully aware of what was at stake.
Within a couple of years, Doug’s contributions were already numerous and the
Board felt confident that the experiment
was over and we had made an exceptionally good decision. Over the past several
years, the modest yearly budget has grown
to several hundred thousand dollars per
year. Today, the society employs eight
additional people and has two
student liaisons. The website
is information rich, the inventory is considered the gold
standard for other states, the
publications are high quality,
the field courses are outstanding, and all the other projects,
particularly CalWeedMapper
are innovative and pioneering.

Then-President Mike Kelly
felt that hiring an executive
director primarily to write
grants might allow Cal-IPC
to expand and take on new
projects as well as increase our
operating funds. Like most
good ideas, this one had to
simmer for a couple of years
while the Board contemplated
Cal-IPC, through the leadthe pros and cons of such a
ership of Doug Johnson, plays
decision. Because Cal-IPC’s
a major role in the National
total annual budget was
Association of Exotic Pest
around $40,000 in those
Plant Councils and National
days, we feared that hiring
Invasive Species Awareness
an executive director that
Week in Washington DC.
was unable to bring in grants
The society even has a student
might drive the society broke
Doug taking a break on a field trip at last year’s Symposium.
chapter. Doug has become
and, dare I say, to extinction
Photo: Dana Morawitz, Cal-IPC
the high-profile face of Cal-IPC.
within a couple of years. This
He served as the Chair of the
ticle in the Cal-EPPC News (now Cal-IPC
was particularly troublesome to me, as I
inaugural
California Invasive Species
News) in 2002, “Working on wildland
was the President of the society in 2002,
Advisory
Committee
and as an officer
when we made the decision. As you could weeds presents a special opportunity to
with the National Association of EPPCs.
work together with partners brought
imagine, I did not want my legacy to be
His easygoing demeanor and calmness
together
by
concern
for
the
health
of
the
as the President that drove the society to
allows him to influence people and form
land. With that kind of cooperation, we
bankruptcy.
alliances. Through his organizational skills
can make things happen!” And make
Obviously, the Board of Directors
he is able to get things done efficiently
things happen he did!
decided to take a chance and recruit for
and quickly.
It is difficult even to imagine what
an executive director. We felt that we had
In Doug’s 10 years as Executive
Doug Johnson has done for Cal-IPC. I
less than two years to invest with our
Director
of Cal-IPC, he has elevated the
am pretty sure that the Board of Directors
existing funds. From that point forward,
society
to
national status and the influin 2002, even in their wildest optimism,
the Board and society made every correct
ence
that
the
society has on legislators,
would not have been able to envision
decision that could be made and we are
scientists,
policy
makers, students, and
where the society would be 10 years later.
benefiting in so many ways today.
field
practitioners
is remarkable. While
In Doug’s first two months on the job
When Doug Johnson interviewed
there many dedicated people that have
he wrote five grant proposals, with one
for the executive director position, he
contributed to this progress, one stands
of them funded. Other Board members,
had already been notified that he was
at the top. Congratulations to Doug
including myself, also wrote grants that
the recipient of the Robert & Patricia
Johnson for his incredible accomplishprovided some funding to Cal-IPC. It
Switzer Foundation Fellowship. This
was a heck of a team effort, with everyone ments in 10 years with Cal-IPC.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Partnering with college helps track medusahead
by Jim Alford*, American River College (formerly California Dept. of Fish & Game); Daniel Benedetti, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and
Nathan Jennings, American River College

ildland managers must deal with
biotic invasions in spite of ever
more limited resources and in many
cases without botanical staff. This project
demonstrates the utility of remote sensing
to identify invasive plant infestations.
In an era of shrinking government
support for weed eradication, remote
sensing can help fill the gap for restoration programs. Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) build upon field data and
the use of vegetative indices can guide
both survey and treatment. Many universities and colleges have GIS programs.
For example, American River College in
Sacramento has GIS work experience slots
for 48 students a year. Many GIS students

are former professionals working to build
new skills. These students can help build
your organizational capabilities. The
newest version of the most commonly
used mapping software, ArcGIS 10, can
implement the most common vegetative
indices. Vegetative indices literally show
us things our eyes cannot see.
The methods used in this study are
easily repeatable. While high-end image
processing software is prohibitively expensive for agencies and non-profits, free or
low cost access is available to students. In
this case, the total project software cost
was less than $200. Community college
GIS programs make good partners.
The students benefit from real world
Two examples using National
Agricultural Information Program
data. At left: Medusahead populations
(small, dark dots) on a 2009 image of
New Hogan Lake, Calaveras, County.
Below: Blue oak-chaparral community.
From left to right the circled signatures
are blue oak (Quercus douglassi), interior
live oak (Quercus wislizeni), chamise
(Adenostoma fasciculatum), and manzanita
(Arctostaphylos viscida). NAIP imagery is
acquired every year during the spring and
is public domain. Photos: J. Alford.

Medusahead’s common name derives
from Medusa and her hair of snakes in
Greek mythology. Photo: Zoya Akulova,
Cal-IPC Photo Contest 2011
conditions and also produce materials for
an effective portfolio. Wildlands managers
benefit by adding to their weed management tools.

Methods
The study site is New Hogan Lake,
Calaveras County, California. It is
managed for recreation and flood control
by the Army Corps of Engineers. The
Corps has an aggressive weed removal
program. However; they are hampered
by a lack of botanical staff. The site is
highly disturbed by historic and current
mining, dam operations and roads. The
grasslands are typical of central California
low elevations: they are dominated by
Eurasian plants. In this case, the highly
invasive medusahead grass, Taeniatherum
caput-medusae, dominates grasslands of
intermediate disturbance.
We used ENVI 4.8 (ITT Visual
Solutions, 2010) for image processing
and ArcGIS 10 (ESRI, 2009) for mapping, although all described tasks can
be completed with only ArcGIS 10.
Data were obtained from the California
Geospatial Clearing House (atlas.ca.gov/
imagerySearch.html). We used free imagery
from the United States Department
of Agriculture’s National Agricultural
Information Program (NAIP). These are
…continued page 12

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

New control manual for 350 weed species
by Joe DiTomaso, Department of Plant Science, UC Davis, jmditomaso@ucdavis.edu
[Look for this amazing new reference on our
website and at the Symposium this October!]

hile several publications provide
detailed information on the
management of weeds in agricultural
systems, there is currently no
comprehensive book that provides control
options for invasive and weedy species
in natural areas. This year, the first such
book will be published by the Weed
Research and Information Center at UC
Davis (wric.ucdavis.edu).
Weed Control Handbook for Natural
Areas in the Western United States covers
~350 species of weeds that invade or
cause problems in wildland and natural
areas, rangelands, grasslands, pastures,
riparian and aquatic areas across thirteen
western states, including California. It’s
expected to retail for approximately $30.
The species chosen were those on the state
noxious weed lists of the western states,
as well as other non-crop weeds that are
frequently problematic in natural areas of
the western U.S.
The book describes chemical,
mechanical, biological and cultural
Bentgrass continued…
begin in late February, assuming dry soil
conditions, but prohibited grazing after
mid-March unless a survey determined
the absence of nesting grassland birds.
However the rains did not begin until
March and continued through early April.
By the time the ground was sufficiently
dry, nesting in the tall grasses was underway and grazing within the easement area
was restricted. Bentgrass was left to thrive
and multiply.
Such challenges aside, bentgrass has
now reached a level at which it cannot
be controlled by grazing and mowing
alone. NRCS recognizes the problem
and is working with SLT and the San
Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge (the
future owner of the site) to prepare a plan
for more direct control. This is likely to
include a change in water management

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

control options for each species. This
information is based on peer-reviewed
and non-peer-reviewed literature and
the personal experience of the authors.
Extensive internet searches located
multiple credible sources for detailed
information on invasive plant control.
The authors summarized what they
considered to be the most relevant and
practical control options for each plant.
Our goal is to provide as many options
as possible, with the hope that at least
a few can achieve the desired objective
for a given situation when assessed in an
Integrated Pest Management approach.
While the bulk of the text is dedicated
to providing control options, the book
also includes information on the range
of control techniques and equipment
used in natural areas, as well as safety
and environmental considerations,
herbicide characteristics, rainfast periods,
and grazing and haying restrictions for
terrestrial herbicides, a list of species with
biological control agents either available
or under development, and helpful
conversion tables. The chemical control

(e.g. no impoundment), application of
herbicide, and seeding with native grasses.
Will this mean that the original shorebird
goals will have to be modified? Possibly.
In the same manner that SLT has modified its management practices (grazing,
mowing, flooding) to achieve habitat
goals, it may be that the goals themselves
must change to respond to altered
conditions.
The fact that rapid changes in land
management can lead to weed invasions
is not novel. Nor is the fact that artificial
changes to hydrology (i.e. prolonged
water impoundment) is a form of disturbance. But at North Parcel these lessons
have surfaced again and we as a land
management community are reminded
of the need to continually learn, modify,
and adapt our management with changing
conditions.

options include recommended rate,
timing and any remarks or cautions.
I led a team of authors which included
a range of individuals that conduct
research on the control of invasive
plants and other non-crop weeds: Lars
Anderson from USDA, Tim Prather
from the University of Idaho, Tim Miller
from Washington State University, and
University of California Cooperative
Extension experts including Guy
Kyser, Scott Oneto, Steve Orloff, John
Roncoroni, Rob Wilson, Steve Wright,
Katie Wilson, and Jeremiah Mann.
The field of invasive plant
management is dynamic, with new species
appearing each year and new control
techniques being developed by researchers
and field practitioners. Our objective
is to update and reprint the handbook
about every three years so the information
stays current. This will also allow us to
improve the handbook with the feedback
we receive from those who use this new
resource.

Resources
Bauder, E.T., Snapp-Cook, J., Sakrison, J.,
Detwiler, P. 2002. A study on Agrostis avenacea
in vernal pools on Marine Corps Air Station
Miramar, San Diego, California.
Best, C., Howell, J.T., Knight, W. & I. and
Wells, M. 1996. A Flora of Sonoma County.
California Native Plant Society.
Goals Project. 1999. Baylands Ecosystem Habitat
Goals. First Reprint. U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, San Francisco, Calif./S.F. Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Wetland and Water Resources. 2009. 2007-2008
Year-five monitoring and five-year summary
monitoring report. North Parcel and Leonard
Ranch seasonal wetlands enhancement project
Sonoma County, California.
Zedler, P. and Black, C. 2004. Exotic plant invasions in an endemic-rich habitat: The spread of
an introduced Australian grass, Agrostis avenacea
J.F. Gmel., in California vernal pools. Austral
Ecology 29, 537-546.

Update on the California Aquatic Pesticide Permit:
Déjà vu all over again?
by Michael Blankinship, Blankinship & Associates, Inc., Davis, CA

ave you ever been on a trip and
swear that you have been there before? Things for some reason just seem to
have that eerie look of familiarity. It’s easy
to get that same feeling with the ongoing
evolution of environmental permitting for
weed management work in or near water.
Application of herbicides to “waters
of the United States” requires a permit
issued by the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB). This affects
invasive plant management projects
taking place near open water. Since 2002,
we have learned to live with the current
NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System) aquatic pesticide
permit. It has become familiar and largely
workable to us.
The existing permit is currently being
re-drafted by the SWRCB. The goal is to
“catch-up” and develop consistency with
other recently adopted permit requirements for vector (e.g. mosquito) and
aquatic animal applications.
Early indications suggest that the new
permit is similar in many ways to the old
permit. The Association of California
Water Agencies Aquatic Pesticide Work
Group has worked to help SWRCB staff
better understand what it takes to control
aquatic vegetation. The soon-to-bereleased draft permit requirements reflect
plenty of dialogue on how to reasonably
“bracket,” measure and report potential
impacts to water quality without invoking
expensive and often confounding techniques like toxicity testing. Keep an eye
out for the public review version of the
draft at www.swrcb.ca.gov/water_issues/
programs/npdes/aquatic.shtml sometime
this summer, and be prepared to comment
and contribute to the final permit that
will be used for the 2013 weed season.

Permit Benefits
What do you get out of this permit except more paper and a hit to your budget?
Simply put: Protection from potential

Think you have a permit? Better double check!
There is ongoing confusion between staff at the SWCRB and the Regional Water
Quality Control Boards on permit payment and issuance. Anyone that is not
listed by the SWRCB is not enrolled and is not covered by the permit. To review
the permittee list:
1. Go to the website ciwqs.waterboards.ca.gov/ciwqs/readOnly/PublicReportGeneral
OrderServlet?inCommand=reset.
2. Type “2004-0009-DWQ” in the Order Number box, click Run Report and
click on the number value under the “No. of Active Enrollees” column.
3. Review the report for your organization’s name. If you are not listed, or are
listed as inactive, contact your local RWQCB to resolve the problem.
lawsuits. The citizen lawsuit provision of
the Clean Water Act provides an opportunity for anyone (such as environmental
advocacy groups) to sue you if they feel
you have adversely impacted water quality.
Although not bullet-proof, the permit
provides significant defense and “coverage” against such legal action.

What can go into water? Only 11
herbicides are approved for aquatic use in
California, and of those only a few such as
glyphosate and imazapyr are in common
use by restoration workers. Surfactants are
restricted to non-ionic varieties.
Contact the author at mike@h2osci.com.

Pesticides have been approved for use in Lake Tahoe. The State Water Resource
Control Board recently approved an amendment that would allow aquatic pesticides to
be used in Lake Tahoe to preserve public health and combat invasive species (especially
an aquatic plant, Eurasian watermilfoil). This is a considerable change, given that
the previous versions of the Basin Plan did not allow the use of aquatic herbicides.
The amendment must be approved by the U.S. EPA and California’s Office of
Administrative Law before it can be implemented. Photo by Elizabeth Brusati

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Thank You for Supporting our Work!
Recent Donors

New Members

Your tax-deductible donations are
extremely valuable in supporting our
programs. Thank you!

As a Cal-IPC Member, you join a
powerful network of land managers,
researchers, volunteers, and concerned
citizens. Welcome!

Champion ($250-$499)
Jason Giessow (Encinitas)
Shawn Kelly (Oxnard)

Friend (up to $99)
Marcia Basalla (Novato)
Doug Johnson (Albany)
United Way (Sacramento)

Ann Lopez (Fontana)
Jason Erlich (San Diego)
Linda Stamer (Fawnskin)
Joanne Whitney (San Francisco)
Menuhati Kemma’atah (San Diego)
Matt Weiser (Sacramento)
Alicia Funk (Nevada City)

Medusahead continued…

Results and Discussion

aircraft derived four-band images (Red,
Green, Blue and Infrared) with one meter
resolution. NAIP images are acquired
during the height of the growing season,
typically May to June. California has
excellent coverage because of the importance of its agriculture to the nation.

Examination of the NDVItransformed data allowed identification
of woody plants to species. We found
that blue oak (Quercus douglassi), interior
live oak (Quercus wislizeni), chamise
(Adenostoma fasciculatum), and manzanita (Arctostaphylous viscida) were easily
identifiable in the NDVI image (see
photo).

Data were transformed by the application of the Normalized Difference
Vegetative Index (NDVI). The algorithm
is NDVI = (Red – IR)/ (Red + IR). The
NDVI was developed in the 1970s to
predict famines in developing regions
(Jensen 2005). Since that time, more
than two dozen vegetative indices have
come into use. The NDVI works because
plants absorb red wavelengths and reflect
infrared, both by a better than five to
one ratio (Jones and Vaughan 2010).
ArcGIS 10 provides NDVI as a built-in
transformation.
We surveyed for pure medusahead
stands greater than 1 m2 and easily found
214 data points. Maps were produced
with these data points upon NDVItransformed NAIP imagery and subjected
to expert inspection. Additionally, a
ten-class K-means unsupervised classification was performed. Classifications are
procedures based upon individual pixel
statistics. They simply divide the pixels
into groups mechanistically through typical statistical classification procedures.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Medusahead can be controlled
with fire and mowing at the soft-seed
stage. The study site has a tight urban
interface, making fire an unlikely choice.
We produced maps with medusahead
data points plotted on the NDVI images.
Inspection of these images resulted in the
following treatment prescriptions:
1. Mow intermittent watercourses
in Acorn campground. Water
courses were easily identifiable in
the NDVI. The development of this
campground created a hydrological
impediment that facilitated medusahead infestation by providing the
late spring saturated soils it prefers.
The hydrological impediment also
facilitated an infestation of perennial
pepper weed.
2. Mow intermittently flooded banks.
These regularly disturbed areas
provide a metapopulation source for
upland infestations. Medusahead
density is many thousands of stems

per meter squared in these areas.
3. Establish an area to experiment on
alternative medusahead treatments.
The recommended area is a 12.7
acre site near a monoculture of
medusahead.
Examination of classification results
found that 100% of our medusahead
points fell in only 20% of the classes.
This suggests that the further refinement by ground truthing plots could
produce a hybrid classification predictive
of infested sites. Further iterations may
produce a reliable model for medusahead
populations at this site (Ray 1994).
Remote sensing capabilities can greatly
assist in the identification, treatment
and modeling of plant invasions. Recent
improvements in mapping software have
increased remote sensing capabilities and
democratized access to these techniques.
We all understand that a proper releve or
plot assessment requires a bird’s eye view.
Remote sensing can add a new layer of
information to an even larger bird’s eye
view than any plot system alone could
provide.
This project was conceived as a community college GIS remote sensing class
project. Involving student interns in your
GIS work has the potential to improve
your organization capabilities. Investing
time in befriending professors or speaking
to classes may find you students to do
similar projects.

Resources
ESRI. 2009. ArcGIS, Redlands, CA, ESRI.
ITT. 2010. ENVI. Boulder, CO, ITT Visual
Information Solutions.
Jensen, J. 2005. Introductory Digital Image
Processing. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson
Prentice Hall.
Jones, H. and R. Vaughan. 2010. Remote Sensing
of Vegetation. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Ray, T. 1994. A FAQ on Vegetation in Remote
Sensing. Retrieved June 24, 2011, from www.
yale.edu/ceo/Documentation/rsvegfaq.html.
USDA. 2009. National Agricultural Information
Program.

Contact the author at jim.alford@comcast.
net

Shelterbelt
All-Terrain IPM
Services
www.ShelterbeltBuilders.com

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Readings &
Resources

data. Groups can be open to the public
or by invitation only. Members can share
observations before they are made public.
www.calflora.org/entry/applications2.html

Know of a resource that should be shared
here? Send it to edbrusati@cal-ipc.org.

Biofuels Risk

Updated Mapping Handbook
The California Weed Mapping
Handbook, originally published in 2002,
has been updated by the Sonoma Ecology
Center as a new online version, now with
a standardized field form and accompanying spreadsheet. www.calweedmappinghandbook.org

New Calflora Functions
The Calflora Database recently added
two new functions. First, species pages
now display the annual bloom periods
for more than 9000 plants. Users can
also search for plants that bloom in a
particular month. Second, users can now
join or start groups for collaborating on

“Growing Risk: Addressing the Invasive
Potential of Bioenergy Feedstocks”, a
new report from the National Wildlife
Federation, explores the challenges and
policy solutions surrounding the use
of non-native and potentially invasive
bioenergy crops. www.nwf.org/growingrisk

Control Database
The Midwestern Invasive Plant Network
has produced an online database of
control methods for 40 invasive plant species. Features include a rating of efficacy
for each control method after one year of
treatment. mipncontroldatabase.wisc.edu

Climate Change FAQ
Confused about climate change projections? The US Forest Service has released

“Climate Projections FAQ” to help land
managers understand what climate projections are, their strengths and limitations,
and to provide some guidance regarding
how climate projections might be used for
climate change impact studies. www.fs.fed.
us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr277.pdf

UC Extension Resources
“Wildflowers” is a growing educational
resource for people who are interested in
land management in Southern California,
hosted by UC Cooperative Extension.
wildflowers.ucanr.org/Wildflowers/Home.
html

Wildflower Blog
If you want to improve your botanic knowledge, check out this blog by a
woman in Marin County who is learning
one local plant each day. She includes
photos and information about each plant,
covering both natives and non-natives.
flowersofmarin.wordpress.com

Cal-IPC’s Habitat Restoration Workdays
Gain hands-on field experience controlling invasive plants
at Cal-IPC’s Habitat Restoration Workdays, conducted in
partnership with land management organizations across
the state! Discuss the theory behind various invasive plant
control techniques and practice these techniques under
expert guidance. These half-day events can also be counted
toward your Wildland Manager certificate.

2012 Schedule
• Friday, August 24
Arcata (Humboldt County)
Early Detection Mapping in Dunes Habitat
• Saturday, September 29,
Felton (Santa Cruz County)
Woody Plant Control Tools at Old Quarry Site
• Saturday, October 20,
Chico (Butte County)
Manual Methods for Removing Invasive Trees
• Saturday, November 3,
Tiburon/Corte Madera (Marin County)
Mapping Methods for New Invaders

Tarping to control purple velvet grass (Holcus lanatus) during
a Habitat Restoration Workday in the Presidio, San Francisco.

• Saturday, December 8
Big Sur (Monterey County)
Control Methods for Cape Ivy and Periwinkle

Find more information and register at: cal-ipc.org/fieldcourses
14

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

The WILDLAND WEED CALENDAR
August-October
Ecological Society of America Annual Mtg
August 5-10
Portland, Oregon
www.esa.org/portland
Rangeland & Livestock Management
August 20-31
Swanton Pacific Ranch, Davenport
rrutherf@calpoly.edu
UC Davis Aquatic Weed School
September 5-6
Davis
wric.ucdavis.edu

Natural Areas Conference
October 9-12
Norfolk, Virginia
www.naturalarea.org/12conference
Cal-IPC’s 21st Annual Symposium
October 10-13
Rohnert Park
www.cal-ipc.org
North American Weed Mgmt. Assoc. Conf.
October 29-November 1
Branson, Missouri
www.nawma.org

November – December

California Estuarine Research Federation
September 27-28
Long Beach
online.sfsu.edu/~caers/

Russian River Watershed Symposium
November 2
Cloverdale
rrsymposium@yahoo.com

Southern California Botanists Symposium
October 6
San Marino
wwww.socalbot.org/symposia.php

Central California Invasive Weed Symp.
November 8
Felton, Santa Cruz County
symposium@yahoo.com

2013
CNPS Vegetation Mapping Course
January 2013
UC Berkeley
cnps.org/cnps/education/workshops/
USDA Forum on Invasive Species
January 10-13
Annapolis, Maryland
www.nrs.fs.fed.us/disturbance/invasive_species/
interagency_forum/
Northern California Botanists Symposium
January 14-16
Chico
www.norcalbotanists.org
California Weed Science Society Conf.
January 23-25
Sacramento
www.cwss.org
Weed Science Society of America Meeting
February 4-7
Baltimore, Maryland
www.wssa.net

Quotable
“Usually just provided with one perspective, the public [has] largely accepted the

idea that non-natives, as a group, are noxious and undesirable… Efforts to vilify nonnative species by misrepresenting their effects are ultimately counterproductive, as is the
use of pejorative language to describe them… When there is no demonstrable harm—
and instead simply ecological change—a much more sensible approach to non-native
species is to learn to live with them.”
~ Dr. Mark Davis, Macalester College, “Harm is in the Eye of the Beholder”. This essay and the one
quoted below were presented as a point/counterpoint feature in Earth Island Journal (Winter 2012).

“Naysayers are unlikely to make much scientific headway, given the demonstrated

costs of invasions on the ground and the remarkable finds of hundreds of scientists
worldwide who have turned their attention over the last two decades to detailed study
of invasions. However, it doesn’t take much for a few credentialed scientists to influence
policymakers, particularly when the policymakers are glad, for political reasons, to be
able to justify not acting.”
~ Dr. Daniel Simberloff, Univ. of Tennessee, “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure”

Cal-IPC News Summer 2012

Non-Profit Org.
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Permit No. 1435

California
Invasive Plant
Council
1442-A Walnut Street, #462
Berkeley, CA 94709
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