On Thu, 27 May 1999 17:13:44 -0700 (PDT) Deborah Wisti-Peterson
<nyneve at u.washington.edu> writes:

>snip<

>started at the fill this week, if i remember correctly, involving the
newly-regrowing purple loosestrife. there is a >beetle, genus Gallicaria,
that apparently feeds exclusively on purple loosestrife, and this beetle
is just now being >introduced into the fill. this project had been
delayed until futher studies had been completed to be sure that this
>introduced beetle would not cause greater problems in the area than it
was supposed to solve.
>
>i also ran into connie sidles, and discussed organizing a
purple-loostrife-pulling-work-party for the tweets in the >near future. i
hope that you all can save an hour or two out of your busy lives to pull
a few weeds at the fill!

>snip>

> Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
>Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
> Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
><><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>

Deborah & Tweets,

Yes! There does seem to be good news coming for managers of properties
containing wetlands that have been invaded by purple loosestrife.
According to Bridget Simon, Education Specialist at the Washington State
Noxious Weed Control Board in Kent, these beetles (there are actually two
different species of that genus involved) have very seriously impacted
the purple loosestrife in the Winchester Wasteway (near Moses Lake) were
they were released last year - exceeding all hopes and expectations.
They are having a beetle collection next week for other wetland managers
in the state to get beetles to release on their properties. I plan to
get some to release in Two Rivers Park and Hover Park here in Benton
County in the hope that I will be able to abandon chemical control
efforts.

Now if we can only get someone to release a few on the Walla Walla River
delta !

By the way, pulling purple loosestrife is pretty much a waste of time, as
it is a very hearty perennial and will simply grow back rapidly from the
smallest root fragment left behind.

Dennis K Rockwell
Kennewick, WA\
denniskrockwell at juno.com

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