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Producers work to rid their land of tamariskColorado When urban residents "weed" their lawns or gardens, it might involve an afternoon's work, but when an agricultural producer rids the land of weeds, it can involve a lot of people. Producers along the Arkansas River from Canon City to the state line past Holly, have undertaken a project to rid their land from tamarisk or salt cedar. They can't count on Mother Nature for help because tamarisk is not native to this country and that means it has no natural enemies. First brought into the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s as an ornamental shrub and as a stabilizing plant along streambeds, the plant soon escaped its "boundaries" and spread prolifically. In this country alone, the plant now infects, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, over one million acres. The fact the plant has taken over so many acres is not the primary reason behind the efforts to eradicate it. Tamarisk, which consumes, according to experts, over 800 billion gallons of water annually nationwide, is especially prevalent in the southwestern United States. Josh McDaniel, writing for Seed Magazine in January 2007, said the removal and hopefully, eventual, eradication of the invasive plant "is, for most land managers, a righting of a natural order that has been upset." "Land management is about maintaining a delicate balance and that involves compromise. Some plants and animals have to be removed in order for others to flourish." Although results have only been tabulated for the short term, those involved with conservation efforts believe eradicating tamarisk will allow native grasses to again be established and that, hopefully, currently dry springs will find new life when they are not being sucked dry by these plants which have roots that tap the water table, sometimes to a depth of over 90 feet, according to a 1978 study. Tamarisk are not ordinary plants. In addition to the tap root, the plant is capable of developing horizontal roots once the main root reaches the water table. These horizontal roots, which also take in moisture, can grow up to 150 feet or longer. Whereas the growth of other trees and brush can be measured annually in inches, tamarisk can grow between 9 and 12 feet a season. Mature tamarisk can also survive floods for up to two months or more, even though the plant prefers to put down roots in saline (salty) soil. Fire is not a deterrent to the plant's spreading, either. Following a blaze, the plant can resprout. Even treatment with some herbicides has not proven effective. Other methods, including the grazing of tamarisk stands by goats, cutting the plants or removing them mechanically and even the introduction of the tamarisk-eating beetles from Eurasia (where the plant originated) has not proven to be 100 percent effective. Results, though, can take years to achieve since the plant is so hardy. Several partners including NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service), Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), Colorado Legends and Legacies and Mile High Youth Corps, Colorado State Conservation Board, Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado State University, Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), Fremont County Weed Manager J.R. Phillips and his department, Fremont County Weed Control Department (FCWD); Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO), Sangre de Cristo and Southeast Colorado Resource Conservation and Development Councils, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Wildlife Program, Upper Arkansas Cooperative Weed Management Area (UACWM), several conservation districts including Fremont, Turkey Creek, South Pueblo County, El Paso, Central Colorado, Northeast Prowers, Bent County, West Otero Timpas, Custer County-Divide, Upper Huerfano and Spanish Peaks Purgatoire River Conservation Districts plus several individual landowners have undertaken a massive effort to remove tamarisk along the Arkansas River and its tributaries and have provided financial and in-kind support for all the projects being undertaken in the various counties and individual conservation districts. Also providing the same type of support for the projects are the county commissioners in each of the counties along this stretch of the Arkansas River, Colorado State Land Board, Southeast Colorado Water Conservancy District, Holly Flood District and Tri-State Generation and Transmission. Generally, water issues can divide communities, but the eradication of this scourge has united producers and governmental agencies across property lines, county lines and even the state line. Although the Arkansas River banks are the primary target for tamarisk removal, the plan cannot be successful within only those boundaries. The Arkansas River, just like any large body of running water, is fed by tributaries and with plants that can produce up to 50,000 seeds annually, controlling the spread of tamarisk on the creeks and arroyos upstream will support the efforts along the river. In Colorado, approximately 1,414 acres along the Arkansas River in Prowers County have been targeted for eradication with the boards of directors of several conservation districts accepting bids and choosing the applicator to assist them with controlling and eventually ridding the river of this alien species. The same is true for areas up the river where approximately 850 acres were treated, also. In the lower regions of the Arkansas River, such as in Prowers County and across the state line into Kansas, herbicide application of the plants from the air was chosen. In Fremont and Custer counties, the targeted areas were tributary streams. Colorado and Kansas producers selected Tri-Rotor from Lakin and Ulysses, Kan., to apply habitat with a helicopter on the lower regions of the river and in the project area in the other counties, partners chose Olathe Spray Service of Olathe to treat the tributaries. Both companies used the herbicide Habitat. Application of the chemical by helicopter was chosen because the stands of tamarisk are so thick that eradication by mechanical means is virtually impossible. Helicopters also have the advantage over fixed-wing aircraft of being able to more directly control the chemical spray. The two companies selected to apply the herbicide have the ability to "spot spray," also. In other words, individual spray nozzles can be controlled to not apply herbicide to "friendly" plants such as trees, since the control methods are designed to keep the integrity of the streams while destroying the water-guzzling tamarisk. The end result, according to the partners is to "restore the natural riparian (wetlands) plant community and wildlife habitat," according to Patty Knupp, NRCS/RMBO/CDOW private lands wildlife biologist. Once the tamarisk has been knocked back, "suitable species" of native grasses and brush will be replanted to hold the soil in place.
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