[RWG] Ecosystem Restoration, weed project Performance Standards

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

Dear Wayne and All,

Regarding restoration performance and weed management standards---all I
can personally contribute to these discussions are details about projects
that I have recently measured, with linear toe-point transects (Evans &
Love, 1957), so all the readers can have accurate scientific measurements
of what has been accomplished so far.

I hope that all the readers can appreciate accurate measurements, whenever
 discussing any topics that are as controversial as non-riparian
Performance Standards for weeding projects or restoration projects in
California--where tens of millions of dollars could be at stake if a
project succeeds or fails?

I just came back from driving through coastal California, on US 101 from
San Jose to Los Angeles and back, and was looking all along the 400 miles
route for any patches of our State native grass, the Nassella pulchra.  I
did spot a small patch in the median in Santa Barbara County, but it was
only 10 feet wide by about 100 feet long.

So that means, if you include the median plus a 10-foot width on both
sides of US 101, out of 63 million square feet along that route, I only
saw 1,000 square feet, which means that less than 0.002% of that plant is
left in that portion of the seven counties I drove through.

When you get down to less than 50% native cover in a huge area, you should
start to worry?  But when you look and see you achieved the awesome level
of  99.998% weed cover in your understory,  I am sure everyone will agree
that is very, very, very bad?    That could be called 99.998% bad?

That is why it is so important to start discuss what we can work out for
some successful weeding and restoration performance standards now, while
we still have some examples of the original native ecosystems to use as
models?

Our vegetation understories in the arid West, and perhaps nationwide, may
be too far gone, to be able to recover from the weeds all by themselves,
without our help?

Happy Valentines Day--love your local ecosystem, replant or protect some
local native wildflowers.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333