Creating a Successful Weed Warrior Team: Fighting Invasive Species on Wildlands Marilyn Hanson ASDM

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Creating a Successful Weed Warrior
TeamFighting Invasive Species on
WildlandsMarilyn HansonASDM Invader Program
Citizen Scientist Sonoran Desert Weedwackers
Co-coordinatorArizona Native Plant Society
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What is an invasive species? A non-native
species?

• An invasive species is defined as a species
• that is
• non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under
  consideration, and
• whose introduction causes or is likely to cause
  economic or environmental harm or harm to human
  health.
• (National Invasive Species Information
  Center-USDA)

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• Invasive Vertebrates

brown tree snake
sea lamprey
bullfrog
nutria
English sparrow
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• Invasive
• Invertebrates

glassy-winged sharpshooter
cactus moth
Rusty crayfish
zebra mussels
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Invasive Microbes

• Fungus- Chestnut blight from Asia, carried by
  birds 1900
• Bacteria- Lymes Disease carried by deer ticks
  1975
• Virus- West Nile Virus from the Middle East,
  carried by mosquitoes 1999

deer tick
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Invasive Plants

• Invasive non-native plants that threaten
  wildlands
• Invasive rapid growth, spread over large areas,
  persistent,
• non-native lives outside its historical range
  direct or indirect result of human activity
• threaten cause harm negatively impact the
  natural ecosystem
• wildlands (natural areas) public and private
  lands that support native ecosystems

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Isnt the arrival of a new species a natural
process?
seedlings
Yellow Starthistle
Idaho
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Characteristics of invasive plants
leafy spurge
purple loosestrife
Prolific seed production
Rapid growth to maturity
Successful dispersal, germination and colonization
http//mainegov-images
yellow starthistle
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Characteristics of invasive plants
Rampant growth
buffelgrass surrounding barrel
Out-competes natives
kudzu
rescued barrel
fountain grass
High cost and effort to remove
Heidi Schewel
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Progression of an invasion
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First half of the 20th Century INOCULATION
AGAINST DISEASE

• Latter half of the century RECYCLING

So what will change in the 21st Century?
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Top Environmental Concerns for the 21st Century
Global Warming Energy Conservation Controlling
Invasive Species Now spending 140 Billion/year
-based on the estimate of Pimentel et al. (2005)
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Why Control Invasive Plants?

• Invasion spreading as fast as 200 acres per
  hour on federal lands in the western US
• invasive species have quadrupled their range
  from 1985 to 1995
• Environmental Costs productivity of the soil
  decreased
• loss of diversity
• loss of range land
• Human Social Cost
• tourism-loss of business
• reduced opportunities for land use and
  recreational activities

Leafy Spurge
http//www.hcountryrcd.org/
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We all have a stake in the quality of our lives
and our environment for the future.

• We need to act NOW.

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Control of Invasive Species

• Physical- hand pulling, cutting, mowing, disking,
  burning
• Chemical- use of herbicides
• Biological controls
• weevils for yellow starthistle
• goats for leafy spurge
• Cultural activity

After control, it is important to perform site
restoration as needed.
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New England
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California

• The Hard Core Volunteers working with the Habitat
  Restoration
• Team on the Cosumnes River Preserve in Central
  California,
• removing invasive trees and vines.

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Ohio

Volunteers removing invasive plants from the
Herrick Fen
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Colorado

• Sierra Club Service
• Project volunteers
• partnered with BLM to
• remove thistles and
• knapweeds with hand
• tools in remote areas.

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Invasive plants in the Sonoran Desert region
Buffelgrass
Fountain grass
Sahara mustard
Tamarisk
Russian Sumac
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Where did these bunch grasses come from?
Buffelgrass and fountain grass are native to
Africa and the Middle East.

• Buffelgrass introduced into the area in the late
  1930s for cattle forage.
• Fountain grass introduced in the 1940s as a
  landscape plant.
• Both are drought tolerant.

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Why are invasive bunch grasses a problem in the
Sonoran Desert?

• Results in monoculture
• Reduces the biodiversity
• Creates a fire hazard

Brown Mountain-Tucson Mountain Park-2/2006
Fire-damaged saguaro-Cave Creek Fire-2005
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In 1997, Sue Rutman, Resource Manager at OPCNM,
declared war on buffelgrass invasions and formed
an army of volunteers to remove it.
Within three years, after removal and monitoring,
the seedbank was exhausted. Buffelgrass
populations were greatly reduced.
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Sonoran DesertWeedwacker Strategy
RECON (Reconnaissance)
RAD (Eradication)
REVISIT (Remove seedlings)
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Reconnaissance (RECON)

• Explore new sites.
• Record sites with invasive plants using GPS.
• Monitor sites where eradication has occurred in
  the past.
• Record survey data on spreadsheet..

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Eradication (RAD) The Weedwacker Army

• Members of the Arizona Native Plant Society
• Concerned citizens and neighborhood groups
• College volunteer groups
• Middle and high school students
• Girl and Boy Scouts
• Service groups like Rotary and Sierra Club
• Hiking Club of America

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Eradication (RAD) Tools for the Battle

• Digging bars
• Large trash bags
• Gloves
• Hat
• Safety vests
• GPS unit
• Water
• First aid pack

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Identifying the enemyin Grass Class
Doug Siegel identifies buffelgrass and describes
correct eradication procedure to new Weedwackers.
Barb Skye Siegel teaches new weed warriors how to
distinguish between buffelgrass and native
grasses.
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Digging it out

• 5,000 acres of Tucson Mountain Park (23,000
  acres) have been cleared of invasive grasses.

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Bagging it

• 35 tons of invasive grasses have been removed
• from January 2002 to June 2006.

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Carrying it out

• Dont pull out more than you can carry out!

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Victory Pile

• Each volunteer averages three 30-pound bags of
• buffelgrass per session.

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Truck it out to landfill.

• Native plants recolonize areas that have
• been cleared of buffelgrass after 2-3
• treatments.

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Sharing treats after the battle.

• It is important to keep work session to 2-3 hours
• so volunteers return to the site of the battle.

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So how does all of this happen?
Field Coordinator- 40 hours/month RECON- where
is RAD needed? Logistics (transportation and
tools) Schedules volunteer groups Volunteer
Coordinator- 5 hours/month Communication with
volunteers Contacts new participants Tracks
progress Publicity
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Sonoran Desert Weedwackers Treatment MapBags
Removed from January 2002 to April 2006

• Number of volunteer hours spent on RECON has
• remained fairly constant even as number of
  volunteer hours
• spent on eradication has increased by 350.

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Progress on Brown Mountain
South-facing slope on Brown Mountain on February
25, 2006
Same slope on July 17, 2006 after 315 bags
of buffelgrass have been removed.
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What can you do to help in the battle to remove
invasive plants

• Educate yourself and the public
• Using Brochures

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What can you do to help in the battle to remove
invasive plants

• Educate yourself and the public
• Use web sites

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Choose a defensible space

• Locally remove invasive plants from your
  property, your place of business, your church
  property, your local park, your museum, or your
  school.

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Form or join an invasive weed team in your area

• Maryland- TNC and NPS-Weed Warriors working in
  the Potomac Gorge
• California- Carlsbad Watershed Network-Weed
  Warrior Awards, NIIMBY Awards
• Arizona- ASDM Invaders-Locates invasives and
  records GPS locations

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Visualize a natural area without invasive
species

• Through Awareness Comes Positive Change

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• Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
  committed citizens can change the world indeed
  it is the only thing that ever does.
  Margaret Mead

Marilyn Hanson Co-coordinator of the Sonoran
Desert Weedwackers mfhanson_at_comcast.net
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Acknowledgements

• This presentation was assembled with the help of
  many people. I would like to thank the following
  people for the use of their photographic images
  Travis Bean, Ed Northam, Carroll Hemmingway, Wil
  Schaefer, Dave Wrench, Steve Prchal, Heidi
  Schewel, Dana Backer, Wendy Burroughs, Carianne
  Funicelli, Acacia Betancourt, Rocco Santangelo
  and Aaryn Olsson.
• The following people helped with the design of
  this presentation Laurence Fahrney, Lori
  Makarick, Carianne Funicelli, Ed Fisher, Jane
  Greenewald and John Zahn.
• And thanks go to Barb Skye Siegel for creating
  the vision of a Tucson Mountain Park free of
  invasive grasses and to Doug Siegel for providing
  the continuing force and energy to keep the
  Sonoran Desert Weedwackers on course. And then
  we all are indebted to the work of the many
  Weedwackers who have contributed their time
  (approximately 4000 volunteer hours) and muscles
  to hauling out 2,500 bags or about 35 tons of
  invasive grasses.