Arundo donax removal |
|||||
In early October 2003, in cooperation with the Fly Fishers Club of Orange County, Audrey Williams, President of the Southern California Chapter of Trout Unlimited, organized and led a group of volunteers to continue TU’s program to restore San Mateo Creek in eastern San Diego County. San Mateo Creek is the southernmost known occurrence of southern steelhead trout in California, but the small population is struggling for survival. One problem is non-native invasive riparian vegetation that draws scarce water from the creek. A prime culprit is arundo donax, a giant reed that rapidly grows higher than 20 feet and crowds out native species.
A representative of the California State Parks Department provided an herbicide (nontoxic) which we sprayed on the cut stumps to prevent regeneration. We also inspected sites that had been cleared by earlier work parties and found only a few straggler stalks, which we removed. Native vegetation is taking over! We were pleased to note that the arundo eradication process is successful. We thank the Fly Fishers Club of Orange County which provided the volunteers. Future work parties will remove other invasive plants, such as tamarisk, and non-native fish, such as bullheads, that compete with the steelhead. In a recent article in the Los Angeles Times (620 K PDF), George Sutherland, Regional Vice President of Trout Unlimited and a member of FFCOC, outlined TU’s plans for restoring the steelhead fishery in San Mateo Creek. To participate in future work parties contact awilliams(at)wrem(dot)com Submitted by F. F. Sabins 10/15/03 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |