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06/30/95

Tweeters,

This already happened, June 17, 1995, however it relates to
the loosestrife and Wildlife Mgmt threads. Willapa Bay is
quite a bit larger than Montlake Fill, and I believe that spartina
may be even tougher than l/s to eradicate. However, for those
who would like a challenge ......

Needless to say, participation would be at the usual weed puller's
salary ($zer0/hr), and later on, it is very likely that a large amt of
money will be spent to spray the area with some herbicide. This
issue has been in the courts for months and in the discussion
phase for years. This is NOT an attempt to start a thread on the
spartina issue: I am only informing us all of yet another aspect
of the plant / human interaction with truly massive economic as
well as ecological implications.

Several years ago, one of the Willapa Bay NWR mgrs mowed
some test areas of spartina three times in one summer: April,
May and September. He found that this did indeed curb the
spread of the plant, however it is hard work, and labor intensive,
and ..... that costs money, apparently would cost much more
money (I don't know how much more) than spraying the stuff.
So .... budgets being what they are .... the bottom line will
probably prevail. Just so you'll all know ....
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Willapa Spartina Pull
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come out and help rid Willapa Bay of spartina
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Spartina is an invasive cordgrass which is threateing to overwhelm
the existing ecosystem of Willapa Bay (Pacific co, WA).

Cutting and pulling seedlings can help to prevent the spread of
spartina and limit its impact on the environment ....

We'll be spending Saturday, 6/17, working on controlling the
spread of spartina here in Willapa and hope you can join us.
We will be working in areas that are largely ddry, but you will
still want to wear waterproff (or old) boots and appropriate clothing
for the weather. Work gloves will also be useful for pulling the
spartina seedlings.
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For more information on a meeting time and place (and/or about
spartina, or future weed pulling extravaganzas) call Wendy Lebovitz
from the Pacific Co Weed Control Office at (360) 875-9425.
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Alan Richards / Naselle WA
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