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<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>Dear All,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>Thanks to Craig for a most interesting
post. I share his concerns about the invasion of alien annual weedy grasses and
forbs into indigenous grasslands and other habitats. I quite agree with him that
alien weeds worsen the fire hazard, interfere with indigenous plant recovery,
and also am concerned about their effect upon soil moisture and groundwater
recharge and streamflow (and thus their short- and long-term effects upon
ecosystems, both on the site and elsewhere within the watershed).
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>Please tell me where there is(are) one (or
more) site(s) where direct seeding of native bunchgrass has produced
a reasonably good stand. I'd like to have a look at them and learn a
little about their history. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>I am not implying that there are none, but
it has been my observation that such seeding rarely produces a satisfactory
stand, and is potentially infeasible due to the quantity of seed required and
the potential for adverse effects on native stands used for collection sites.* I
would like to know what the best ratio of seed to mature plants that has
ever been achieved is. For example, a bunchgrass that counts at about 160,000
seeds per pound should produce how many plants per acre? Given the best
survivorship curve that results in a stand that increases rather than decreases,
how many pounds of seed per acre would be required? How many plants per
acre are optimal for a stable stand population? How many acres would be seeded?
What would be the effects of seed collection on the native stands from which the
seeds are harvested? Should seed collections be limited on native stands? If
commercial growers are growing native bunchgrass seed as a crop, what is the
annual production? How would that compare with the number of acres to be seeded?
What method of seeding is envisioned? What are the habitat requirements and
characteristics of successfully seeded stands? What are the specific objectives
of the program (e.g., number of grass plants per acre, number of other species
per acre)? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>I am all for restoring the indigenous
grasslands, but I am interested in how well the proposed program's numbers
compare to the objective and the effects upon native stand reproduction when
wildland collections are the source of seed. I do not object to wild seed
collecting unless it is so severe that it limits natural stand replacement
and/or natural dispersal into nearby degraded habitats. I am concerned that
large-scale seed collection could backfire on the native seed collection
industry if, for example, and EIR had to be filed for each collection site or
operation. I believe there are more efficient and effective ways to restore
degraded native grasslands that are more feasible, practical,
cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable than direct seeding.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>Thank you for answering my
questions. I will appreciate all comments and answers. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>WT</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua" size=4>*An interesting paper is <STRONG>An
Analysis of Ecological Factors Limiting the Distribution of a Group of Stipa
pulchra Associations Within the Foothill Woodland of California</STRONG>
(Robinson, R.H. 1968). PhD Thesis, University of Oklahoma</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: "Craig Dremann" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:craig@astreet.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>craig@astreet.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:rwg@lists.plantconservation.org"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>rwg@lists.plantconservation.org</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Cc: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:apwg@lists.plantconservation.org"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>apwg@lists.plantconservation.org</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 1:40
PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Subject: [RWG] Wildland fires, exotics and
replanting natives</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> Dear All,<BR>> <BR>> Wildland fires, exotics and replanting
natives<BR>> <BR>> While traveling to relatives for Thanksgiving, my wife
Sue and I, took a<BR>> side trip to do a northern and southern California
severe drought<BR>> survey, as we are entering a third year of drought, and
looked at three<BR>> fire areas at the edge of Los Angeles, NW of
downtown.<BR>> <BR>> The Oct. 13-15 Porter Ranch (Sesnon) fire, that shut
down the 118<BR>> freeway and burned 14,700 acres, and you can see a photos
linked on<BR>> Google images, like the one at<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.hubbuzz.com/images/cache/4d7d17be-7441-4b3c-a595-99d0015ba83f-1-Medium.png"><FONT
face=Arial
size=2>http://www.hubbuzz.com/images/cache/4d7d17be-7441-4b3c-a595-99d0015ba83f-1-Medium.png</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>> My picture from Porter Ranch at<BR>>
</FONT><A href="http://www.ecoseeds.com/burned_shrubs.jpg"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.ecoseeds.com/burned_shrubs.jpg</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>, is were the burning embers<BR>> were blow by the wind 1/4 mile from
the fire, through the wrought-iron<BR>> fence surrounding the parking lot for
the city park, and the embers got<BR>> lodged in the irrigated planted
shrubs, and set the shrubs on fire.<BR>> <BR>> And the Sylmar (Sayre
Wildland) fire on November 15, burning 11,262<BR>> acres in Los Angeles
county, that you can see at<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://laist.com/attachments/lindsayrebecca/SayreFireGrowing.jpg"><FONT
face=Arial
size=2>http://laist.com/attachments/lindsayrebecca/SayreFireGrowing.jpg</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>> Our Sylmar picture is at </FONT><A
href="http://www.ecoseeds.com/burned_hillside.JPG"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.ecoseeds.com/burned_hillside.JPG</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>> And the Santa Clarita (Church blaze) June 2005
fire,<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/1694122794_ce7b9543ba.jpg"><FONT
face=Arial
size=2>http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/1694122794_ce7b9543ba.jpg</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2> that was<BR>> not replanted with any local native
perennial bunchgrasses, and over the<BR>> last three years, solid exotics
have regrown.<BR>> <BR>> In all of these areas, a perennial native
bunchgrass understory should<BR>> be sprouting up immediately after each of
these fires, but since the<BR>> native bunch grasses were grazed out over 100
years ago, the wildlands<BR>> ecosystems are now extremely vulnerable to
future fires.<BR>> <BR>> Once a fire goes through the native shrublands,
it opens up empty spaces<BR>> for the extremely flammable annual European
exotics to grow solidly,<BR>> like what we saw on the west side of I-5 behind
the 76 station in Santa<BR>> Clarita. The hillside burned in June 2005,
and what a local told me,<BR>> nothing was planted, and nothing grew on the
burned slopes for two<BR>> years.<BR>> <BR>> Then this spring, the 2005
burned slope became completely solidly<BR>> infested with exotic
mustards. My picture is at<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.ecoseeds.com/burned_hillside.jpg"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.ecoseeds.com/burned_hillside.jpg</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2> and a close-up at<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.ecoseeds.com/weeds_on_burned_hills.jpg"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.ecoseeds.com/weeds_on_burned_hills.jpg</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>> In the arid West, if we do not invest the money
necessary for replant<BR>> the missing perennial local native bunchgrasses,
especially after<BR>> wildland fires in California, the SW and the Great
Basin, then by our<BR>> negligence, we are allowing the exotics to move in
and create even<BR>> bigger and more severe wildfires in the future.<BR>>
<BR>> Any professional ecologist can go to where the western wildlands
fires<BR>> have occurred in the last decade, and see this conversion wherever
the<BR>> native bunchgrasses are missing from the local ecosystems, and see
where<BR>> the flammable annual exotics are gaining ground.<BR>> <BR>>
The difference in flammability between the bunchgrasses and some of the<BR>>
exotics, is that most native bunchgrasses only have the amount of<BR>>
flammable biomass per acre, as a single sheet of paper spread over the<BR>>
land, whereas the exotics are like putting out 500-1,000 gallons of<BR>>
gasoline per acre, that you can see at<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.ecoseeds.com/flames.html"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.ecoseeds.com/flames.html</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> <BR>> All of our public land managers in the arid West, should
start asking<BR>> Congress for adequate annual funds, to sowing local
perennial native<BR>> bunchgrasses after every fire, to keep the flammable
annual exotics from<BR>> moving in. We need a massive wildlands
fire ecosystem restoration<BR>> bailout.<BR>> <BR>> Sincerely,
Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333<BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> <BR>> _______________________________________________<BR>> PCA's
Restoration Working Group mailing list<BR>> </FONT><A
href="mailto:RWG@lists.plantconservation.org"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>RWG@lists.plantconservation.org</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> </FONT><A
href="http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/rwg_lists.plantconservation.org"><FONT
face=Arial
size=2>http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/rwg_lists.plantconservation.org</FONT></A>
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