[APWG] California Exotic Mustard Report - May 20, 2005 & Discussion

[Craig Dremann]

Dear Public Land Managers,

“THE MUSTARDS ARE COMING, THE MUSTARDS ARE COMING.”  I feel like Paul
Revere, after driving 8,000 miles to complete my mile-by-mile exotic
mustard survey of the paved desert roads of California, from the Mexico
border to I-15 and Cal. 58, and what I saw.  

After looking at the speed that this weed is getting into out desert
ecosystems, maybe we should change the name of Brassica tournefortii
from the neutral-sounding  “Saharan Mustard,” to the “Evil, Devil Desert
Tumble-Mustard from Hell?”

Fortunately, on the last day of my survey, I also saw at least one faint
ray of hope, along US 95 between Needles and Las Vegas, at the
California-Nevada border: ROADSIDE MAINTENANCE PRACTICES.  

WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE AT THE STATE LINES? Even though the highway
goes through a valley, and the State borders are in the middle of that
creosote desert---there's mustards so thick on the California side, that
I call it the "Great Wall of Mustards" that goes for miles that you
could probably spot from satellite pictures.  

However, when you cross into Nevada,  going only 1/2 miles into the
Nevada side, perhaps because of a difference in roadside maintenance
practices, THE MUSTARDS ARE GONE!

What is the State of Nevada doing right, that California and Arizona
need to start doing along their roadsides?

STATE HIGHWAY DEPTS. & FHWA NEED TO ACT NOW: After looking at hundreds
of miles of Saharan mustard-infested roadsides, I’ve come to the
conclusion that the eradication and control of this plant in the North
American deserts, or its eventual spread and destruction of the desert
ecosystem, is 99% the legal and economic responsibility of the various
State Highway departments of the various desert states and the FHWA.  

FY 2005 MINIMUM COSTS, just to manage the mustards in the California
desert, will total somewhere between $170-200 million, and you can see a
break-down by public land management agency at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/mustards.html 

State highway departments in the future,  will unfortunately become the
deep-pockets once the mustards move off the roadsides into the desert,
and be financially responsible for any damages---including damages
caused by fires, the economic destruction of private grazing lands and
BLM allotments, plus the costs to restore the desert ecosystems wherever
the mustard has destroyed or modified Listed Endangered Species
habitats.  

If the desert state highways departments fail to manage the mustards
along their roadsides, the costs could be in the billions or tens of
billions each year, because once the genie is out of the bottle, it will
be very, very expensive to get it reined back in, and control the
damages that it causes.

BLM ORV AREAS AS SOURCE OF NEW INFESTATIONS: The other 1% of the mustard
problem, outside of its spread along roadsides, is the new infections
caused by ORV users.  

When the mustard infests BLM ORV area like Stoddard Valley south of
Barstow; or Jaw Bone Canyon north of the town of Mojave; or the
roadsides of the Plaster City ORV area in Imperial County; or the ORV
areas in the Coachella valley---when the seed pods are ripe and on the
plant, they get caught in the vehicles and get moved to new locations in
the desert.  

BLM ORV areas are a major source of new infestations, and once
established in a new area, the mustard spreads very, very rapidly along
the roadsides.  The plant spreads by breaking off at the base like a
tumble weed, and as it bounces, a few seed pods get shattered and the
seed released.

Normally, in the Saharan desert, the mustards would move along barren
ground or down dry washes, and get caught along the rocks or shrubs at
the edges of the washes.   But in North American, we’ve created a lot of
“artificial washes”--our roadsides. 

ALL BLM ORV MUSTARD-INFESTED AREAS SHUT DOWN NOW:  We need all the BLM
ORV areas to be shut down if they have any mustard infestation within
their site or along their roadsides, at least during the time of the
year that ripe seed pods are still on the plants---which would be about
March 15 to June 15.  And then BLM will need to start the clean-up of
their ORV areas to keep the infestation from spreading outside of the
ORV area.

The BLM Jaw Bone canyon infestation, is only a few miles upwind from the
California Desert tortoise preserve, and it’s moving from the ORV area
in that direction.  The problem with the mustard is that when it gets
thick, it wipes out all annual native food plants in an area that the
tortoises need to survive. 

MINIMUM FY 2005 $170 MILLION NEEDED NOW: We also need to have all the
agencies get their necessary FY 2005 funds together, and you can find
what you agency’s ante to the California desert mustard eradication
program should be at http://www.ecoseeds.com/mustards.html

FORMAL CONSULTATION WITH USFWS: Each public land management agency, and
all desert HCP permit holders, to start formal Consultation with the
USFWS, to detail what their agency is going to do to keep the Desert
Tortoise and other Listed Species habitats from being destroyed or
modified by the mustards. 

SPEEDY PLANS TO ERADICATE THE ROADSIDE INFESTATIONS NOW: Plans for
managing the mustards must act with speed.  Any plan of action will need
to eradicate the mustards at least 3 times faster than they are
spreading.

IF YOU DON’T SEE A PROBLEM NOW, LOOK ALONG I-40 EAST OF BARSTOW: The
Saharan mustard is just this year getting into the Mojave, and I’ve
heard from land managers who only think it is going to stay as a solely
roadside problem, so aren’t concerned at all yet.  Perhaps that’s when
the land managers haven’t seen the full potential of this weed.

GO AND VIEW THE FUTURE.  Every desert land manager in California needs
to take a look at the desert along I-40, either 10 miles west or 5 miles
east of the town of Ludlow, east of Barstow (Post miles San Bernardino
County 42-43 and 55-56) and to see the future of our California desert
if we don’t eradicate these roadside infestations now.  

Take a look at the solid stands of  mustards in San Bernardino County
along I-40 and see if you agree, that it’s a really awesome sight that
we won’t want to see repeated all over our beautiful North American
deserts!

If there are any public lands, FHWA, Caltrans, Native Plant Society,
Desert Tortoise groups, environmental groups, or Native American land
managers, etc. who want to be added to this discussion list, please
email me at <mailto:craig at ecoseeds.com>

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333