[APWG] Ecosystem Restoration: On Humans and Ecosystems

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

Dear Gena and All,

I wanted to comment on Gena's alternative methods to evaluate health.

For restoration or weeding projects, how do you know you have crossed the
finish line, that our job is completed?  For Shaw and Mark's projects,
which are 95% and 99.5% native cover this last year, I am going to give a
surprise answer--they still will not be finished,  even at 100% native
cover.

They will still be missing extinct native species, like the native clovers
whose seeds lost their viability and were exterminated maybe 100 years ago
by the cows and sheep.

Without plugging up all the native plant family niche-holes in the
ecosystems, the North American ecosystems will always be vulnerable to
future weed invasions.

What I had to do about 20 years ago, was to invent a method to be able to
visualize the goal line--what does a healthy-intact ecosystem look like,
so you could work towards that goal, and know when you have crossed the
finish line?

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333