Back to Natives vs. Scotch Broom, Part 2

Working in the rain at the El Cariso Campground.

Breaking for lunch in the warm, dry Interpretive Center.

We won!

Tackling Tamarisk in Modjeska Canyon

We began with a lecture on non-native trees and small shrubs.



Then we went down to the creek bottom to remove Tamarisk & Scotch Broom! We removed ALL of the tamarisk from the Howard House to the Bridge.

Our motley crue.

Removing Scotch Broom at the El Cariso Campground - October 2008

USFS Back to Natives Restoration Training Class Orientation & "Hike & Weed"

Enroute to the "weed" - our class and a few guests participate in the "Hike and Weed" on National Public Lands Day at the Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy.



Dead heading mustard


Learning to sanitize our tools.


Posing with our bags of seed heads - that many fewer mustard plants this Spring!


Orientation at the beautiful interpretive center at Caspers Wilderness Park.


Our first lecture.

Class Final and Graduation - June 2008

Debra Clark awards Back to Natives the "Landsteward of the Year" award on behalf of Orange County Wild.


Our class concentrates on their final exam.

The exam finished outside, where our students demonstrated the use of each tool, and how to sanitize them.

Students were awarded for their high test scores and number of hours volunteered over the course of the class.

What a handsome looking group of graduates - in their cool new matching BTN/USFS "Restoration Team" t-shirts!

Combating Tamarisk at Riley Park in May 2008

Our class treks through the parking lot to the restoration site, carrying the heavy weed wrenches that will aid us in removing the pesky tamarisk and Scotch broom. Notice the good spacing between tools/people - a safetly measure we learn in class.

Reggie always finds time to snap a shot of something beautiful to remind us why we are sweating so much!

The guys stand proudly over their tamarisk root ball conquest.

A surprise find in the creek bed.

The obligatory safety meeting after the day's events. It's good to review what went well, and what worried us. Someday we will all be leading groups of volunteers into the wilderness. Watch out!

USFS Back to Natives Restoration Training at Mason Park - April 2008

Emily Kwok and Ed Steiner work to remove mustard at Mason Park as part of our USFS Back to Natives Restoration Training Class.

The group decided to focus on this lone oak tree. Scott Breeden discards the unsightly stuff!

The tree can breathe a lot easier, now, and the team poses for a group photo - proud of their accomplishment.

March 8th, 2008 Sub-Shrubs and Shrubs

March 8th found the Class at Long Canyon Road, directly across Ortega Highway from Long Meadow, our December training location. We could see that our eradication method in December was highly successful in abating non-native mustards for this growing season! No non-native mustards were present!

For this session we were conducting our Field Training Exercises in search of non-native broom. We found plenty to practice on right next to plenty of Poison Oak. After our safety session, which included instruction for sanitizing shoes and tools to prevent cross contamination of sites, we embarked on pulling out broom with Root Talons and Weed Wrenches.

By far the Weed Wrench was the most successful tool. Ranger Tom Maloney from Mason Regional Park has suggested the Extractigator, and this may have been a good time to compare, unfortunately Tom was not with us, nor did we have his Extractigator.

In no time at all we had removed all visible broom at this small riparian site, and piled it up for later removal by the US Forest Service. This is a site to watch, as broom species can re-sprout from seed in areas for years.

We finished up with a Circle Safety Session and final sanitizing of tools.

Continued thanks for Debra Clarke - Wilderness / Trails Manager District Volunteer Coordinator Cleveland NF, Trabuco Ranger District who attends each session.
For more information on how to become involved in this training please visit our USFS collaboration page : www.backtonatives.org/usfs.htm

Look to the right for one reason we Restore Habitat!

January 12, 2008 Mustards! Non-Native and Native Species Part Two Chemical Controls

January found us at Starr Ranch Audubon Sanctuary with Sandy DeSimone hosting us. http://www.starrranch.org/ Sandy gave us an introductory talk on the non-chemical methods applied at Starr Ranch for artichoke thistle eradication.

After Sandy's intro we dove right in to non-native mustards and recommended control methods. This was followed up with native mustards found in the area (mostly Orange County Species with some from the Santa Ana Mountains just outside of OC). Also included was an alternative seeding selection to possibly out compete or crowd out non native mustards.

This was followed by the second half of our Chemical Control agents, recommended applications as well environmental and health impacts of chemical usage. Overall the same number if not more site visits and applications were required of chemical treatments than mechanical removal methods. Alarmingly many mustards are already resistant to most LEGAL chemical control methods.

We finished the last portion of the session following Sandy out to a field recently cleared of Artichoke thistle. We removed mustard rosettes that had invaded the soon to be seeded field. Hopefully we made a dent in a very sizable area. The session was called to a close after reviewing safety protocol with a circle session of safety with everyone taking turns pointing out safety tips and methods. Call us out again next year Sandy!

Special Thanks to Sandy DeSimone PhD for hosting us at Starr Ranch. Continued thanks for Debra Clarke - Wilderness / Trails Manager District Volunteer Coordinator Cleveland NF, Trabuco Ranger District who attends each session.

For more information on how to become involved in this training please visit our USFS collaboration page : www.backtonatives.org/usfs.htm

Look to the right for one reason we Restore Habitat!

December 12, 2007 Non-Native Herbaceous Eradication Field Lab

December found us meeting at the San Juan Fire Station to caravan out to Long Meadow for Field Training Exercises. At Long Meadow we used Weed hounds to successfully eradicate non-native mustards from a traditional Acjacheman weaving material collection area. Ranger Candice Hubert came out to learn about Mustard removal. We spent roughly two hours at Long Meadow and then caravanned to Upper San Juan campground where we once again tackled Vinca.

Bill Croxson and David Taylor show off their Weed Hound Skills.

Continued thanks for Debra Clarke - Wilderness / Trails Manager District Volunteer Coordinator Cleveland NF, Trabuco Ranger District who attends each session.

For more information on how to become involved in this training please visit our USFS collaboration page : www.backtonatives.org/usfs.htm

Look to the right for one reason we Restore Habitat!