GENERAL MEETING
MINUTES – 3/17/01
Held at the Stone House at Garrapata Beach.
Approx. 31 people attended
Guests: Jeff Norman – Biologist and presenter
Welcome and Updates – 2 pm (Planning Group Members: Ken Ekelund, Martha Diehl, Lloyd Jones)
Non-native, Exotic Plants- What are they and why should we care? – Jeff Norman
Social Time – 3 pm
Updates from various members of the Planning Group
- Ken Ekelund: Ken gave a brief overview of what a watershed council is. Councils are non-regulatory and offer a framework for neighbors to work together on issues that affect all. These groups have sprung up all over the state in response to declining salmon populations and water quality concerns; they give residents a voice that state and federal agencies listen to and allow us to receive money that is not available to individual landowners. The council allows us to make decisions based on our concerns, instead of having a solution dictated by government agencies.
- Ken gave an update on the $54,000 grant that we received from State Fisheries Restoration Grants Program for Pacific Watershed Associates (PWA) to do a Road and Erosion survey. PWA will be in our watershed in the summer and will walk roads on the land of willing landowners. They will come up with a list of areas where erosion should be addressed and also provide free consultation with the landowners about their roads. This survey is required for any restoration project using state funding. Letters are going out to individual landowners who have not signed up explaining the process. Owners of 5000 acres (out of 6400 total acres in our watershed) have signed up already. Call Ken if you have any questions (625-9621).
- Ken mentioned that the Council submitted another grant proposal to fund a part-time watershed coordinator and pay for consultants over a 3-year period. During this period, the council will complete the overall Watershed Assessment, develop a Watershed Stewardship Plan and submit grants to fund some restoration projects. We should know if we received the latest grant by June.
- Ken talked about scientific studies being conducted in the watershed. CSUMB students have taken creek flow measurements and one student is doing a more extensive project on part of the creek at the Garrapata Trout Farm. MPC has also offered to help in creating a database of available information that we will be able to display on maps.
- Ken talked about the council’s move to become a non-profit corporation. Draft Bylaws were available for everyone at the meeting to look over and make comments. There is also a copy on the web site (www.garrapatacreek.org).
- Martha Diehl: Martha talked about the list of Issues and Concerns that was collected at the 16 December 2000 general meeting. This list is being used as the focus of the group. It will continually be updated and refined. Several members of the Planning Group are listed next to some of the issues; they are starting to explore those issues and report back to the council.
- Martha is interested in the community building aspect of the council. She observed that before the council, most neighbors only got together as a result of a natural disaster. Maybe it would be better to know your neighbors without a crisis hanging over our head. As a part of this effort, she is working on education efforts for watershed residents as well as government agencies. She is also looking at ways to provide information about the watershed and the council to new residents through Real Estate agents. She also mentioned a council project, which will collect the cultural history of our watershed.
- Lloyd Jones: Lloyd talked about his work attacking Cape Ivy and other non-native plants on his property. He talked about different methods he has used over the years. He has sprayed in some limited areas but is mostly pulling the Ivy out and taking it to the top of the hill where he can burn it. (It doesn’t burn very well until it has dried out a lot). He talked about working on very steep, unstable slopes. In these places, it is very hard to bring the vines all the way up so he has constructed a few small retaining walls to make a small flat area on the hill where the Ivy is put on black plastic sheeting and left to dry out. The best methods of killing the Ivy after it is pulled, is to leave it in the sun on top of black plastic sheets. When the Ivy is completely dried out, those plants will not come back. He is planting some redwoods on the slopes after the non-native plants have been removed. Give him a call at 624-2579 and he’ll give you a tour of his handy work…it is really extraordinary.
Non-native, exotic Plant presentation
- Jeff Norman gave an outstanding presentation on Non-native, exotic plants and their impact on our coast and watershed. Jeff has been doing biological consulting for many years and is an expert on native and non-native plants.
- Jeff started by talking about the extent of the spread of these plants and why we have the problem today. The chief danger that these plants poise is that they crowd out the native varieties and eventually kill most native plants around them. Jeff says that non-native plants are probably the number 1 environmental danger to our region. They cause the loss of habitat for native animals and work against bio-diversity, a critical environmental feature. He suggested concentrating on stopping further spread of the plants into areas it hasn’t reached as opposed to removing them from areas already affected.
- Jeff showed samples of all of the common local non-native plants such as Pampas Grass, Genista (French Broom), Poison Hemlock, Cape and English Ivy and Sticky Eupatorium which is related to Joe Pye Weed that is seen in the East). He also showed a vine called Wild Cucumber (also called Manroot) that is native (don’t pull it) and talked about how to tell the difference. Jeff concluded by taking a lot of questions.
- We would like to thank Jeff for providing a very informative and entertaining presentation. Those who were there came away with a better understanding of the plants.
The official portion of the meeting was concluded at 3:15 and everyone retired to a great Pot Luck.
We would like to welcome several families that attended their first General Meeting. Hello to Lisa and Charly Kleissner and Sandra Reel and Bruce Merchant!
Our Special thanks to Carol Fisch for offering her incredible house for this meeting.
/Ken Ekelund
26 March 2001
Next general Meeting is Sunday 17 June 2001 at 2:00 pm (we can start gathering at 1:30) at the home of Bill and Bette Nelson (5910 Garrapatos Road).
Check our web site at http://www.garrapatacreek.org for more information.