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Show : eels a de YR/ AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2004 Bill’s house is unassuming, definitely a bachelor pad. The wood working--the doors, “Tm trying to lead the way and show it can be done. Not just the initial clearing, but the windows, trim and floors--is exceptionally well done. It’s one of his personal talents. The follow-up work, upstream and at the initial seed sources. Follow-up is absolutely essential. furniture is hodge-podge, a clear signal he doesn’t spend much time sitting around. He explains that the house used to be a one-room pioneer cabin. After several additions through the years, it now looks like a ranch-style home. The kitchen is Bill’s next big project. A new bumper sticker waits on the dining room table: “Born OK the first time.” Camping gear and backpacks of various sizes sit waiting by the front door, ready for Bill’s next volunteer hiking group or patrol in the canyons. Even when Bill isn’t working, he goes hiking. His compulsive need to hike the canyons is an addiction he just can’t kick. Bill says he became aware of Tamarisk when he first moved here. “I had read Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire, Monkey Wrench Gang, and somewhere along there I became aware of it (Tamarisk). That was 25 years ago. I had no idea about Russian Olive until well after I moved here. I had no idea then that it was destined to become the nightmare that is has become.” If you don’t go back to make sure a tree is dead, you could come back.a year later and have a HUGE bush of suckers-plus, there are always new ones.” He showed me a slice of a felled Russian Olive’s stump, 29” in circumference, 9” in diameter. The wood was hard, almost as hard as a rock. Literally. If you hit someone in the head with the small wafer, they could be seriously injured or even die. The ring growth was phenomenal-it’s clear that the tree soaked up water like a sponge. Counting the rings, it was only 15 years old. This particular tree must have been huge. “You can’t pound a nail into that stuff,” says Bill. “There just isn’t an awareness of what - kind ofa disaster this is. And nurseries are still selling it, and people are still planting it! The State of Colorado actually has the Russian Olive listed as a noxious weed and new plantings are prohibited. Riparian areas in the whole west are at risk.” Wolverton’s mission of Tamarisk and Russian Olive eradication is an uphill battle that seems impossible. I’m puzzled. Why does Bill care as long as he gets a paycheck? “T care about this place, the Canyons of the Escalante. It’s a very special place to me; it Tamarix chinensis, or Tamarisk, was introduced from Eurasia for erosion control in the West and found its way into Utah by 1880. By the 1920s, the Colorado River and all its tributaries had fallen victim to the alluring plant from halfway around the world. Its seeds are so small they carry easily on the wind. gave me a whole new direction in life--inspiration. The canyons gave me a focus. “In the short time we've done this, the progress we’ve made gives me hope. Someone who cares will do it; they have to want to do it. They can’t be ordered to do it by the bureaucracy above.” To date, Wolverton and the volunteers who assist him have cleared 23.5 miles of the Escalante River corridor, over one fourth of the entire length of the Escalante, in three years. Coyote Gulch and several other side canyons have been completely cleared as well. I ask Bill if he thinks Ed Abbey would have approved of his quest to rid the canyons of the exotic plants. Bill grabs his dog-eared copy of Desert Solitaire and turns to the section in which Abbey offers his polemic on what park rangers DON’T do anymore...and reads aloud. Then he laughs a little and looks over the book at me. “I think he would approve, and participate if he had the opportunity.” It has been some time since I’ve spoken with Bill about the aliens. I cannot seem to avoid seeing them if I’m out on an errand that requires a trip to Cedar City or Kanab, Utah. I look Tamarix chinensis, or Tamarisk, was introduced from Eurasia for erosion control in the west, and found its way into Utah by 1880. By the 1920s, the Colorado River and all its tributaries had fallen victim to the alluring plant from halfway around the world. Its seeds are so small that they carry easily on the wind. The first effort to rid Coyote Gulch of Tamarisk began in 1992 or 1993 (Bill isn’t sure of the exact year.) “We didn’t use any herbicide, just chopped it down. It didn’t take long to find out it was just going to come back with a vengeance. The first organized, concerted effort to eradicate Tamarisk in Coyote was April, 1995, with Sierra Club. We used minimal tools, and had three herbicide sprayers between us. They all failed within the week. We made some progress.” out the car window and all I see is Russian Olive and Tamarisk. How has it come to this? The one place I found that seemed to have a true riparian habitat was the Cottonwood Wash Road. Once you drove south far enough from Cannonville, the pale green invaders hadn’t encroached. I decide that Bill is right; the plants are taking over. I’ve heard talk of control measures for Tamarisk, like releasing a beetle that eats the stuff (a thought that scares the hell out of me), and of camels being set upon it to graze (not as scary--it’s a native food for them back home in Eurasia). There is nothing that I’ve heard about Russian Olive, the real aggressor, that could stop its spread EXCEPT what Bill is doing: cutting it down and poisoning the Bill elaborates: “Tamarisk seeds spread so far and so wide, you could take a bulldozer and gouge outa hole for a pond. And sure enough, Tamarisk will grow in it after it collects rainwater. Even with minimal water, the plant will keep hanging on. I’m convinced, from what I’ve seen, that Tamarisk is everywhere. stump. Hiking in the Escalante River Corridor, you will still see the trees in some sections. Happily, non-natives no longer exist in Coyote Gulch, a canyon that is one of the gems of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The last time I hiked through the lush canyon, with “The Green River, the Colorado River, Tidwell Bottoms on the San Rafael...have vast forests of Tamarisk, acres and acres. I don’t know how you could do anything about it. I’m pessimistic. Perhaps an economic need for Tamarisk could make a difference; maybe we could turn the paper industry loose on it. The good thing aboutitis if native plants have the its maiden hair ferns, horse tails, willows and cottonwoods, I silently thanked Bill and his volunteers. And I chuckled as I walked past that pictograph panel. upper hand, they keep Tamarisk at bay.” Russian Olive knows no such bounds. Birds eat and spread its not-really-fleshy seeds, Interested in helping Bill out on a service trip? Visit www.wildernessvolunteers.org or www-sierraclub.org Look for the trips listing Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. which also wash down waterways during floods. The ornamental tree was brought to the desert southwest because it grew so well in drought conditions, and helped to prevent erosion. The Russian Olive was first brought to the Escalante Drainage in the late 1940s by the Soil Conservation Service. Local high school students helped with the tree-planting project. Now, in the upper reaches of the Escalante Drainage west of town, there is almost nothing growing except Russian Olive. Elaeagnus Angustifolia L. is Russian Olive’s scientific name. The so-called “shrub” has delicious-smelling, cream-yellow flowers in late May, June, and July that are reminiscent of a sweet musk cologne. The larger the Russian Olive, the larger its thorns, which are incredibly sharp. River runners would do well to steer clear of any branches hanging down into water corridors. Its silvery, pale green leaves are instantly recognizable. The tree’s home turf is in Western Asia and Southeastern Europe. Apparently, Germans cultivated the plant in the 1700’s as an ornamental. Its popularity and its seeds) spread from there. The reason it grows so well is its ability to fix nitrogen in its root system, thereby taking over rocky areas and riparian areas where cottonwoods have died. Russian Olive is so hardy it will grow anywhere between the elevations of 800 to 2000 feet above sea level, and any riparian areas in the Great Basin Deserts or the Great Plains. ——— ISCO COMPUTER SERVICE “Twenty Years of PC Experience” REPAIRS UPGRADES MAINTENANCE SOFTWARE LYNN SHAFER “Everywhere you go in the west, Russian Olive is everywhere. It’s mind boggling, a monster. There is nothing that can compete with it. It will displace everything in the under story, and in time become the over story,” Wolverton warns. Bill finds an upside to the plant, though. more.” — 259.5635 lynn@lsco.net “The Russian Olive’s seeds make it easier to control so I’ve focused on it Moab’s Oldest Legal Brewery! . Curious \ George W? U : F: ' EDDIE PICSZTIFF > Restaurant 259-BEER | Not funny, Moab Boy. SSA o EDDIE'S WORDS OF ADVICE TO THE CANDIDATES #1 If you don't want to look like a monkey, TRIM YOUR EYEBROWS (Two eyebrows are better than one) &; Microbrewery 57 S. 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