CalEPPC
News
A quarterly
publication
of the California
Exotic Pest Plant Council
Volume 5 Number 1
Winter 1997
IN THIS ISSUE
Presidents Message
by Carla Bossard …….. p. 3
Several members of the Habitat Restoration Team in Peñasquitos Canyon
Preserve after cutting down a date palm tree (safety equipment not shown).
Thousands of palm trees have invaded the Preserve from three main loci.
Canary Island Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis) invaded from a planting of two
in the courtyard of the historic adobe ranch house. Fan Palm (Washingtonia
robusta) have invaded from homes on the rim of the Preserve in two locations.
If palms are cut low enough, no herbicide is needed to kill them. Cut at the
point or below where the green fronds meet the dead fronds in order to cut
through the apical meristem.
Photo by Mike Kelly.
Lessons From the Front
by Mike Kelly …………. p. 4
CalEPPC Symposium 97
in the Bay Area ………. p. 7
Everlasting Sleeper
by Jake Sigg ………….. p. 7
Team Arundo del Norte
by Paul Jones, EPA ….. p. 9
Letters to the Editor .. p. 10
CalEPPC News
Who We Are
CalEPPC NEWS is published quarterly
by the California Exotic Pest Plant
Council, a non-profit organization. The
objects of the organization are to:
j provide a focus for issues and
concerns regarding exotic pest
plants in California;
j facilitate communication and the
exchange of information regarding
all aspects of exotic pest plant
control and management;
j provide a forum where all interested
parties may participate in meetings
and share in the benefits from the
information generated by this
council;
Officers
1997 CalEPPC Officers and
Board Members
President
Ann Howald
Vice-president
Mike Kelly
Secretary
John Randall
Treasurer
Mike Pitcairn
Past-president
Carla Bossard
Board Members whose terms expire December 31, 1997
Editor
Sally Davis
Stella Humphries
j promote public understanding
regarding exotic pest plants and
their control;
Nelroy Jackson
Jo Kitz
j serve as an advisory council regarding funding, research, management
and control of exotic pest plants;
j facilitate action campaigns to
monitor and control exotic pest
plants in California; and
Jeff Lovich
Greg Archbald
Joe Balciunas
Carl Bell
Joe DiTomaso
Steve Harris
Working Group Chairpersons
The California Exotic Pest Plant Council is a
California 501(c)3 non-profit, public benefit
corporation organized to provide a focus for issues
and concerns regarding exotic pest plants in
California, and is recognized under federal and state
tax laws a qualified donee for tax deducible
charitable contributions.
Page 2 Winter 1997
31872 Joshua Dr., No. 25D, Trabuco Canyon, CA
92679; 714.888.8541; email: sallydavis@aol.com
Presidio World College, P.O. Box 29502, SanFrancisco, CA 94129-0502; 415.561.6590
400 So. Ramona Ave., No 212H, Corona, CA
91719; 909.279.7787;
email: nejack@ccmail.monsanto.com
6223 Lubao Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367;
818.346.9675; email: mtnsrt@aol.com
USGS Biological Resources Div., 63500 Garnet
Ave., No. Palm Springs, CA 2258;619.251.4823;
email: jeffrey_lovich@nbs.gov
Board Members whose terms expire December 31, 1998
j review incipient and potential pest
plant management problems and
activities and provide relevant
information to interested parties.
Please Note:
210 Chestnut Ave., Sonoma, CA 95476;
707.939.0775; email:
102062.170@compuserve.com
11875 River Rim Rd., San Diego, CA 92126;
619.566.6489; email: mkellysd@aol.com
TNC Wildland Weeds Mgmt., UC Section of Plant
Biology, Davis, CA 95616; 916.754.8890; email:
jarandall@ucdavis.edu
CDFA, 3288 Meadowview Road,
Sacramento, CA 95832; 916.262.2049;
email:mpitcairn@smpt1.dfa.ca.gov
St. Marys College, Dept. of Biology, P.O. Box 4507,
Moraga, CA 94575; 916.758.1602; email:
egbossard@aol.com
Database
Membership
Nursery growers/landscape
architects liaison
Slide Collection
Species Mgmnt & Control:
Arundo
Brooms
German ivy/hoary cress
Lepidium
Pampas grass
Yellow starthistle
Tamarisk
GGNPA, Fort Mason, Bldg. 201, San Francisco, CA
94123; 415.673.4067, Ext. 25;
email: greg_archbald@ggnpa.org
USDA Biocontrol, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA
94710; 510.559.5975; email: joebalci@pw.usda.gov
UC Coop Ext., 1050 E. Holton Rd., Holtville, CA
92250; 619.352.9474; email: cebell@ucdavis.edu
UC Weed Science Prog., 210 Robbins Hall, Davis,
CA 95616; 916.754.8715; email:
ditomaso@vegmail.ucdavis.edu
P.O. Box 341, Arcata, CA 95518-0341;
707.826.2709; email: sharris@igc.org
Steve Harris
Sally Davis
707.826.2709
714.888.8541
Dan Songster
Tony Bomkamp
714.895.8161
714.837.0404
Nelroy Jackson
Carla Bossard
Dave Chipping
and Greg Archbald
Joel Trumbo
Quentin Griffiths
Mike Pitcairn
Bill Neill
and Jeff Lovich
909.279.7787
916.758.1602
805.528.0362
415.673.4067, Ext.25
916.355.0128
510.235.6501
916.262.2049
281.287.5246
619.251.4823
CalEPPCs web site: http://www.igc.apc.org/ceppc/index.html
CalEPPC News
Presidents Message
Ann Howald, President
As I write this in early January,
northern and central California are
beginning to dry out after the New
Years floods, and the Santa Ana
winds that plagued southern California have died down. These events
are termed natural disasters for
the substantial human harm they
cause, but in fact, flooding and wind
storms are just natural phenomena
that have shaped Californias diverse
geography and biology over eons.
One thing that IS now different is
that armies of exotic pest plants are
ready, willing and able to invade the
newly expose mud, the jumbled
landslides, and the eroded riverbanks
that this winters tempests left
behind. Hurry! Pull on your boots
and get out there, for there is much
to be done in 1997.
A bit of a retrospective…1996 was
CalEPPCs fifth year, and many of
us think it was the best year so far.
Our membership was larger in 1996
than ever before and it continues to
grow, a sign that more people know
about and share our concerns.
CalEPPC co-sponsored several
workshops on exotic pest plants,
including a tamarisk workshop in
Rancho Mirage, a broom workshop
in Portland, Oregon and several
Arundo workshops. The second
edition of CalEPPCs list, Exotic
Pest Plants of Greatest Concern in
California* was published and
distributed to all members, as well as
other interested parties. Based on
the mail I have received, it has been
widely read and reviewed. Also, our
members approved an increase in
the size of our Board of Directors
which will allow the board to accomplish even more than we have in the
past.
CalEPPC Symposium 96, held in
San Diego, was attended by nearly
300 people, including a substantial
contingent of new members from
southern California. Welcome to
CalEPPC! I hope you will join us in
the Bay Area for Symposium 97.
Many have told me that Symposium
96 was the best one yet! And let
me again thank Mike Kelly, the
organizer, and all of our speakers,
and everyone who helped make the
symposium happen. Our keynote
speaker, Dr. Michael Barbour, gave
us his insights on the appearance of
Californias landscapes before the
invaders. Other symposium presentations covered exotics in Arizona
and California deserts, a survey of
international weed control projects,
weed prevention and control policies
in Australia, traits that distinguish
invasive from non-invasive plants,
the evolution of increased competitive abilities in invasive plants,
wildlife as weeds, exotic plants in
vernal pools, the pros and cons of
mechanical weed control by volunteers, a chemical explanation for
herbicide selectivity, and control of
tamarisk and Arundo in southern
California. A special session reviewed all aspects of yellow
starthistle biology and control.
Posters covered an array of topics
including results from a variety of
new control experiments. Field trips
included expeditions to 1) Camp
Pendleton, Bonsall Land Preserve
and Fallbrook NWS; and 2) Torrey
Pines State Park and Mission Trails
Regional Park. For those who were
unable to attend Symposium 96,
the proceeds will be published.
Expect them in mid-year.*
In closing, let me say that I look
forward to the privilege of represent-
ing the members of our vibrant and
active organization. If I, or any of
the board members can assist you,
please let us know. Were here to
serve you, to educate the public, and
Were here to
serve you, to
educate you,
and to protect
California…
to protect Californias legendary
landscapes and bountiful biological
diversity from the threats of invasive
exotic plants. I wish all of you the
best in your weed whacking adventures for 1997!
*(You may order Greatest Pest Plants
of Greatest Concern in California in
any quantity, at no-cost from the
editor. Proceedings can be ordered
from the editor at the nominal cost of
$10.00).
Winter 1997 Page 3
CalEPPC News
Lessons from the Front:
Taking Stock to Avoid Surprises
Mike Kelly, President of the Friends of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve,
A San diego-based volunteer conservation group
What a nasty surprise it was. I
came back from the Fall 1992
inaugural CalEPPC Symposium
feeling lucky that we didnt have that
nasty German ivy (Senecio
mikanioides) we had seen on the
Morro Bay field trip. Not! Or the
weed from hell, giant reed (Arundo
donax). Not!
You get the picture. We hadnt
done our homework. We didnt
know which weed problems we had
or didnt have. And, if you dont
have an accurate inventory of your
weeds, can you be prioritizing your
scarce resources intelligently? Weve
learned some lessons about taking
inventory of our plant resources native and non-native – that may be
of use to others managing wildlands.
I believe it was at the second
CalEPPC conference that our then
president, John Randall, gave a
presentation on managing weed
problems on a preserve level. It was
an excellent talk. Perhaps John can
be persuaded to dig out his notes
and write it up as an article for
CalEPPC News. Because of several
nasty weed surprises, our group took
Johns suggestions to heart and
planned an inventory of Los
Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve.
Diverse Weeds Reflect a
Diverse Park
Our weeds are many and are to
be found in many habitats, both
disturbed and undisturbed. This
should be no surprise. Our weed
problems reflect the diversity of
native habitats on the one hand and
our history of human use patterns
on the other. Peñasquitos Canyon
Page 4 Winter 1997
Preserve is about 3,700 acres and
growing. Its a jointly owned and
managed City of San Diego and
County of San Diego Park. Its a
linear, east to west trending park,
about ½ mile wide at its widest and
about 7 miles long, with two main,
parallel canyons joining near its west
end. It has numerous side canyons,
generally trending north to south
and south to north into the two
main canyons. It has Peñasquitos
Creek, historically seasonal, but
year-round due to impact from
surrounding development; and
Lopez Creek, still a seasonal creek
with isolated, summer pools.
Some 14 distinct habitat types
have been identified, resulting from
the fact the preserve starts near the
coast where rainfall often averages
5-6 inches a year, to near inland
where it averages about 9 inches a
year, to inland where rainfall is as
much as 15 inches a year. The
geology is just as varied, with some
25 soil types mapped throughout
the park. Wetlands include vernal
pools, brackish marsh, freshwater
marsh, oak riparian forest, sycamore-willow riparian, eucalyptuswillow riparian and willow riparian.
Chaparral types range from the
extremely rare southern maritime
chaparral to the common scrub oak
and chamise chaparral. Coastal sage
scrub is abundant, including a
subtype dominated by the rare
California spine bush (Adolphia
californica). We have native grasslands, European annual grasslands
and mixtures of the two. The preserve is home to endangered and
rare species of both plants and
animals, including the California
gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica),
San Diego horned lizard
(Phrynosoma coronatum
blainvillei), Mesa mint (Pogogyni
abramsii), Poway or thin mint
(Monardella linoides viminea), San
Diego thorn mint (Acanthomintha
ilicifolia) and others.
In other words, there is a great
diversity of habitats for weeds to
invade, and they have. Modern
human use of the preserve may date
from the 1770s, when it is thought
to have been used for grazing
mission-owned cattle. Intensive
grazing has been confirmed from
1823 on, when it was part of the
first Mexican-era land grant deeded
in Southern California. From that
time, grazing, ranching and some
agricultural activities were carried on
until grazing was ended in the late
1980s. The area most impacted by
human activity, including weeds, was
the historic adobe ranch house area
in the eastern half. The reserve
didnt formally begin as a park until
1976 and even then, it began with
only about 1,100 acres. It was a
new type of park, one that was to be
resource based, but allowing passive
recreation such as hiking and riding
horses. At the time, most city and
county parks in San Diego County
were managed for recreation above
all else, including camping. This
unique mission explains the slowness
in the development of a management plan, and the lack of emphasis
on combating weeds or restoring
native habitat for many years. In
fact, our group, the Friends of Los
Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve,
CalEPPC News
Lessons from the Front
(Contd)
began restoring native habitats
pretty much by ourselves.
Deciding Where to Begin
We gathered up existing biology
surveys of the preserve. Several
good ones had been done by competent biologists. No one, however,
had pulled them all together. None
of the surveys were complete,
reflecting the limited resources that
had been available to develop them.
No management plans existed for
the preserve, although one was in
the planning. We decided to ground
truth the existing biological inventories, focusing on both the native and
non-native plants. Wildlife surveys
came later. With the help of volunteers, including professional biologists and botanists, as well as naturalists, we surveyed the park. We
quickly expanded the plant list to
about 500 taxa, of which some 23
percent were non-native. We have
no average of native versus nonnative biomass or cover. Most of our
early surveying was what done by
what I would call the easy method using existing trails and utility roads
to survey the obvious. Some habitats
lend themselves to a gross overview,
including our chaparral, coastal sage
scrub and grasslands. Its easy to
observe them in big sections at a
time and spot well-known weeds.
However, we missed some important
weeds this way, especially in the
riparian area and in side canyons
without formal trails.
Getting Beyond the Obvious the Fine Art of Bushwhacking
We decided to do a comprehensive and thorough survey of our
creek in a systematic fashion. We
decided that we couldnt see enough
of the riparian habitat in the preserve by staying on existing trails
and crossings – we were missing too
much. Yet the creek and surrounding
riparian presented practical problems. The creek isnt big enough to
float a boat down, yet is too deep
for wading in many places. Often,
thick stands of cattails (Typha
domingensis and T. latifolia) and
sedges (Scirpus ssp.) made passage
difficult. Much of the adjacent
habitat is dense and dominated by
poison oak (Toxicodenron
diversilobum). We fielded teams of
4-5 volunteers. Their task was to
describe the vegetation, from the
ground cover on up to the canopy
by dominant plants, but to take
special note of exotics and rare
plants. A GPS (Global Positioning
System) was used to periodically
locate the teams position.
The team also took basic
measurements of the water, including temperature, pH, salinity, depth
This often
involved bushwhacking along
and off game
tails, up and
down steep
slopes. Volunteers loved it.
and girth of pools (potential turtle
habitat), and width. Algal cover and
bank conditions were noted, as were
seeps and springs, storm drain
outlets, fish and crustacean species,
animal runs, etc. To be thorough
and not miss a foot of the creek, we
put a team into the water. This team
walked and swam the stream while
keeping contact with others who
recorded data on the banks using
micro tape recorders. While the
team on the banks often had to
leave the stream to go around thick
brush, especially poison oak, the
team in the water was able to stay in
the water with very few exceptions.
When the warm water of late summer/early fall gave way to colder
winter temperatures we donned wet
suits. Volunteers loved it. It was a
lot of fun and the usefulness seemed
obvious to participants and others. It
took 12 sessions the first year,
averaging about four hours, to cover
seven miles of stream. It took almost
as many hours to transcribe the data
tapes later. A similar survey was
conducted of two miles of our
upstream drainage the following
year. The upstream drainage is
outside the park, but is being conserved as open space.
Following the stream surveys we
also penetrated the many finger
canyons and drainages. This often
involved bushwhacking along and off
game trails, up and down steep
slopes. Again, volunteers love this
opportunity to see places they
normally wouldnt. We ground
truthed a sensitive species map we
inherited, and surveyed for exotics at
the same time. From both types of
surveys, we came away with an
accurate picture of the health of the
riparian and non-riparian habitats,
both in and out of the water, species
coverage and problems challenging
the system.
Continued on next page
Winter 1997 Page 5
CalEPPC News
Lessons from the Front
(Contd)
Riparian Surprises
While pros and nonpros alike
who participated in the survey were
pleased to see the riparian in overall
good shape, with a great diversity of
species, we encountered several
nasty surprises in the riparian area.
We found Brazilian pepper (Schinus
terebinthifolia) in large patches and
scattered along many miles of the
creek. This exotic is one of two trees
destroying the Florida Everglades,
meleluca being the other. We had no
idea this tree was spreading in our
preserve. We have since confirmed it
in other riparian areas in San Diego.
In retrospect this shouldnt have
been surprising, since this pepper
tree is a favorite ornamental, found
on many streets and in many yards
throughout the city. Our infestation,
however, were manageable in size.
We found German ivy in the
upstream drainage in about seven
locations, but all within 1/4 mile of
each other. We have since confirmed this highly invasive vine in a
number of locations in San Diego. It
has already taken over a preserve in
nearby Bonsall, California. This was
an incipient invasion in our preserve, less than an acre total coverage among the seven locations.
We found moderate infestations
of giant reed in the upstream creek,
outside the park. We found none in
the main canyon, but did find several
patches in the smaller López Canyon. It was possible to trace these
patches back to their likely source: a
home on the rim of the preserve.
We discovered a domestic iris in
thick patches in the willow understory along a mile or so of the creek.
Because of our survey we have an
accurate picture of where this started
and how far it has spread.
Page 6 Winter 1997
We had previously mapped a serious
salt cedar (Tamarix ramossissima)
patch in only one easy-to-see location in the main canyon, with
scattered clumps elsewhere. However, through the new survey we
found a large infestation of mature
salt cedar in our upstream drainage.
This appeared to be older than the
previously documented downstream
problem. [Note: salt cedar is showing up all over San Diego, outside
parks, particularly on fill slopes
associated with recent development.
The irrigation being used keeps the
soil surface perfect for tamarisk. We
dont know if the source of the seed
is wind blown or as a contaminant in
hydroseed mixes that have been
cultivated in areas near salt cedar.
Salt cedar seed is so small and easily
carried long distances on the wind, it
could be either.]
Another surprise was to find Chinese elm (Ulmus parviflora) spreading along the creek. The more we
look the more we find of this tree. It
is definitely spreading and, in my
opinion, has the potential to become
a serious problem. It does not
appear to be explosive in its spread
however.
Another potential problem tree
that popped up in our upstream
drainage was Catalpa bignonioides.
Catalpa is a widely used ornamental
tree that is fast growing and capable
of topping out over willow. With its
large leaves it is capable of quickly
shading out plants beneath it. Its
distribution showed it was spreading
downstream, probably not explosively. We have since identified it in
another riparian system in the city.
Lastly, Fullers teasel (Dipsacus
sativus), a biennial exotic, appears
to be spreading in several of our
riparian areas. We say appears
since we have no long-term data on
density and spread. However, in
another local park, Marian Bear
Park, it is definitely spreading in the
exotic grasslands and quite explosively. This has not been reported
elsewhere. [We would love to receive
advice on eradicating this.]
Non-riparian Surprises
In general, our coastal sage
scrub and chaparral habitats are free
of exotics with a few exceptions.
This shouldnt be surprising since
they are not as subject to disturbances as the riparian, which is
subject to frequent flood events that
move things around and open things
up. Of course, exotic annual European grasses penetrate the coastal
sage scrub since it is a more open
habitat, colonizing the interstices. In
addition, we found thistles on and
besides a number of wildlife trails in
both habitats, probably transported
by deer and other animals. We found
Tocalote (Centaurea solstitialis), a
yellow-star thistle look-a-like and
Italian thistle (Carduus
pycnocephalus) in patches. We also
occasionally found Cardoon or Wild
artichoke (Cynara cardunculus)
colonizing interstitial spaces in both
scrub oak chaparral and coastal sage
scrub. In several cases it had already
begun to form dense clumps and
patches. Although this plant is a
grassland, rangeland invasive, our
observations show it capable of
gaining a foothold and spreading in
riparian, coastal sage scrub and
chaparral. Although it may begin in
the ecotone next to one of these
habitats, or in small openings, it is
capable of spreading since it is
rhizomatous and forms dense,
CalEPPC News
Lessons from the Front
(Contd)
underground root systems.
Triage: Prioritizing Scarce
Resources
Our inventory results led us to
change our priorities. While our
original emphasis on artichoke
thistle and tamarisk removal were
confirmed as priorities, we downgraded our pampas grass
(Cortaderia jubata) and eucalyptus
(Eucalyptus globolus) eradication
programs. We added German ivy,
giant reed and Brazilian pepper to
the priority list. Why prioritize them?
The eucalyptus and pampas grass
were not spreading as fast as several
of the new plants we discovered.
Neither had the short-term destructive potential of German ivy or giant
reed. Its unclear how fast Brazilian
pepper is spreading in our system or
the rest of San Diego. However,
given its track record in the Florida
Everglades, we decided it would be
prudent to prioritize it. Also, the
infestations of these three ranged
from light to moderate. An important factor is that all three were
more or less incipient in nature – the
ideal time to jump on a weed.
Eradication of all three was
achievable with modest resources. In
fact, all three are now under control.
We are in a maintenance mode on
all three, having treated all known
populations, stopped their reproduction and spread, and eradicated
many populations and combated
resprouts in the remaining populations. For these exotics, our inventories proved to be timely in identifying budding problems.
Technology: GPS and GIS
A GPS (Global Positioning
System) and a GIS (Geographic
Information System) are two good
tools for natural resources management, including weed management.
We used a GPS for our stream
Finding exotic
plants in a densely
vegetated system
is only half the
battle.
surveys. We are now upgrading to a
new GPS with a higher degree of
accuracy and are getting a GIS
system up and running. Finding
exotic plants in a densely vegetated
system is only half the battle. Remembering where they are and
relocating them for control efforts is
the second half. Just a few months
of growth or a flood event can
change landmarks dramatically,
making it difficult to refind populations. An accurate GPS reading can
make it much easier to refind a
problem population. Mapping this
data into a GIS system is invaluable
from a management perspective. It
gives you the ability to map all of
your exotics and display them for
easy reference. Control efforts can
be tracked this way as well. Such
visual presentations can turn up
relationships that might not be
obvious. Hot spots of multiple
infestations may point to a particular
drainage as a source of exotics and
may lead to a campaign to educate
the homeowners whose plantings
are contributing the naughty
propagules to the nearby wildlands.
We identified three such hot spots.
We already have homeowner cooperation in some places to get rid of
one of these exotics (Pampas grass).
GIS creates a record that will survive
the personnel who developed it and
who may have dropped away as
volunteers or moved on professionally.
Summary
Early exotic pest plant control
efforts in Peñasquitos Canyon
Preserve were based on the easy-tosee weed problems, but missed
potentially serious incipient infestations due to the lack of a systematic
inventory of the preserve. Subsequent inventories revealed serious
problems developing in the dense
riparian system and in several
remote finger canyons.
CalEPPC Symposium 97
to be Held in Bay Area
Mark your calendars to reserve
Columbus Day weekend, October10-12, 1997, for CalEPPC
Symposium 97. In order to keep
room charges affordable ($78.00/
night), the CalEPPC Board of
Directors has selected the Sheraton
Concord for the site of the next
symposium. The city of Concord is
accessible by BART, and air transportation is available through San
Francisco or Oakland. Full-day and
half-day field trips will tour Bay Area
restoration sites. The Program
Committee is planning an informative and entertaining program.
Details will be forthcoming.
Winter 1997 Page 7
CalEPPC News
Everlasting Sleeper
Jake Sigg
A classical example of just the
sort of plant for which the CalEPPC
Red Alert list was created is represented by an herbaceous-shrubby
composite from the coast of South
Africa, Helichrysum petiolare (syn.
H. petiolatum). There is no generally used common name, but it is
sometimes listed as licorice plant. It
is in the Inuleae (everlasting) tribe (of
the large and diverse Asteraceae)
which contains the strawflowers,
pearly everlasting, and the cudweeds
(Gnaphalium spp.). It strongly
resembles the latter except the size
of the plant and all its parts greatly
exceed any Gnaphalium growing in
California. The plant was offered by
specialist nurseries in California by
the 1960s. It is an attractive plant
which eventually can become a
meter high but sprawling much
wider (it has even been known to
climb). Branches are lax and those
touching ground root; thus it spreads
vegetatively as well as by winddispersed seed. Aromatic, roundishdeltoid leaves, dime or nickel size,
are densely matted on both surfaces
with soft white hairs. The plant
appears white, making it easy to
distinguish (except from white or
purple sage) even from great distances in most plant communities.
Flowers are cream-colored in dense
heads. Provenance, known infestations, and known tolerances indicate
potential invasiveness along the
California coast.
Helichrysum petiolare was
reported in the Del Monte forest of
Monterey County in 1969. The
1992 A Flora of the Vascular
Plants of Mendocino County cites
a population on Highway One north
of Gualala. Famed plantspeople
Arthur and Barbara Menzies reported
Page 8 Winter 1997
an infestation of the plant on the
slopes of Mount Tamalpais above
their home in Stinson Beach in
Marin County in 1968. It was
included in the Supplement to John
Thomas Howells Marin Flora the
following year. There was no
CalEPPC in 1969, nor anyone who
took further note, leaving the plant
to spread freely from what would
have been an easily eradicable patch
to todays many-acre sally into
otherwise apparently healthy
Baccharis-Artemisia dominated scrub
community covering 100 + meters
in vertical evelvation. The layering
Proceedings Available
The CalEPPC Symposium 95
Proceedings are available from the
editor for the low cost of $10.00
each, including shipping.
Orders are now being accepted for
the CalEPPC Symposium 96
Proceedings which are expected
to be printed by early summer 1997.
The cost for the 96 Proceedings is
also $10.00.
Send your request with a check
payable to CalEPPC to:
Sally Davis, 31872 Joshua Drive,
No. 25D, Trabuco Canyon, CA
92679.
If you want a copy of the Salt
Cedar Workshop Proceedings,
you can download them from:
Bell at 619.352.9474; email:
Helichrysum petiolare
(rooting of branches) habit will make
manual eradication time consuming
as its root system becomes entangled with that of the native
shrubs. How much better it would
have been to have spotted this in an
incipient stage. A small, second
Marin County colony has been
found in Tennessee Valley, approximately two miles from Stinson
Beach. CalEPPC is attempting to
develop an effective alert system to
avoid repetition of the Helichrysum
story.
Jake Sigg, 338 Ortega Street, San
Francisco 94122, 415.731.3028;
Fax 415.731.3020 (call first)
Looking for the Perfect
Gift?
Help native ecosystems and avoid
shopping all in one step! The next
time you are struggling to buy a gift
for your favorite nature lover, consider giving a membership in
CalEPPC, or a donation in that
persons honor. This is a great way
to give a gift that helps the natural
places we all love… and therefore
honor the special people in your life.
This type of consumerism is good
for nature, good for recipients, and
good for you… you wont have to go
shopping!
CalEPPC News
Team Arundo del Norte
Paul Jones, EPA
Team Arundo del Norte has been
formed in the Bay Area. We are
represented by agencies, non-profit
organizations, academia, consultants, and members of the public
whose mission and goals are as
follows:
landowners, nurseries, legislators,
etc. They will create a web site as an
electronic information resource for
use by the public via the Internet.
The committee will also explore the
creation of a video or multi-media
product for presentations to groups.
Mission:
Team Arundo del Norte is a partnership that is dedicated to the reduction and eventual elimination of
giant reed (Arundo donax) in central
and northern California where it
threatens rivers, creeks and wetlands.
2. A Science and Technical Issues
Committee will study issues related
to Arundo, including: herbicide risk
assessment, plant-plant interactions,
plant-animal interactions, soil
changes, water quality and supply
effects, eradication methods, establishing historic conditions in key
watersheds, and coordinating research. The committee will create
protocols for use in eradication
efforts and provide additional oversight as needed.
Goals:
1. To create a general awareness
about the existence and impacts of
Arundo donax.
2. To stimulate a concerted effort
to reduce and eliminate the species
in the region.
3. To conduct scientific research to
better understand the species within
the region.
4. To foster support for these goals
by those involved in government,
business, academia and with the
public at large.
5. To support efforts of others
working to control or eliminate
invasive exotic species.
6. To foster use of adaptive watershed management in local watersheds.
Objectives:
1. A Public Outreach and Education Committee will produce outreach material to targeted media,
3. A Policy, Regulations, and
Permits Committee will address
issues related to permits, mitigation
banking, etc. It will also assist in
policy coordination with other
groups (e.g., Team Arundo in
Southern California, CalEPPC, etc.).
4. A Coordination and Funding
Committee will be established to
secure and leverage funds in order to
support goals and projects of Team
Arundo del Norte, to provide oversight and feedback to help the group
benefit from its experiences, and to
disseminate information from the
PR, science, policy and eradication
committees to the various stakeholders.
5. An Eradication Committee will
provide oversight in efforts to
remove and control Arundo. Using
techniques and protocols created by
the Science Committee, they will
provide guidance for work teams
such as CCC and CDF crews as well
as citizen efforts. They will coordinate with and assist federal, state,
and local government efforts as
possible and appropriate. They will
provide feedback from these efforts
to Team Arundo members. Demonstration sites could include such sites
as: 1.) Gray Lodge State Wildlife
Refuge (low gradient, seasonal and
palustrine emergent marsh); 2.)
Union Island (levees in a riverine
setting in the Delta); 3.) Sonoma
Creek (high and low gradient riverine with agriculture and urban uses);
and 4.) Coyote Creek (low gradient,
urbanized riverine system); 5.)
Russian River (high and low gradient
riverine with agriculture and urban
uses).
We are trying to get funding for
some eradication and outreach
efforts through EPAs State Wetland
Grants program. Subscribers to the
user group should sent an email
message to:
the text subscribe [email address]
in the message to be able to receive
and send messages to Team Arundo
del Norte members.
If you have questions, please call
Paul Jones, 415-744-1976 or email:
Arundo donax
Sally Davis
Winter 1997 Page 9
CalEPPC News
Responses to Letter to the Editor,
CalEPPC News, Summer/Fall 1996
Following CalEPPCs 1996
Symposium, Cooper and others
suggested in a letter to the editor that
the symposium lacked balance, giving
too much attention to herbicides and
too little attention to mechanical
removal using volunteers. Their letter
states that they have no quarrel with
the judicious use of herbicides and
that their concern here is merely
with balance. Their letter also states,
In its apparent focus on chemical
control as the favored control technique, CalEPPC is limiting its effectiveness as a broad based advocacy
group. Their letter strongly supports
using mechanical methods of weed
control and describes the many
benefits of community-based volunteer stewardship programs.
In response, I want to say first,
that CalEPPC welcomes comments
from our members on all topics of
concern. I will try to respond to the
main concerns of the letter, in
particular, the question of balance in
symposium presentations and the
perception that CalEPPC is focusing
on chemical control as a preferred
technique.
For each of our five symposia
the program committee has attempted to include a variety of topics
and points of view having to do with
effective control of exotic pest plants.
Results from questionnaires show
that our members are interested in all
methods of weed control. However,
equal treatment of all control methods every year is difficult to achieve.
The mix of talks in a particular year
is determined by several factors,
including the meetings theme, the
availability of speakers, the meetings
location, and the topics discussed in
previous meetings. In response to the
concerns about balance expressed in
Page 10 Winter 1997
the letter from Cooper and others,
the board invited one of the signers,
Pete Holloran, to be a member of
the CalEPPC Symposium 97
Program Committee. Pete has
offered us many useful suggestions.
The program for Symposium 97 is
now finalized, but in the future, we
invite any interested member to
participate in development of the
symposium program.
With regard to the perception
that CalEPPC favors chemical
control, I want to say that from its
inception more than five years ago
CalEPPC has sought to be a big
tent organization that promotes
open discourse on all effective weed
control methods. Our bylaws state
that CalEPPC shall facilitate
communication and the exchange
of information regarding all aspects
of exotic pest plant control and
management. One of CalEPPCs
most important roles is to disseminate and examine ideas about how
to deal effectively with exotic pest
plants. The knowledge and experience of our members have demonstrated repeatedly that theres
more than one way to skin a cat
when it comes to weed control
methods. What is the best
method? In virtually every circumstance the answer is, It depends.
It depends on the weed, the location, the budget, the time frame,
and other factors. Even what is
meant by most effective is open
to debate, since there are many
different ways to measure weed
control effectiveness. CalEPPC
wants to promote an open dialogue
with regard to weed control. It has
never been our intent to focus on
any one method.
The Board recognizes that there
are many issues relating to the
impacts, efficacy, and benefits of
using herbicides, and working with
volunteers and using mechanical
removal, that need additional discussion and study. As an organization
dedicated to finding effective solutions to exotic pest plant problems,
the board invites CalEPPCs members to participate in these discussions by writing letters and articles
for CalEPPC News, or forming new
working groups to focus on these
questions, or offering suggestions for
symposium talks or panel discussions.
Ann Howald, President, writing for
CalEPPCs Board of Directors
Letter to the CalEPPC
News
I agree with Kim Coopers letter
(CalEPPC News Volume 4 No. 3)
that we need Better Ways than
chemical control which work and we
can afford. I joined CalEPPC because I feel the manufacture and sale
of products from exotic pest plants
can provide sustained, affordable
answers while creating jobs and
income. EBC Company is attempting to find a market for material
removed from thinning operations
as part of the forest fire risk reduction.
A key to forest fire risk reduction to the required level is the
development of a market for removed materials. Such a market
must be found or developed to the
degree that income from the sale of
the removed material will cover the
expenses of the required forest
removal operations and provide a
CalEPPC News
Letter to the Editor
(contd)
Calendar of Events
margin of profit sufficient for entrepreneurs to carry out the vital work.
A successful approach should make
full use of the removed material
which may include short piece
lumber for fine wood products,
charcoal, animal feed and compost.
Unfortunately, under the Forest
Practice Act, a Timber Harvest Plan
(THP) must be prepared before any
products from wildlands can be sold.
Since THPs cost from $10,000 $20,000, this becomes a major
obstacle.
Our efforts to get a special THP
comparable to a controlled burn
permit has been unsuccessful thus
far.
March 9-14
R. Edward Burton, EBC Company,
222 Franklin Avenue, Willits, CA
95490, 707.459.6219
The Ecosystem of the Gray Whale at Laguna San Ignacio,
San Diego/Baja California, Mexico. Sponsored by UC
Santa Cruz Extension. Call: 408.427.6610
March 10-13 Western Society of Weed Science Annual Meeting,
Portland, OR. Contact: Wanda Graves, 510.792.1252
March 16-19 12th Annual Symposium, US Regional Association,
International Association for Landscape Ecology, Durham,
NC. Contact: Dean Urban, US-IALE Program Chair, Duke
University, 919.6133.8076; fax 919.684.8741;
email:
April 18-19
2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in
California, Los Angeles. Contact: Dr. Jon Keeley,
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041
June 9-13
Changing Water Regimes in Drylands, Lake Tahoe, CA.
Contact Dr. Nicholas Lancaster, 702.673.7304;
email:
July 23-26
Interactions: Managing Ecosystems on a Watershed Basis,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, sponsored by the Soil and Water
Conservation Society. Contact: 515-289-2331 or
800.843.7645; fax 515.289.1227;
email:
August 27-30 Bridging Natural and Social Landscapes, the 24th Natural
Areas Association Conference, Portland, OR. Co-sponsored
by CalEPPC and PNWEPPC. Contact Reid Schuller,
541.388.8123; fax 541.388.5414;
email: reid_schuller@together.org>
Oct. 10-12
CalEPPC Symposium 97, Concord, CA. Contact
Sally Davis, 714.888.8541; email:
Weeds in Cyberspace!
CalEPPC:
Center of Aquatic Plants:
Aquatic Weed Species:
Bureau of Land Management:
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:
U.S. Forest Service:
Weed Science Society of America:
National Plants Database:
Biological Control:
Winter 1997 Page 11
1997 CalEPPC Membership Form
If you would like to join CalEPPC, please remit your calendar dues using the form provided below. All members will
receive the CalEPPC newsletter, be eligible to join CalEPPC working groups, be invited to the annual symposium and
participate in selecting future board members. Your personal involvement and financial support are the key to success.
Additional contributions by present members are welcomed!
q Status
Individual
Institutional
Name
q Retired/Student*
$15.00
N/A
Affiliation
q Regular
$25.00
$100.00
Address
q Contributing
$50.00
$250.00
q Sustaining
$250.00
$1000.00
q Lifetime
$1000.00
N/A
Please make your check payable to CalEPPC and
mail with this application form to:
CalEPPC Membership
c/o
Sally Davis
31872 Joshua Drive, #25D
Trabuco Canyon, CA 92679-3112
City/State/Zip
Office Phone
Home Phone
Fax
email
* Students, please include current registration and/or class schedule
CalEPPC Sponsors & New Members
1997 Corporate Sponsors: Individuals or Organizations who have
contributed $100 or more to CalEPPC
AFFINIS
Barrie Coate & Associates
California Native Plant Society
Hedgerow Farms
Huntington Library
Jepson Herbarium
Jones & Stokes Associates
Monsanto Company
Pestmaster Services
Redwood National Park
SePro
Strybing Arboretum
Tree of Life Nursery
Wilbur-Ellis Company
CalEPPC would like to welcome the following people who have joined in
the months from November through January 1997:
Peter Baye
Joanna Clines
Stevee Duber
Ann Glauber
CALIFORNIA
EXOTIC
PEST PLANT
COUNCIL
31872 Joshua Drive, #25D
Trabuco Canyon, CA 92679-3112
Paul Jones
Annette LaFleur
Carol Lippincott
Milton McGiffen, Jr.
Gail Newton
Rosemary Raphael
Consuelo Specht
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
TRABUCO CANYON, CA
PERMIT NO. 7