Phil White, CIR Board Member
It was the photo of the Santa Ynez River that came into my inbox last January that ultimately made me sign up for the CIR tamarisk eradication trip. The gorgeous photo shows a crew of backpackers walking along a deep pool in the river, with the blue of the sky reflected in the pool. “Volunteer Sign-up is Now Open!” I was hooked, and having recently completed my vaccination regimen, I was ready for just this kind of adventure.
Sometimes we have to climb mountains to get to the creeks.
All Santa Ynez River Photos by Sara Scrivano and Caleb Stumberg.
I had known about CIR’s tamarisk trips for a long time as a member of CIR’s board, but I had never participated on one. Here was my chance. I signed up right away and was accepted for the last five-day trip in March.
Because of COVID and the need to prevent the introduction of exotic plant and animal species into the river system, special precautions were imposed. First of all, no carpooling was allowed – we each needed to drive our own four-wheel drive vehicle into the backcountry, and social distancing (plus being outdoors the whole time) was the norm for the duration of the trip.
We were required to carefully clean the vehicles’ undercarriages, tires, and wheel wells of any dirt or mud that could harbor exotic pests such as the invasive New Zealand mud snail, and our hiking shoes needed to be carefully brushed and cleaned of seeds and dirt and then be frozen for 48 hours. And finally, we each needed to bring all our own food and supplies for the five days.
Why eradicate tamarisk? Tamarix ramosissima, also known as saltcedar, is one of the most invasive plants in the western US (and the world). It is native to Asia and the Mediterranean region but is now well-established here.
According to the California Invasive Plant Council, tamarisk “is associated with dramatic changes in geomorphology, groundwater availability, soil chemistry, fire frequency, plant community composition, and native wildlife diversity.”
Killing Tamarisk roots and all!
Two of the most commonly displaced native plants are cottonwoods and willows, which provide habitat for such threatened birds as the Least Bell’s Vireo (LBV). A single mature tamarisk tree can draw up and transpire 100 to 200 gallons of water per day, reducing streamflows and adding to the stress on threatened aquatic species like the red-legged frog and the arroyo toad. One mature tree is capable of producing 500,000 seeds in a year, which wash downstream and germinate on sandbars and the sides of river channels, quickly expanding the problem.
These are very bad plants. The solution: kill them. One at a time. CIR has been battling tamarisk in the backcountry for years. This year, the battle continues with a $133,233 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Los
Padres National Forest. The grant requires a 50% match from the grant recipient, and that’s where the value of CIR volunteer labor comes into the picture.
Our initial group was eight people, three CIR staff and five volunteers. The leader was Operations Manager Doug Morgan and he was assisted by CIR technicians Sarah Spellenberg and Sarah Scrivano. Volunteers besides me included James from Seal Beach, Christina from Santa Ana, and Caleb and Jim from Santa Barbara. In camp, we were joined by two backpackers from South Carolina and Tennessee, who became excited about the tamarisk project, making us a crew of ten.
Doug, with more than 50 years of Los Padres backcountry experience, ran a tight ship – a very professional organization, and the two Sarahs, working quietly under the radar, made everything function smoothly and efficiently. CIR’s one-ton four-wheel drive truck (paid for by the generous contributions of members), was packed with all the tools and safety gear needed for the challenging work. Without the staff and vehicles we have, CIR would not be able to take on projects like this.
I don’t know about other organizations that take on restoration work like this, but it is clear that CIR offers great organization, the right equipment, physical strength, knowledge of the flora and fauna, concern for safety, and an obvious passion for making the world a better place.
On this trip, Doug and the Sarahs showed us that they know the names and characteristics of many of the plants and animals with which we crossed paths. The ability to know which plants and animals are rare or important (and shouldn’t be touched) seems like an important CIR advantage over a crew that is maybe ignorant about what is right in front of them.
But back to the trip:
Leaving Camino Cielo on the morning of the first day, we caravanned down the winding dirt road into the river canyon and set up camp at Middle Santa Ynez campground, an idyllic grove of ancient oaks next to the Santa Ynez River. Soon arrived Valerie Hubbartt, Resource Officer for the Santa Barbara District of the Forest Service.
Valerie educated us about the important and threatened species in the river, including the arroyo toad, red-legged frog, two-striped garter snake, and the western pond turtle. She led us down to the river and pointed out a garter snake, a tree frog, and a large mass of red-legged frog eggs. You could tell that she was very happy to have us there improving the habitat for these rare creatures.
After Valerie drove away, Doug gave us a safety briefing and then put us right to work; and work started with a long several mile hike along the river bottom to the target section. For the most part, there are no trails and the hikes required boulder-hopping and bushwhacking and navigating wet sections.
My attire included long pants and shirt, wide-brimmed hat, gloves, snake chaps, boots, and safety glasses, and we carried our day packs with lots of water, lunch, and cutting and grubbing tools. On previous survey trips, patches of “tam” had been identified and locations recorded with GPS coordinates. We headed for those sections but also came across many other recently germinated smaller plants and even some older trees that had not been previously spotted.
There are two types of “kills.”
The smaller ones can be pulled by hand, following loosening around the roots with digger tools. Some of the smaller tams were no more than a few inches above the ground, but when pulled up had roots two feet or more in length. You can really see how they are so effective at drinking up water and drying out rivers and streams. Pulled plants were relocated away from the water to prevent new rooting.
The larger trees are too big to pull, sometimes growing in connected thickets with many heads. The technique used was to grub out around the base of the trunks to expose them and then cut the trunks with loppers or hand saws.
A California Tree Frog sits inside a rock at the bottom of a stream.
Needless to say, this is very hard work, and we did work hard, day after day. On some days after a long day of hard work, we were able to soak our sore and tired bodies in one of the two local hot springs. And returning to camp, after we each cooked our own dinners, we congregated for a socially distanced campfire, with storytelling (Doug is a master), and music accompanied by two guitars and the Tam Killer Singers. Hard work yes, but fun too.
We were reminded that this is wild country. We saw a big rattlesnake, and bear tracks in the river bottom, and one night we heard a mountain lion scream just beyond our campground. The scorecard: In total, we pulled and killed nearly a thousand of the smaller tamarisks, and cut and treated nearly 300 stumps. One at a time. Additional areas of the river system were surveyed and the locations of tamarisk recorded for future eradication trips. In short – a very successful trip.
Yes, this is hard work, but knowing that our efforts are making the Santa Ynez River system and the Los Padres National Forest a better environment for both plants and animals, including some that are very rare, it is very satisfying work, and once again, I came away very proud to be associated with Channel Islands Restoration.