[APWG] California & Southwest drought knocking back the weeds

[Craig Dremann]

Dear All,

Russ' email remainds me to mention the Exceptional California drought
that has been the most severe this spring, since the last in 1862-1864. 
In Central California in the Coast range mountains, like south of San
Jose 600 miles to the Mexican border, there are areas where only 1-2
inches has fallen all season so far. 

That tiny amount of rainfall allowed the annual or biennial weeds like
the Yellow star thistle to germinate, but the seedlings are now dying of
thirst.  

This might be a good year for the public land managers that have been
fighting solid square miles of these weeds for years, like Pinnacles
National Monument, to get some extra funds from Washington DC?

Why not take advantage of this once-in-a-century ecosystem-wide
drought-induced die-back of the weeds, and let this unique freak of
nature help the public land managers, permanently convert the weed areas
back to local native ecosystems? 

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