volunteer weed bash summary soberanes east of hwy 1
This is the 54th monthly weed bash in row on a Friday in Soberanes Creek watershed east of Hwy 1. The first regular weed bash here was January 2003. Others occurred here since approx. 2000 on an irregular basis.
State Parks staff Daniel Wilson and Mike Mutshnick from Asilomar State Park, Todd Robnett and AJ Cocco from Andrew Molera State Park, and Mary Paul, Wes Gray, Nate Sweeters, and Joshua Williams from Marina Beach State Park were joined by volunteers Jan Shriner and Bruce Delgado on Friday July 20, 2007, at 930am at a Hwy 1 pullout 5.85 miles south of the Carmel River to assess and herbicide spray a fennel/kikuyu grass site on the east side of Hwy 1. After everyone visited this site Wes and AJ volunteered to stay and spray this location with Roundup while everyone else proceeded to Soberanes Creek watershed to begin abating sticky eupatorium and Cape ivy. The eupatorium project site was located in a tributary to Soberanes Creek located approximately 1.25 miles upstream from Hwy 1. This tributary is “affectionately” referred to as “Impossible Gully” due to the large extent of sticky eupatorium and the steepness of the drainage in which it is located. The Cape ivy location was located on the second west facing slope east of Hwy 1 behind (east of) the Soberanes Barn. This Cape ivy location hasn’t been gps’ed but is approximately 10 acres in size and is the largest single Cape ivy infestation currently known in the Soberanes watershed.
Sticky eupatorium was to be sprayed with Roundup and notes from this day are needed by State Parks staff. State Parks staff and volunteers have worked extremely hard and fairly long hours in difficult conditions here for two years (2005-2006). In 2006 this location was sprayed twice and treated with manual removal a few times.
Today, Mary Paul, Nate Sweeters, Josh Williams, Mike Mutshnick, and Wes Gray worked at this location. This was approximately the 8th revisit to this site after it was initially observed by State Parks staff in 2005. In August of 2006 Jonathan Greening and Candilario Reyes used brushcutters with metal blades to clear a path thru the middle of Impossible Gully for future access and this access was key to improving efficiency on Sept. 1, 2006, and future visits.
This site should be revisited each month until December, 2007, by as many workers as possible.
One hour was required to sharpen tools and gather equipment to leave the parking area at the barn for the Cape ivy site. AJ Cocco, Todd Robnett, Daniel Wilson, Jan Shriner, and Bruce Delgado walked up to the second ridge east of the Soberanes Barn to work on Cape ivy and carried two brushcutters, 2 gallons of 50:1 fuel, two mcleods, two machetes, three backpack sprayers full of 2% Roundup, and seven 2.5 gallon jugs of 2% Roundup. 2 hours were necessary to access the work site due to steep, brushy, and equipment –laden conditions. Work on Cape ivy began at 1pm. It was hard slogging mostly due to having to carry so much supplies and equipment. Todd, AJ, and Daniel sprayed along the top of the Cape ivy infestation. 4 Roundup jugs were left on site. Two were left at the top of the Cape ivy site, 1 was left at the burrito cape ivy site, and 1 was left in the dry drainage between the first and second ridges behind the barn. All 4 jugs were left in shaded areas on the path to the worksite. These will be easily retrievable next month and not degrade in the shade. Jan and Bruce brushcut and piled brush along the north east corner of the site along approx. 15 meters of the top (east) side and 30 meters of the north side. 1.5 tanks of brushcutter fuel were used and the extra fuel carried up wasn’t necessary. The 4-stroke brushcutter’s throttle was sticking in the off position so it was taken into the shop for repair on July 23, 2007.
State Parks staff left the Cape ivy worksite at approx. 315pm and returned to their vehicles at about 345pm and left to get back to their respective offices by 430pm.
Volunteers Bruce and Jan left the worksite at approx. 430pm and returned to their vehicles at approx. 530pm. This was physically the hardest weed bash either Bruce or Jan could remember.
Bruce removed 1 fennel plant on the way home from Garrapata State Park 4.0 mi. north of Soberanes Barn along northbound Hwy 1. Most fennel is still in bud or early flower and need not be bagged yet to prevent seed set.
All in all it was a beautiful day and the volunteers enjoyed working with staff. A lot of work and learning was also accomplished. Photos were taken of the Cape ivy worksite on the CHCF camera and now reside on Bruce Delgado’s computer. These are available to State Parks upon request.
Total volunteer hours = 19
Total staff hours = 60
