CalEPPC
News
A quarterly
publication
of the California
Exotic Pest Plant Council
Volume 4 Number 3
Summer/Fall 1996
IN THIS ISSUE
Presidents Message
by Carla Bossard …….. p. 3
A French Broom Control
Greg Archbald ………… p. 4
1996 CalEPPC
Election Results ………. p. 6
Saltcedar Management
Workshop ……………… p. 7
Ehrharta erecta: Sneak
Attack in the Making … p. 8
Letters to the Editor .. p. 11
Habitat Restoration Team volunteers
bashing broom at Dipsea Knoll by Stinson
Beach. Photo by Maria Alvarez.
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;
j promote public understanding
regarding exotic pest plants and
their control;
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
j review incipient and potential pest
plant management problems and
activities and provide relevant
information to interested parties.
Officers
1996 CalEPPC Officers and
Board Members
President
Carla Bossard
Vice-president
Ann Howald
Secretary
Mike Kelly
Treasurer
Mike Pitcairn
Past-president
John Randall
St. Marys College, Dept. Of Biology,
P.O. Box 4507, Moraga, CA 94575;
916.758.1602; email: egbossard@aol.com
210 Chestnut Ave., Sonoma, CA 95476;
707.939.0775
11875 River Rim Rd., San Diego, CA 92126;
619.566.6489; email: mkellysd@aol.com
CDFA, 3288 Meadowview Road,
Sacramento, CA 95832; 916.262.2049;
email:mpitcairn@smpt1.dfa.ca.gov
TNC Wildland Weeds Mgmt., UC Section
of Plant Biology, Davis, CA 95616;
916.754.8890; email: jarandall@ucdavis.edu
Board Members whose terms expire December 31, 1997
Editor
Sally Davis
31872 Joshua Dr., #25D, Trabuco Canyon,
CA 92679; 714.888.8347; email:
sallydavis@aol.com
Nelroy Jackson 400 So. Ramona Ave., No 212H, Corona,
CA 91719; 909.279.7787;
email: nejack@ccmail.monsanto.com
Jeff Lovich
NBS, 635-500 Garnet Ave., No. Palm
Springs, CA 92258;619.251.4823; email:
jeffrey_lovich@nbs.gov
Board Members whose terms expire December 31, 1996
Greg Archbald GGNPA, Fort Mason, Bldg. 201, San Francisco, CA 94123; 415.673.4067, Ext. 25;
email: greg_archbald@ggnpa.org
David Boyd
CA Dept. Parks & Rec., 1455-A East Francisco Blvd., San Rafael, CA 94901;
916.358.2952
Steve Harris
P.O. Box 341, Arcata, CA 95518-0341;
707.826.2709; email: sharris@igc.apc.org
Working Group Chairpersons
Please Note:
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 Summer/Fall 1996
Biocontrol
CalEPPC Newsletter
Database
Federal Noxious Weed Act
Membership
Nursery growers/landscape
architects liaison
Press relations/publications
Public officials seminars
Slide Collection
Species Mgmnt & Control:
Arundo
Brooms
German ivy/hoary cress
Lepidium
Pampas grass
Yellow starthistle
Tamarisk
George Molnar
Sally Davis
Steve Harris
Michael Parker
Sally Davis
415.491.2677
714.888.8347
707.826.2709
510.792.0222
916.921.5911
Dan Songster
Jake Sigg
Joel Trumbo
Tony Bomkamp
714.895.8161
415.731.3028
916.355.0128
714.250.5555
Nelroy Jackson
Carla Bossard
Dave Chipping
and Greg Archbald
Joel Trumbo
Quentin Griffiths
Mike Pitcairn
Bill Neil
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
713.287.5246
619.251.4823
CalEPPC News
Presidents Message
Carla Bossard, President
It is still green …..
so what are you worried
about?
I
n the course of speaking to various public groups
and my own friends, neighbors and students about
invasive plant species I get asked the above question
frequently. I have even, myself, on occasion, looked out
over the graceful waves of Eurasian annual grasses
covering hills leading into the central valley, seen the
expansive yellow-broom blossom-covered slopes of
Mount Tamalpais, or been awed by the day-glo colors of
iceplant bloom-covered coast around Monterey Bay and
thought — if its still photosynthesizing and looks so
pretty, does it REALLY matter what species are there?
Perhaps you have had similar experiences or been stuck
for an response when asked the title question.
Unfortunately, pretty or not, all plants are not equal.
Peter Vitousek. Carla DAntonio, Lloyd Loope and
Randy Westbrooks in their article, Biological Invasions
as Global Change, American Scientist, 1996, Vol. 84,
cite several reasons why exotic species are cause for our
concern and action.
1. Exotic species reduce biological diversity. When a
site becomes occupied by an exotic invasion plant
monoculture, the local populations of the myriad species
of plants previously on that site and the micro and macro
faunal species dependent on them become depleted or
locally extinct, resulting in a loss to each of those species gene pools.
3. Exotic plant species can be expensive. Rangelands
and commercial forests lose millions of dollars annually
due to yields reduced by competition from exotic plants
and the necessity for expensive control efforts. Conservation investments are devalued when preserves and
refuges lose
critical forage
species to displacement by
exotic plants
species that are
not usable as
forage.
Rangelands
and commercial
forests lose
millions of
4. Newly arrived
exotic plant species
can carry diseases
to which native
species have no resistance. Chestnut and elms trees were
almost eliminated from their former broad ranges in the
eastern United States by imported diseases.
dollars yearly
The first step in slowing the arrival of the
homogecene here In California is to make your
friends, neighbors and acquaintances aware that colonization of wildlands by species of exotic invasive plants IS
something to worry about.
Carla Bossard
CalEPPC President
2. Invaders alter ecosystem processes. They can alter
nutrient cycling, soil quality, productivity, water availability and increase the frequency of fires. Such ecosystem
changes can prevent successful re-establishment of
previously existing biological communities even after the
exotic invasive plant species is removed.
Summer/Fall 1996 Page 3
CalEPPC News
A French Broom Control Method
Greg Archbald, Golden Gate National Parks Association
S
ome twenty years ago I met French broom. It was
crowding around the house where I lived in Mill
Valley, California, and I was worried about the fire
hazard. Ecological concerns came later. My early attempts at control were primitive. Since then, Ive tried
many things, have worked and talked with many people,
and have come up with a favorite mechanical control
method I would like to share here.
I am grateful for the shared experience of others, on
which this method is based, and particularly to Dr. Carla
Bossard whose landmark studies of Scotch broom
provided the basis for the timing and cutting elements of
this method. It is quite encouraging that more scientists,
land managers and homeowners than ever before are out
there gaining experience, experimenting and sharing
what they learn, and that we have CalEPPC to spread
the word. There is hope.
In addition to insights from the studies of Dr.
Bossard, my method comes out of my experience with
the Habitat Restoration Team in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and, most specifically, from
volunteer work I have done on a Marin County Open
Space District preserve called Alto Bowl behind my
present home. Over the past three years I have developed and refined this method to clear large patches of
broom in my spare time after work and on weekends,
usually on my own but sometimes organizing neighbors
to help out.
This method is most applicable to disturbed, open
grasslands (with mostly exotic annual grasses) where
French broom can be at its most aggressive. In my work
at Alto Bowl, the main site is a south-facing slope several
acres in size with scattered groves of coast live oak and
some coyote brush. Soil is heavy clay to somewhat
loamy, with little rocky material. Annual rainfall is usually
over 20″ and there are few hard, dry places. The French
broom itself has ranged from stands of young plants with
small diameter stems to horrible tangles of old or dead
broom. Changes in these factors at your own site, of
course, would have a bearing on how well this method
will work for you.
Page 4 Summer/Fall 1996
In a Nutshell
Here are the key steps:
Cut broom at or below ground level, in late July or
August, after broom has gone to seed and soil
moisture is at a seasonal low.
Then, remove the cut broom from the infested site
taking the following steps (or the alternatives noted):
(a) Arrange cut broom with stems parallel, in bundles
that can be carried. (Alternatively, rake cut broom into
small
piles
using a
manure
fork or
potato
rake.)
(b) Make
large
compact
brush
Photo: Maria Alvarez
piles
with bundles of cut broom. Locate brush piles on the
site in locations that minimize visual impact and fire
hazard. (Alternatively, place raked piles of broom on
tarps and carry broom to a debris box, or make loose
brush piles in appropriate places on site for spring
burning after broom is well cured.)I
Next summer, after grasses are dry and have
dispersed their seed, destroy new French broom
seedlings by mowing as described below. Repeat in
following seasons until seed bank is exhausted.
Comments
The point of cutting in late July or August (or as late
as September or early October) is to deprive broom
plants of their ability to synthesize nutrients at a time
when stored energy reserves in the root system are at
their lowest. For broom with stem diameters up to 1″
(2.5 cm) I use a heavy-duty gasoline-powered brushcutter
with a four-pointed metal blade, getting the blade right
CalEPPC News
down on the soil, or even slightly into the soil.ii This is hell
on blades but worth the price in high mortality of broom. (I
keep over a half dozen blades on hand, continuously
sharpening them over the season using a bench grinder
and hand files.) If broom stems are greater than 1″ in
diameter, it is best to use an 80-tooth blade or forest
clearing blade on the brushcutter.
Experienced broom bashers will cringe, as I first did, at
the thought of letting the broom go to seed before dealing
with it. My advice is to force yourself. You want those
plants to deplete their energy reserves before you cut them.
After all, the seed bank will be depleted just one year later
than if you had not allowed that first years seed to fall. If
you absolutely cannot allow first year seed to fall, I recommend that you cut the broom when you can, regardless of
season, making certain to remove the cut broom from the
infested site by one of the methods mentioned above. More
broom will resprout from the cut stumps, but the resprouts
can either be cut back during late summer using a
brushcutter with four-pointed blade or by spraying with spot
applications of an herbicide like Roundup® or Garlon
using a backpack sprayer.
The reason for removing the initially cut mature broom
from the infested site is to clear the way for exhausting the
seed bank. Getting the broom out of the way is the critical
step that makes it easy to control the
massive flush of broom seedlings that
often emerges after mature broom is
cut.
blade on the brushcutter is best for this follow-up mowing. It
does the mowing job quite well and is more quickly sharpened than a four-pointed blade.
If stacking cut broom in compact piles on your site is
possible, it solves the broom disposal problem in a simple,
cost-effective way with minimal impact to the site. Cut
broom decomposes fairly rapidly when stacked in this
manner, the pile growing smaller each year. If you choose
to make and leave compact broom piles, you will find that
making composting piles is something of an art form. In
general, take care to lay all stems down parallel, snap or lop
curving branches to create more straight pieces, and keep
walking over the pile to compress it down. I usually tuck
such a pile in a low spot in the terrain or out of sight behind
a tree, shrub line, or other visual barrier. Visitors usually
accept this well.
One possible drawback of removing mature broom
from where it was cut is exposure of the site to erosion,
particularly in cases where a long-standing broom monoculture has eliminated most grasses and forbs. Leaving cut
broom scattered on site as mulch may reduce erosion, but it
will also make it very difficult to reduce the seed bank in
subsequent seasons. You lose the advantage of easy seedling control using a brushcutter and are forced into some
other method of dealing with continued generation of new
broom from the seed bank.
Experienced
broom bashers
will cringe at
the thought of
letting the
broom go to
seed before
dealing with it.
By summer, following your initial
removal of mature broom, many
seedlings will be up to 6″ tall with very
slender stems. They are quite vulnerable at this stage. I have caused near
100% mortality of seedlings by mowing
them (along with dried grass) with my
brushcutter blade in summer following
mature broom removal. To make sure
the broom plants will die, I put the
blade right onto the ground and wiggle
the blade back and forth to slash through the seedling
stems at or below the root crown level. Seedlings and
resprouts are small and can be left where cut. To eliminate
the seed bank completely, annual follow-up is absolutely
essential. I have found that using a three-pointed metal
If you want to retain the advantages
of the French broom control method
suggested here, select an erosion control
technique that, (1) leaves the seed bank
free to proliferate, and (2) either leaves the
surface free of obstacles in discrete
sections or can be easily cleared for
brushcutter work on seedlings. One
erosion control technique meeting both of
these conditions, for example, has been
used successfully in the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area. Pulled (or cut)
French broom of medium size is tied into
small bundles and staked along contour
lines at intervals as brush bars. Erosion is reduced and clear
areas between brush bar lines afford the opportunity of easy
follow-up.
Finally, you will of course want to take special care
if you have native plants on site that need protection. I go
Continued on next page
Summer/Fall 1996 Page 5
CalEPPC News
A French Broom
Control Method (Contd)
slowly with my brushcutter, stopping when I see a young
coyote brush plant or an oak seedling. Its pretty easy to
notice them in late summer since nearly everything else
except the broom seedlings and a few other perennial
species has dried out and gone to seed. I leave small islands
of uncut broom around the plants I want to save. Then I
come back in winter when the ground is soft and pull the
broom by hand or with a Weed Wrench tool. I also mark
tree seedlings and small forbs with field flags to help me see
and avoid them when I am mowing.
Conclusion
The mechanical control method described here is the best I
have found to date. It offers an efficient way to remove
mature French broom populations, and a very easy way to
exhaust the seed bank in successive seasons. I hope you
will experiment with it, argue with it or even ignore it if you
have a better method. But whatever you do, share your
thoughts and methods with the rest of us through the
CalEPPC newsletter. Keep progress (and hope) alive.
Notes
I
An alternative for broom disposal is burning cut broom in place as
part of a controlled burn. State Park Resource Ecologist David
Boyd has used this method to good effect at Mt. Tamalpais State
Park in Marin County. Controlled burning, if done right, can also
have the advantage of killing some broom seeds and/or stimulating
a large flush of seedlings after the burn, thus helping to reduce the
seed bank more quickly. Chipping cut broom is also a possible
disposal alternative, but great care should be taken to avoid reinfesting your site or another with chipped material that includes
broom seed. If you use chipping as a disposal method, cut the
broom and chip it before it has viable seeds. The safest use of
chipped material containing viable seed is disposal in a land fill.
ii
The four-pointed blade, in my experience, does a better job of
cutting thick broom than a three-pointed blade. It is important to do
this at high RPMs and with a sharp blade to reduce the likelihood of
damage to the brushcutter gear head. I turn the blade over after
running just one tank of gas in the brushcutter, never using the
blade for more than one tank per side. This keeps the blade from
getting too dull. It is much easier to sharpen and will last longer.
Another reason for using the four-pointed blade to cut mature
broom is that it seems to eject fewer cut pieces back and upward at
the operator than the three-pointed blade. I use chainsaw chaps
and gloves, helmet with ear and eye protection, and a kerchief
around my neck to protect myself from flying cut pieces, rocks and
noise.
Page 6 Summer/Fall 1996
1996
CalEPPC
Election Results
Mike Kelly, Secretary
W
e have the results of two elections to report.
First, in our annual balloting the membership
voted into office the following officers whose
terms begin January 1, 1997:
President …………………………. Ann Howald
Vice-president ……………………… Mike Kelly
Secretary ………………………… John Randall
Treasurer ………………………… Mike Pitcairn
There was actually a contested race for the first time
in several years for the Board of Directors. Greg
Archbald, Carl Bell, and Steve Harris were elected to
two-year terms beginning January 1, 1997. Greg and
Steve are veterans of the board, while Carl will be
serving his first term.
The CalEPPC Bylaws were amended by a vote of
the membership at the October 4 – 6th annual meeting
in held in San Diego to expand the Board of Directors
from 6 members to 10 members. Under the bylaws, half
the director seats are up for election in alternating years.
Elected to the board to serve an initial two-year term
were Joe Balciunas and Joe DiTomaso.
Elected to serve an initial one-year term were Jo Kitz
and Stella Humphries. Rumors that future candidates are
changing their first names to Jo(e) are probably unfounded. In the future, five members at-large will be
elected in even-numbered years and five members atlarge will be elected in odd-numbered years.
At-large board
members whose terms
expire Dec. 31, 1997:
At-large board
members whose terms
expire Dec. 31, 1998:
Sally Davis
Stella Humphries
Nelroy Jackson
Jo Kitz
Jeffrey Lovich
Greg Archbald
Joe Balciunas
Carl Bell
Joe DiTomaso
Steve Harris
CalEPPC News
The Saltcedar Management Workshop
Carl E. Bell, Weed Science Farm Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension, Imperial County
T
he Saltcedar Management Workshop, held June
12, 1996 at the Marriott Rancho Las Palmas
Resort in Rancho Mirage, was a huge success,
attracting more than 150 people from 10 western states.
Nine federal agencies were represented, along with four
Native American tribes, four state agencies from California and Arizona, numerous local government entities,
private consultants, pest control advisors, landscape and
nursery businesses, three NGOs (nongovernmental
organizations), and three universities. The subject of
saltcedar was covered from beginning to end, with
descriptions of its history, biology, and successful control
tactics and projects elucidated by experts over the course
of the day. The extent and severity of the saltcedar
problem in the western US is apparent by the interest
shown in this workshop. This workshop was co-sponsored by CalEPPC and the University of California
Cooperative Extension offices in Imperial County and
UC Davis Weed Science.
The Saltcedar Management Workshop took place
because of a grant obtained by Carl Bell from the USDA
Renewable Resources Extension Act. The objectives of
the grant were to gather saltcedar experts together to
present a workshop and to produce a brochure describing saltcedar and the its threat to natural areas of the
western United States. The workshop was a direct result
of the hard work and thoughtful input by the organizing
committee. The core group of this committee is the
Tamarisk Working Group of CalEPPC. These people
came together one day last March, and in two hours,
outlined the entire workshop and suggested most of the
speakers. Many of the committee members were also
speakers at the workshop.
Copies of the proceedings are now available. To
order, mail a check, payable to the Ag Extension Trust
Fund in the amount of $10.00 per copy to: Carl E. Bell,
Cooperative Extension, 1050 E. Holton Rd., Holtville,
CA 92250. The papers included in the proceedings
should serve as an excellent reference both for workshop
attendees and to those who could not join us in Rancho
Mirage. Proceedings Editors are Joe DiTomaso and Carl
E. Bell.
CalEPPC
Symposium 97
Saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima)
Mark your calendars to reserve Columbus Day
weekend, the second weekend in October 1997, for
CalEPPC Symposium 97. In order to keep room
charges affordable ($78.00/night) in the Bay Area, the
CalEPPC Board of Directors has selected the Sheraton
Concord for the next meeting. Concord is accessible by
BART, and air transportation is available through Oakland. The Program Committee is planning an informative and entertaining program. If you would like to assist
in the planning process, please contact Ann Howald at
707.939.0775.
Summer/Fall 1996 Page 7
CalEPPC News
Ehrharta erecta: Sneak Attack in
the Making?
Jake Sigg
T
he Spring 96 issue of CalEPPC News
contained an article entitled What? Another
Ehrharta? precisely the title I had chosen for this
article–until I started writing and discovered that my
purpose in writing the article was different from what I
thought it was going to be. I am not sounding the alarm
as yet for another pest plant because I dont know at this
time how serious is the threat. However, the subject
plant has certain ominous traits that make me uneasy.
You may note an atmosphere of ambivalence in this
article–anxious dread alternating
with uncertainty. The fact that the
plant has escaped attention so far
may be only a tribute to its stealth–it
has been insidiously proliferating for
half a century while we have been
blissfully ignoring it.
The subject of my article,
Ehrharta erecta, which I shall
thereinafter refer to as ehrharta, was
the first of its genus reported in
California. The urbanized Bay Area
was evidently ehrhartas center of
distribution and it is now frequently
encountered in its wildlands, distributed throughout the greater San
Francisco Bay area.
Why am I focusing on this one plant of all the plants
menacing California wild areas? Ehrhartas tough,
matted, fibrous root system generates decumbent to
ascending jointed stems. The decumbent stems go into
and through adjacent plants, depositing seed on the
other side, and the ascending ones clamber over the
sides and tops, smothering ehrhartas neighbors. The
tiny flowers and seeds hug the outermost reaches of thin
stems and branches.
Carrying seed at the extremities of decumbent culms
is a strategy that allows it to deposit seed a half-meter
from the parent. This trait, in combination with prodigious tillering and the ability to root at nodes, assures a
Page 8 Summer/Fall 1996
dense turf which is too tight to allow seed of other plants
to germinate and grow. When a niche is vacated,
ehrharta is the first to move in. Seedlings mysteriously
appear from nowhere. Once it gains territory, it seems to
never yield it.
This combination of strategies, if holding true over
time, will be reason to take the plant seriously, despite
the undramatic nature of the strategies. Ehrhartas
distribution system is unknown to me. I find it in surprising places that stymie logical explanation. Tiny seed is
doubtless blown over surfaces by wind, but how does it
spontaneously appear in the midst of a vegetational
community? If the tiny seed were eaten by birds, there
would be nothing left to defecate.
Ehrharta erecta,
Nancy Baron
Roads and trails are notorious
corridors for invasion by weeds,
giving exotics the ability to penetrate otherwise resistant native
communities. For example, in the
Douglas fir forest of Point Reyes
National Seashore with its dense
and thriving huckleberry
(Vaccinium ovatum) understory,
ehrharta lines many miles of
single-track hiking trails. Two feet
out from the trail is healthy native
habitat.
Whenever a shrub or tree dies or
is toppled, ehrharta claims the niche. What will happen
when the area burns? When an infested area does burn, I
fear an exponential expansion of the usurper. Disturbance, including natural disturbance, favors weeds.
This perennial grass has a wide tolerance range. On
the coast, it grows on hot, dry banks or in deep shade; it
grows in pure sand; in heavy soils; in soils that stay
waterlogged for extended periods (thus a threat to
wetlands); in thin, rocky soils; and in cracks in vertical
rock faces. (I found one plant growing high on a northfacing, solid uncracked concrete wall. An ehrharta seed
had found a little pore space to lodge in. How did the
seed get there? How does the plant survive?)
Continued next page
CalEPPC News
Summer fog drip causes it to burgeon and proliferate,
displacing native communities, even though it does so
subtly and surreptitiously. Its seed will germinate in lowlight conditions and the plant will grow up through
several feet of overlying plants (such as dense prostrate
junipers) triumphantly displaying seed-bearing culms
porcupine-like in the bright sunshine. Although CalEPPC
is concerned with natural areas, ehrhartas behavior in
urban environments illustrates its essential character. It
moves down San Franciscos streets, taking block after
block, appropriating every crack in the sidewalk. This
domineering plant crowds out dandelions, knotweed,
oxalis, foxtail barley, and other formerly invincible
baddies (see Hitchcock quote, below). Are our coastal
cities, formerly sporting a
diverse weed flora, to become
ehrharta monocultures? What
will happen when this irresistible force meets an immovable
object–say broom, pampas
grass, or German ivy? King
Kong vs. Godzilla–see me for
tickets.
Munz listed Ehrharta
erecta (as the only species
under Ehrharta in his 1959 A
California Flora) as adventive
in California — Naturalized on
the Berkeley campus of the
Ehrharta erecta,
University of California. IntroNancy Baron
duced from South Africa, and
added E. calycina in the 1968 supplement. Hitchcock,
in Manual of the Grasses of the United States (1950),
stated that it had Escaped, Berkeley, CA (evidently from
the campus of the University of California). . .Shows
considerable competitive ability and may become of value
in replacing some of the troublesome weeds. The
Jepson Manual of Higher Plants of California (1993)
listed its distribution as eastern San Francisco
Bay…..and Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
In the article cited in my opening sentence, Claire
Brey reports ehrharta in the San Diego area, although
she states …I do not see E. erecta as large a threat as
E. longiflora. J.C. Willis, in A Dictionary of the
Flowering Plants and Ferns, remarks on the genus
ehrharta …as useful pasture grasses for sandy soil. The
genus occurs in New Zealand and a few islands, but it is
concentrated in South Africa, origin of all the ehrharta
plants in California.
Willis remark about the genus ability to thrive in
sandy soils, the known distribution near the coast, and its
predilection for fog indicates it may remain solely a
coastal problem, especially the north and central coasts.
I would appreciate reports of sightings from areas other
than the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego, particularly in natural areas.
Jake Sigg
338 Ortega, San Francisco, CA 94122
415-731-3028
CAN YOU TOP
THIS?
Bob Wright, Site Stewardship Program
Coordinator, Golden Gate National
Parks Association
Late on the afternoon of August 29th I was out removing Pampas grass seed plumes from the Wolfback Ridge
stewardship site in the Marin Headlands overlooking San
Francisco bay. Suddenly, I came across an individual
Pampas grass plant that was extensively endowed with
seed plumes. The plant was only about one meter in
diameter and was growing on a south-easterly facing
slope amidst coyote bush, California sage, and California
bee plant. Much to my surprise, I cut down and counted
104 individual seed plumes from this single plant! Considering that seed density has been estimated as high as
100,000 per plume, this individual plant had the potential to release 10 million seeds! Good thing I got there in
time. (The plumes were bagged and removed from the
site. Ill burn them in my fireplace this winter when they
cant do any damage.)
Editors Note: If you have a story to top this, please drop a line to
CalEPPC News and well keep the fireside stories going.
Summer/Fall 1996 Page 9
CalEPPC News
CalEPPC Sponsors & New Members
1996 Corporate Sponsors: Individuals or Organizations who have
contributed $100 or more to CalEPPC
Affinis
Barrie Coate and Associates
California Native Plant Society
Caltrans Environmental Programs
DowElanco
Elizabeth Crispin
Hedgerow Farms
The Huntington Library
Jones & Stokes Associates
Monsanto Company
National Biological Service
The Nature Conservancy
Redwood National Park
Resource Management International
SePro
Strybing Arboretum
Transportation Corridor Agencies
Tree of Life Nursery
Wilbur-Ellis
CalEPPC would like to welcome the following people who have joined in the
months from June through October 1996:
Donald Anthrop
Douglas Anthrop
Phil Armstrong
Victoria Ausen
Gladys Baird
Tim Baldwin
Christy Barton
Forrest Barton
Pat Bily
Holly Boessow
Tony Bomkamp
Amanda Boose
David Boose
Brent Boutwell
Dan Brimm
Cynthia Brown
Marie Bruegmann
Philip Bunch
Erick Burres
John Callaway
Pedro Campos
George Cantrell
Ralph Carhart
Ann Carr
John Caruana
Michelle Caruana
Charles Chimera
Sandra Cleisz
Kim Cooper
Donna Daniels
Cathy Darling
Barkley Dean
Scott Delman
Sandra DeSimone
John Dixon
Robert Dixon
Mark Dodero
John Dolan
David Dyer
Bob Eisele
Rick Eisenbart
William Everett
Pete Famolaro
Erin Fernandez
Genie Fleming
David Flietner
Patty Forbes
Lynne Fritz
John Fulton
John Gray
Grey
Denis Griffin
Richard Griffiths
Mary Ann Griggs
Marcia Gross
Christine Hagelin
Jeannette Halderman
Tim Halley
Jim Hanson
Sylvia Haultain
Susan Hector
Martha Hollis
Everett Hollis, Jr.
Tyson Holmes
Jodie Holt
Melissa Howe
Stella Humphries
Gigi Hurst-Wallace
Alissa Ing
Jodi Isaacs
Edith Jacobsen
Jepson Herbarium
James Johnson
Paul Johnson
Steve Junak
Jeff Justus
Page 10 Summer/Fall 1996
Isabelle Kay
Keep the Sespe Wild
Troy Kelly
Charles Kerns
Marla Knight
Carol Knipper
Jeannine Koshear
Fred Kramer
Paul Kucharczyk
Martin Lane
Bill Lawrence
Amy Leverett
Pam Lindsey
Richard Lis
Viviane Marquez
Kim Marsden
David Martinez
Sharon McKelvey
Gary Medeiros
Yolanda Molette
Mike Mulligan
Allan Muth
Jason Nelson
Frank Ohrmund
Jonathan Oldham
Steve Patterson
Laura Perry
Arnold Peterson
Mary Petrilli
Cathy Presmyk
Deborah Pudoff
Cathy Ragle
Theresa Rangus
Claudia Reid
Jacqueline Rice
Kevin Rice
Don Rideout
Rick Riefner
Jane Rodgers
Donald Rodrigues
Bruce Rudd
Adrienne Russell
Gayle Saldana
Herman Saldana
Jan Schachter
Don Schad
Christina Schaefer
Gerry Scheid
Stephen Schroeter
Leslie Seiger
Cynthia Shafer
Julie Sherrod
Mike Sherrod
Holly Smit
Victor Smothers
Roger Sonnenburg
Lisa Stallings
Joan Stewart
Bryan X. Thompson
Anne Marie Tipton
Craig Trammell
Alison Tschohl
Mike Vasey
Julia Verville
Bill Wagner
John Walton
Caroline Warren
Susan Welker
Bruce West
Patrick Wilhelm
Judith Windt
Thom Winter
Lisa Wood
Paul Zellman
CalEPPC News
Letters to the Editor
To our fellow CalEPPC members:
We want to thank all of you, particularly the Organizing Committee, for making the recent CalEPPC
annual symposium one of the best attended and most
instructive meetings yet. We appreciated the talks, field
trips, and working group sessions, but especially the
opportunity to engage with our fellow workers in more
informal ways.
Nevertheless, we found ourselves increasingly
uncomfortable with the amount of time devoted to
chemical control of invasives. We have no quarrel with
the judicious use of herbicides, nor do we wish to engage
in a debate about the toxicology of certain herbicides.
Our concern here is merely with balance. Four of the
nine talks on the last afternoon of the symposium were
devoted to chemical control methods, whereas only one
talk all weekend dealt with increasing public support for
stewardship.
In our experience, community-based stewardship
programs have demonstrated that mechanical removal is
not only an effective control method for some invasive
species, but also a tremendously potent way of increasing
public awareness about the ecological effects of invasive
weeds. Every volunteer who removes invasives receives,
in effect, several hours of instruction about ecologically
disastrous pest plants and the Herculean efforts required
to rectify decades of neglect. With time, this information
diffuses out into the community, slowly at first but increasing in volume as the number of volunteers multiplies. Long-term volunteers often become advocates in
public meetings for proper stewardship of natural areas,
arguing against threats to wildlands that they have
devoted so much sweat and time to saving.
In sum, volunteers who have become emotionally
invested in stewardship of public lands, and who are
willing to back up that commitment with strenuous
activity, are our best possible allies in the struggle against
the spread of exotic pest plants. From our perspective as
volunteer managers, mechanical removal of exotics is
clearly the most successful technique for meeting our
various goals, which include not only controlling
invasives, but also building a dedicated constituency for
stewardship.
In its apparent focus on chemical control as the
favored control technique, CalEPPC is limiting its effectiveness as a broadbased advocacy group. Setting aside
for the moment public health and ecological concerns,
herbicides may offer the most efficient control of certain
invasives in strictly utilitarian terms (e.g., cost per acre).
Such an accounting, however, discounts the intangible,
and yet very real, benefits of mechanical control as a way
of increasing public awareness of the problem and
developing support for stewardship.
By offering a wider selection of symposium talks
focused on volunteer management, mechanical techniques, and public education initiatives, CalEPPC could
help meet the needs of an important and growing
constituency in public agencies: managers who, because
of shrinking budgets, are becoming increasingly dependent on volunteers to carry out wildlands management.
Again, we would like to emphasize that we do not
wish to limit discussions of chemical control at CalEPPC
meetings. Our primary concern is that other perspectives, particularly those of volunteers and the land managers they work for, be granted greater visibility and
status within our organization. Forming a working group
on volunteer management is one method of doing so.
Nevertheless, we think that symposium sessions should
also include several speakers addressing such issues.
Volunteer management, one wag has said, is one of
those areas (like bad breath) which people often overlook
or are unaware of their own need for help.
Thanks for listening to our concerns. We invite
spirited and creative discussion of these topics in future
issues of CalEPPC News. Open discussion will only
make CalEPPC a stronger and more effective organization.
Sincerely,
Kim Cooper,
Point Reyes National Seashore
Sue Gardner and Bob Wright
Golden Gate National Parks Association
Grey,
UC Natural Reserve System
Pete Holloran,
Californa Native Plant Society
Tim Hyland,
California State Parks
Ken Moore,
Wildlands Restoration Team
Summer/Fall 1996 Page 11
1996 CalEPPC Membership Form
If you would like to join CalEPPC, please remit your calendar dues using the form provided below. All members will
recieve 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
City/State/Zip
Office Phone
Home Phone
Fax
email
* Students, please include current registration and/or class schedule
A letter from the Editor
As you may have noticed, CalEPPC News
Volume 4 Number 3 is different than most editions. I have combined the Summer and Fall
editions into one and I do apologize for doing so. I
dont like to give excuses (such as I have been
incredibly busy, and/or there was no input). I will
pledge that in the future I will produce an issue on
schedule every quarter. And to do so, I need
assistance from you. Yes, you!
I am asking for your input – input from the
field. What have you done lately to eradicate your
least favorite pest plant? What works for you and
what doesnt? Do you have a success story? I
would like to receive your failure stories also.
Please share this information with not only
your fellow members, but with all the individuals
out there who read this newsletter who have not
CALIFORNIA
EXOTIC
PEST PLANT
COUNCIL
joined CalEPPC. The purpose of this newsletter is to facilitate
communication and the exchange of information regarding all
aspects of exotic pest plant control and management. I truly desire
to reach that goal with every issue. As you review this current
newsletter, you may notice that many of the articles are no longer
than two or three paragraphs. I do not desire scientific tomes.
CalEPPC News comprises informational articles which the lay
person can understand and implement.
I am also asking you to submit a Letter to the Editor. Do you
have questions on exotic pest plants for which you cannot find the
answers? Do you like/dislike, agree/disagree with any article
presented herein? (I certainly would like to receive some discussion
on the group Letter to the Editor in this edition.) If you participate
in this exchange of information, CalEPPC News will provide a
forum where all interested parties may participate and share the
benefits of the information generated.
Sally Davis, Editor
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SACRAMENTO, CA
PERMIT NO. 2195