Los Padres National Forest Tamarisk Removal Project

Los Padres National Forest Tamarisk Removal Project Question: What do tamarisk tree-shrubs, and water clarity and flow have in common? Answer: Tamarisk can divert large quantities of water and potentially release contaminates into water that flows from the Forest to population centers. What’s at Risk?: Tamarisk weed, a nonnative invasive species, has taken hold on all five Los Padres National Forest Ranger Districts where it 1.) grows in scattered dense patches; 2.) competes with native vegetation such as willows and cottonwoods; 3.) can change soil chemistry by depositing salts from groundwater to the soil surface, and thereby contaminate surface water; and 4.) consumes large amounts of water from streams and riparian areas and reduces streamflow. The results are potential negative impacts to downstream communities such as Santa Barbara est. pop 92,000, Goleta est. pop 31,000 and Montecito est. pop 9,000. And, due to its water-consuming ability, Tamarisk also reduces surface water available to wildlife, impacting riparian-dependent species such as the federally-listed arroyo toad, California red-legged frog, and steelhead trout. It also degrades habitat for birds, such as the endangered species-listed least-billed vireo and willow flycatcher who nest in riparian corridors. Despite tamarisk growing along waterways, it can also act as a wick for wildfire, putting thousands of people and infrastructure at risk. Project and Partners: The LP has been working on tamarisk issues on the Forest since 2003 and since 2015, a partnership between the Los Padres and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has instituted a grant program to help increase the pace and scale of landscape restoration, including tamarisk treatment. Habitat Works was the first partner group to work with the Forest on the eradication, and other partners such as Channel Island Restoration and University of California Santa Barbara have since joined the effort as part of a shared stewardship effort to restore riparian areas impacted by the Zaca and Piru fires. Volunteers in receipt of the funds from these partners go deep into the woods, some of which is in designated Wilderness, to eradicate the weed and report back on additional locations that might exist. The Los Padres National Forest is focusing on tamarisk in portions of Piru Creek, Lockwood Creek, Cuyama River, Santa Ynez River, Sespe Creek, Sisquoc River, and Arroyo Seco River watersheds using a combination of hand treatments and targeted conservative herbicide applications. The Sespe Creek provides municipal water supply to the residents of Ventura County. The Piru Creek has two reservoirs, Pyramid Lake and Lake Piru, both providing water to the California Aqueduct and the western Los Angeles basin. The Santa Ynez also has two reservoirs within the project area; Gibraltar and Jameson Lake both provide municipal water to the central portion of Santa Barbara County via the Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District. By removing tamarisk before it becomes the dominant vegetation component, native plant communities would be maintained, and in turn will provide a benefit to aquatic resources dependent on healthy, properly functioning riparian areas. Treatments began in 2016, and are expected to occur through 2021. Monitoring and maintenance treatments would continue thereafter to retreat existing infestations, and to treat new infestations discovered within the project area. It is anticipated that most of the project would be implemented over the next 10 years, with the most intensive treatments occurring during the first five years. Challenges to Eradication: The three partner groups with their labor forces, are working in very steep terrain, making access and logistics difficult and ultimately requiring the use of pack mules to reach dense areas of tamarisk, and to provide all supplies and equipment. There is also no motorized access to most of the project area, insofar as much of it is in Congressionally-designated Wilderness. Pile-burning cut tamarisk stems is not feasible due to the logistics of getting crews and suppression resources down into the canyons to do it. Funding: As a result of the fire settlement restoration monies the Los Padres National Forest received and its partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to date, $500K in grants related to tamarisk assessment and eradication have been issued to Habitat Works, Channel Islands Restoration, University of California, Santa Barbara. These grant recipients have brought in an additional $260K in matching value through their use of volunteers and in-kind labor and other donations. The Tamarisk Removal Project will positively impact Nature’s Benefits and ensure they remain available for communities, as well as plant and animal habitat. Removal of the tamarisk along riparian areas (waterways): Water: Will reduce the amount of water that these invasive weeds have been consuming and diverting from the natural Forest hydrology and increase the purity of the water; thereby providing more clean water flow to the downstream populations of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Montecito totaling more than 125,000 people. Fire: Will reduce the threat tamarisk can create, even in riparian areas, due to it acting as a wick and potentially a ladder fuel. Habitat: Will help maintain fisheries habitat for viable populations of native fish species with habitat improvement and enhance conditions for sensitive, threatened, and endangered species. Tamarisk infestations have various impacts on a number of federally-listed threatened and endangered species and its removal on the Los Padres would restore the area to natural habitats of birds as well as the arroyo toad, California red-legged frog, southwestern pond turtle, two-striped garter snake, and steelhead trout stocks. Recreation: Will return portions of designated Wilderness areas to a more natural state and make more accessible for those who engage in backpacking, hiking, and other non-motorized and non-mechanized recreational activities. Designated Wild and Scenic Rivers Recreation will also benefit from the return of the area to a more natural condition for recreationists who engage in fishing, solitude and wilderness- orientated activities. Carbon: Will likely keep trees in the removal areas healthier as more water will be available in an area that suffers from severe drought, ultimately ensuring those trees can resist bark beetle penetration, and return to their normal function of sequestering carbon. Job Training: Provides job training to the volunteers who participate with the grantee organizations who are involved in the project. In addition, any of the equipment and supplies to include pack mules, if supplied locally will provide benefits to the local economy. Natures’ Benefits and Future Generation: Projects to improve forest and watershed resiliency through shared stewardship has the potential for large positive impacts to Nature’s Benefits. In this case, surrounding communities like Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito households will benefit from improvements to water clarity and flow, and less threat to wildfire from tamarisk ignition amongst other benefits. Assurances that water regulation and flow and the threat that severe wildfire will be reduced can provide for economic stability, health and safety, and build trust within communities and between government agencies. Effective communication of the Nature’s Benefits the public receives from these efforts, can increase community interest and awareness, fostering partnerships and the sharing of resources. Only through such cooperation and shared ownership can we ensure future generations have the opportunity to enjoy Nature’s Benefits as well. Picture of tamarisk tree-shrub out of the ground .

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