[APWG] purple loosestrife--and other roadside exotics

[Cleary, Ruark]

Craig,

By my calculation, a "$90,000 per year, 5-year grant" comes to $450,000
total. If they are only in year two of doing test plots, then you can hardly
say that they have "set the price" on anything--other than the two-year cost
of a five-year project ($180,000). Plus if, as you say, they haven't
accomplished restoration (yet), then how can you say they have set the price
for a "restored" acre? To induce a per plant cost from the total project cost
and then extrapolate that out to some inferred per acre cost is nonsense.

When first establishing best management practices, you are going to have
procedures that don't work. The final result, and what it costs to replicate
that result, is where you "set the price" on a process. If you want to say
that what Caltrans is doing isn't working, then say that. But don't invent
some pseudo-economic analysis to justify your point.

-Rook


Ruark L. "Rook" Cleary
Upland Weeds Program
Bureau of Invasive Plant Management
3900 Commonwealth Blvd, MS 705
Tallahassee, Florida  32399-3000
ruark.cleary at dep.state.fl.us
Office: 850-245-2809 x4828
SunCom 205-2809, Fax 850-245-2835
<http://www.dep.state.fl.us/lands/invaspec/index.htm>

"If we are saying that the loss of species in and of itself is inherently
bad-I don't think we know enough about how the world works to say that."
-Interior Department Assistant Secretary Craig Manson, LA Times, 11/14/2003




-----Original Message-----
From: APWG-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:APWG-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org]On Behalf Of Craig
Dremann
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 1:53 AM
To: Ruth Douglas
Cc: APWG at lists.plantconservation.org;
APWG-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org; Cynthia_Boettner at fws.gov;
ForestRuss at aol.com
Subject: Re: [APWG] purple loosestrife--and other roadside exotics
Ruth Douglas wrote:
> 
> Craig and others, the idea of it costing $8.8 million for 1 acre of
restored roadside is about beyond my ability to comprehend. Could you just
give us a broad brush list of expenses that add up to $8.8 million?
> 
> Many thanks.
> 
> Ruth

Dear Ruth and All,

The Caltrans/UC Davis grant details are linked to the web page showing
the photos of the project so far, at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/road.test.html . 

For about $450,000 in two years, the grant was supposed to get 2 acres
of native plants in place of the exotics (about $225,000 per acre) but
is only able to get about to get about 1,000 successful square feet in
place for that price.