[APWG] Natural herbicides, grasses & please no exotics sown on public lands

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

Dear All,

A comment off-list about the annual weed cheatgrass from the Great Basin,
has me add this comment to the list about natural herbicide interactions.

When annual weed grasses like cheatgrass and perennial native grasses get
together, at a certain level of growth, the perennial native grasses can
permanently overwhelm the annual cheatgrass.

You can see that happening in the pictures at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/greatbasin.html.  The planted area, the last three
pictures on the web page,  was Bluebunch wheatgrass. Locally genetic
native seeds were used, and the stand after five years, was still 99.9% 
cheatgrass-free, as you can see from the photos.

It is better to use a local perennial native on our public lands, than any
exotic seeds, which can become naturalized and could become more difficult
to remove than the original weed was--like the crested wheatgrass,
intermediate wheatgrass, kochia, chicory, white and yellow clovers, smooth
brome, etc.

I have a whole shopping list of really bad exotics that are still being
sown on public lands, that a group of botanists put together for me, at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/juicy.gossip.six.html

Please resist sowing a single pound of exotic seeds on public lands, the
future generations that to have to manage those lands, will be grateful.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333