[APWG] FIRE 07 Great Basin and Southwest conditions-Costs for restoration and management Plan? Re: Costs for restoration of arid Western public lands, for fires & weeds

[Craig Dremann]

Dear Wayne and All,

Thanks for your email, asking how my $2,000 per acre quote for
converting cheatgrass back to local native species came from, and your
question about--what does "opening bid" mean?

$2,000 an acre would be a good starting point, for filling in the shrub
interspaces in the Great Basin with local native species, replacing the
cheatgrass.  

"Local" means local genetic native material, and no sowing of exotic
seeds and no native cultivars sown and no USDA/ARS/NRCS “Improved”
natives planted and no USDA/ARS native-exotic hybrid grass seeds used. 

The $2,000 an acre "opening bid", is based on test plots that I
completed a few months ago.  My calling the costs an "opening bid" is
because that price per acre only puts a "primer coat" on the Great Basin
ecosystem to convert the cheatgrass areas within one year or less.  

Cheatgrass replacement-plantings with local native plants could be
beautiful, cheatgrass-free and fire resistant areas--if Congress could
start making the annual investments for large-scale ecological
restoration of our public lands.  Pics at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/greatbasin.html

The $2,000 an acre doesn't take into account the potential costs of
restoring the rarer native plants from non-grass families, necessary to
hold the native ecosystems together over time.  

It’s also very important to add to the budget, money to include local
native Americans, in the “European weeds-back-to-local native plant
ecosystem” conversion process.  

It doesn't make sense for us to be doing ecological restoration and
plantings with with local native plants, and never including the local
native peoples in the process.

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