PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #21: Riparian and Wetland Restoration.
Tuesday, August 6. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Russian olive, tamarisk and Siberian elm: Changing the future of our rural/urban watersheds.

DERASARY, LARA^*,1,2, DOHRENWEND, KARA^1,2, ¹ Rim to Rim Restoration, Moab, Utah² Wildland Scapes LLC, Moab, Utah

ABSTRACT- In the arid southeast of Utah a perennial stream, called Elk Creek in the1880s, provides water for the settlement now known as Moab. Current Moab residents remember planting the first russian olives (Elaeagnus angustifolia), along what is now known as Mill Creek, in the1940s. At that time, the most common trees along the creek were cottonwoods (Populus fremontii), willows (Salix ssp.), and water birch (Betula occidentalis), where they had not been grazed. Now the most common perennial trees found in the lowest four miles of Mill Creek are russian olive, siberian elm (Ulmus pumila), and tamarisk (Tamarix chinensis), often forming thickets too dense to negotiate. A community effort to remove these exotics and revegetate with riparian natives is gaining widespread support, and provides a powerful opportunity to educate the entire community about the concept of invasive exotic weeds and illustrate effective removal strategies. Sustainable efforts to remove exotic weeds and revegetate cleared areas along Mill Creek will require weed eradication education and training, as well as extensive community participation and involvement. Efficacy trials are planned during 2002 to establish minimum concentrations of herbicides necessary to aid in russian olive and tamarisk removal. Goals of the project include: the creation of a lasting, community-driven effort to remove invasive exotics from the watershed; adding russian olive and tamarisk to the county noxious weed list; and, encouraging more private landowners to remove invasive exotic weeds and replace them with native riparian species. Accomplishments to date include: the voluntary removal of these invasive exotics by a number of private landholders along the creek; recognition, action and commitment by the city to initiate and support invasive exotics removal; refusal by local nurseries to sell these species; and, discussion in the community to include these weeds on the county noxious weed list.

KEY WORDS: INVASIVE EXOTIC CONTROL, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, EDUCATION, REVEGETATION