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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, August 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend July 28, 2004 Dressed in protective gear, Abelardo Parra sprays herbicide on Scotch broom near the Britt Festivals grounds in Jacksonville. Federal, state and city agencies are working together to eradicate such invasive species. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Weed whackers Jackson County is full of invasive pests; agencies band together to rid landscape of noxious neighbors By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune JACKSONVILLE — Bob Budesa reached down to pull up an innocent-looking weed along the highway. He extracted a small green thistle out of the green mat to reveal barbs as hard and sharp as needles. Meet puncturevine, aka goathead. "This could easily stick into your shoe or a tire," said the noxious-weed coordinator for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District. "But when they dry up and fall off the plant, they become even harder," he added. "This is bad stuff." Advertisement Puncturevine, hailing from the Mediterranean, is one of several noxious weeds he and other experts are battling in Jackson and Josephine counties. In addition to taking on the weeds themselves, the experts are asking private landowners to join the war to stop the noxious weed invasion. "It’s a multifaceted war we are waging on a lot of different fronts," Budesa said. Other noxious weeds running rampant in the region include yellow starthistle, Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry. "These noxious weeds will out-compete native plants because they are so invasive," he said. "They have characteristics native plants don’t have." In their native lands, plants like puncturevine haven’t become a major problem because they are largely controlled by native insects, he said. Puncturevine can either be dug out by hand or killed by herbicide, he said, stressing that herbicide directions must be followed to the letter. A few miles away at the Britt Festival grounds, while the Britt Orchestra practiced nearby, Budesa checked on an effort underway to stop an invasion of Scotch broom. A contract crew is spraying the herbicide Garlon on the Scotch broom, using blue dye to help identify areas that have been sprayed. Scotch broom is a tenacious weed that can reproduce through its roots or by seed, he said. Although the area being sprayed is on land owned by the city of Jacksonville, the project is a cooperative effort by the city, BLM, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the local Oregon State University Extension Service office in Central Point. "We know if we join forces and pool our money and our resources, we are going to get a larger bang to our buck," he said. The Scotch broom has invaded the hillside in some areas, choking out some native species which deer and other animals browse on, explained Diana Escobedo of White City. She and her husband, Maurilio, own J. Raymond Farm and Reforestation which has the contract to spray the Scotch broom. "We’re spraying it now to get rid of this year’s crop of Scotch broom to enable the natural plants to grow back," she said. "This will also give the local wildlife a little more food to eat." The BLM, which is administering the 30-acre contract, is helping fight the invasion on city land before it spreads to the adjacent federal woodlands, Budesa said. "In the eyes of the BLM, this is a preventive measure," he said. "By treating the source, we are keeping it from getting away." The next stop is an infestation of Himalayan blackberry along the Jacksonville Highway. There is also yellow starthistle and puncturevine underfoot. Here the Himalayan blackberry dwarfs the other noxious weeds, forming a barbed green wall standing some 15 feet high behind Budesa. "Part of the problem of dealing with these cane species is that they are so closely related to other cane species that are an agricultural crop — raspberries, marionberry," he said, noting there are also native blackberries. As a result, there are no biological controls that are specific enough to control the noxious blackberry, he said. "This is an incredibly invasive species," he said. "It wasn’t that many years ago you could walk along Bear Creek and see the water. You can’t even hear it in some cases now. This stuff has taken over the banks." He recommends using chemicals or goats to eradicate the Himalayan blackberry. "There is always new experiments going on to determine more effective control measures for these exotic species we are dealing with," he said. For further information on noxious weeds, contact Budesa at 618-2287 or via e-mail at [email protected]. The local OSU Extension Service and the U.S. Forest Service offices also have information on noxious weeds. The list of offenders The following are some of the noxious weeds raising cane locally. Puncturevine — annual with a thorny seed pod. Its single tap root can easily be dug up with a hoe or shovel. Herbicides are also effective in combating the aggressive weed. Yellow starthistle — gray-green annual with long thorns. It can be controlled through pulling, herbicides, insects, mowing and competitive planting. Scotch broom — deciduous shrub that spreads by root and seeds. The seeds from this perennial can remain dormant in the soil for years. It can be controlled through cutting, pulling and chemicals. Himalayan blackberries — green perennial with thorny canes that form a thicket. It can be controlled with herbicides or goats. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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