DESERT LANDS RESTORATION TASK FORCE

CALIFORNIA DESERT RESTORATION INITIATIVE

SUBGROUP MEETING

Barstow BLM Headquarters

March 7^th^ 2000

### In Attendance: John Hamill DOI Lead, DMG

Jane Rodgers DLRTF Co-Chair, JTNP

Val Prehoda DLRTF Co-Chair, MCAGCC

Ruth Sparks Ft. Irwin NTC ITAM Jim Keeler BLM, Barstow

Pete Lounsbury MDRCD

Nona Evans MDRCD

Dave Anderson Co-Chair, HAZMAT Group

Zina Dean Stover Seed Company

Bill Neill CalEPPC

Michal Kurth MDEP

Eric Boerner MDEP (DRLTF Webmaster)

Dana York Death Valley NP

Ric Williams Charis, Edwards AFB

**MINUTES**

**Wednesday, Mar 7**

**9:30-10:00 AM** Meeting started with welcome by Jane Rodgers, round
table introductions, and review of current restoration projects, as
follows:

Jane discussed the Joshua Tree/shrub survey in preparation for the major
road renovation project in JTNP;

Val discussed this year's tamarisk and russian thistle removal project
aboard the Combat Center, and the development of the Integrated Natural
Resources Management and Integrated Training/Land Management Plans;

Zina said that the seed business was doing well, and that there was an
upsurge in business from golf courses wishing to incorporate natural
flora in their landscaping designs;

Ruth reported on a partnering grant with Bechtel Corp for reseeding
large disturbed areas -- they are doing a 5 acre test plot with a 4000
gal mobile irrigation unit that mimics natural rainfall. The cryptogram
inoculation and wind tunnel study program is ongoing, and Jane Belknap
is working on rain simulation studies and soil stabilization. Ft Irwin
is also working on reducing road size (creep) by berming and application
of dust control treatment on the useable portion of the MSR;

Dave reported that the ATT cable line was removed from the Mojave Nat'l
Preserve, and restoration prep was started in some portions. He also
shared that a term position was either open or just about to open for a
restoration specialist;

Ric reported that EAB was busy closing off peripheral access roads to
the base to deter scrapping and begin restoration, tamarisk was almost
removed from the mesquite bosques; and he asked if anyone had heard of a
project to introduce genetically altered Brassiceae at IR (HAZMAT
sites)that would fluoresce to show presence of certain bad chemicals --
apparently the initiative is coming out of Oakridge TN. No one heard of
it, and as it caused a great deal of consternation in the group, he said
he would look into the rumor further and report back;

Jim reported that the Afton Canyon tamarisk removal and willow planting
project is ongoing and preliminaryly successful, the Willow fire
revegetation efforts are also ongoing, as well as management of trails
into/out of the area, and that BLM is busy working on the acquisition
and land management of the soon-to-be acquired 25,000 acre El Mirage
area west of Adelanto which will be heavily used by ORVs, and the BLM is
under heavy pressure to monitor ORV recreationists because of a lawsuit
filed by the SWC for BioDiv;

Dana reported that tamarisk removal in washes and springs of Death
Valley NP is ongoing, as is the planting of willows, they are also
removing Himalayan blackberry, figs and palm trees. The Euraka dunes
campground is closed with plans to restore and allow the dunes to come
back in and expand the range of endemic plants in that area -- a new
smaller campsite will be built in a less intrusive area;

Pete reported that the MDRCD is assisting in area restoration projects
by supplying manpower -- he urged members to consider using the MDRCD
for short term projects (20% overhead) but trade off is contract vehicle
in place, fast turn-around, he also mentioned the Mojave River Task
Force which recently hired a grants person to get money to remove
tamarisk;

Nona reported on the MDRCD annual drought resistant plant sale (deadline
is 10 March, delivery 24/25 Mar) and asked the group to review the
current list of plants and recommend additions or deletions -- they are:
Eldarica Pine, Leylandii Cypress, Black Locust, Italian Stone Pine,
Golden Honey Locust, Hackberry, Japanese Black Pine, White Ash, Arizona
Cypress, Aleppo Pine, Italian Cypress, Blue Palo Verde, Blue Sage, Red
Sage, Butterfly Bush, Canyon Penstemon, Desert Cassia, Desert
Globemallow, Desert Marigold, Desert Willow, Mexican Evening Primrose,
Red Yucca, and Texas Ranger Cimarron. She also discussed the ongoing
Mitsubishi Mine reclamation project and the Castle Mine project. She
will ask Mike Eichelberger for permission to post his annual reports on
DLRTF's website because they are an excellent source of reference
material on restoration;

Bill introduced himself as a longtime CalEPPC member and tamarisk
remover, and who is now tackling Arundo on the coast.

**10:00-10:30 AM** The group shared upcoming classes, conferences and
workshops as follows, which will also be posted on the DLRTF website:

From UCR Riverside: Flora of Joshua Tree National Park: Wildflowers
(April 7-9), Ecology of the Joshua Tree (May 12-14);

From CSU San Bernardino: Restoration in the East Mojave Desert (March
24-26)

From California Native Grass Association: Techniques and Strategies for
Using Native Grasses and Graminoids in Restoration Projects (April
10-11, and May 11), Grass ID Workshop (May 11), 2000 Annual Meeting (May
12)

From NRCS, BLM and FS: WEPP: A State-of-the-Science Erosion Prediction
Model Workshop for Forest and Rangeland Applications (May 2-3)

From The Restoration Trust: Coastal and Freshwater Wetland Restoration
(April 25-28)

From the Nevada Institute of Technology in Reno, the Nevada BLM and the
University of Wisconsin: the Ninth Annual Integrated Mining and Land
Reclamation Planning Short Course and Workshop (10-14 April)

From The Reveg Edge: Desert Revegetation utilizing Local Native Plants
(April 4)

From the UC Berkley and Jepson herbaria: The Jepsen Manual: How to Use
the Keys (April 1-2), Poaceae (April 29-30), The Jepsen Desert Manual: A
Preview (April 28-30), Compositae (May 20-21), Challenges in Rare Plant
Conservation (May 19-21), Mimulus (June 2-4), Astagulus II (June 9-11),
Juncus (July 21-23), Restoration Ecology (Aug 11-13);

From the Southern California Botanists (CSU Fullerton): LOTS of great
classes coming up, too many to list!! Call Val for details!!;

From Ruth Sparks!: Colorado River Restoration Celebration and Rendezous
(March 14) Tel \# (435)259-1063

**10:30-10:45 AM** Val discussed the latest actions of DIRT, which
included the review of the draft DMG brochure, which contains
information from the outreach package from DLRTF as well as other
subgroups (the final draft will be presented at the April DMG meeting);
the DMG logo progress (work in process, determination of the top three
entries will take place on 19 April at the College of Design in
Riverside, the DIRT logo subcommittee will rank the top three and
present them at the June DMG meeting for adoption of one); and the DMG
newsletter, which will be a quarterly electronic publication.

**10:45-11:00 AM** Michael Kurth from MDEP showed the group what he had
put together for the HAZMAT team for tracking dump site cleanup
information. The public access part of the program was not on line yet,
but the rest of it is functional and can be accessed via link from the
DMG website. The CalDesert website will also have a link. The format
appears to be workable for restoration sites, and Michael said he could
have something up and running for DLRTF preview in two weeks, which was
appreciated and approved by the group. Discussion then centered around
the DLRTF website and thanks were given to Eric for his work to date.
Ric volunteered (or did he volunteer Mark Egan?!) to be the DLRTF
interface with Eric for website management, and Val will work with him
to get information posted in a timely, consistent manner. Eric noted
that John is trying to get the DMG site renamed as dmg.gov, which is
easier to remember. Jane brought up the need for a skills roster that
could be posted to the DLRTF site, similar to the information SER
requested in a recent survey to all desert restorationists. Clarence
Everly and John Hamill dropped in about that time, and Clarence was able
to inform the group that a spatial bibliography was done in 97/98. Jane
will follow up on this to see if the spatial bibliography could serve
the same purpose as a skills roster.

**11:00--12:00 PM** The mailing list was passed around in lieu of an
attendance roster, and members confirmed, updated, or added their
information, which Val will send to the website manager.

Email protocol was discussed, because several members were concerned
with the frequency and type of emails they were receiving from the list
server. All members are requested to adhere to the following: Mass
mailing of information to the DLRTF list server must be cleared through
the co-chairs. If the information can be shared at the quarterly
meetings, that is the proper forum. Time-sensitive information for the
benefit of all members will be disseminated by the co-chairs. It is
important to remember that solicitations to government email addresses
is illegal, and may result in fines or penalties.

Craig Dremann's restorationist survey was passed out as requested and
the upcoming workshop was announced for anyone interested in attending.

Websites of interest were brought to the table, and Val will consolidate
them for the website manager to post.

Jane brought up a proposal by Matt Brooks to form a Mojave Desert Weed
Management Area group, or a Desert CalEPPC subgroup. Bill said there was
going to be a CalEPPC board meeting in San Diego that he would bring the
topic up with. Pete said that MDRCD would be the logical "home" for this
entity, and there wasn't a formal organization to date, because the
District has been aggressive on exotic species control for some time,
but mostly focusing on agricultural exotic threats. He concurred that
there should be a broader scope, and will talk to Matt about starting up
a weed management group. Val will also participate in the planning
process, and they will be prepared to discuss the issue further at the
next meeting.

It was agreed that the next meeting should be a workshop on site, and
Nona volunteered to talk to Mike Eichelberger about hosting a workshop
at the Viceroy Mine reclamation site. The tentative date was set for 7
June. She will get back to the co-chairs within a week on Mike's
availability.

There were no action items to bring up to the upcoming DMG meeting.
There was, however, some light-hearted discussion on the need to change
the DLRTF acronym to something easier to say and remember. Members are
asked to post their suggestions to the DLRTF website for review and
action at the next appropriate meeting.

Finally, Jane brought to the members' attention that she had served her
agreed-upon year and then some as the Co-chair, and solicitated
nominations for her replacement, due to her workload at JTNP. Jessie
Walker (BLM Barstow, not present) was suggested as a possibility, and
after the meeting, she did express an interest. Any other interested
members are urged to post their names to the website for consideration
at the next appropriate meeting.

**12:00 -- 1:00 PM Lunch with SDMT**

**1:00-4:00 PM** Joint meeting with the SDMT. Jeff Lovich, Len Gaydos,
Len Downing (Geologist with USGS), Bill (Director of Zzyzx), 2 USFWS
personnel working on the National Wetlands Mapping initiative and were
present from the SDMT. Len Gaydos gave a presentation on one of SDMT's
current projects, conducted in the ValJean Valley, a modeling program
which focuses on the vulnerability of the area to compaction after a
major rain event. He passed out a one page synopsis of the USGS
Recoverability and Vulnerability work that is in progress.

Jane stated that it would be beneficial for the SDMT to review DLTRF's
Guide to Restoration. Ruth volunteered to consolidate any comments.

All present agreed that a joint meeting and collaboration between the
two working groups was long overdue and that future joint meetings would
occur at least biannually.

Jeff passed out website downloads and discussed the latest developments
from the Biological Resources Division (BRD) of USGS. Of great interest
was the Science Information System (SIS), which provides rapid access to
a comprehensive scientific information database comprising summary
descriptions, approaches, anticipated application of results, products,
duration, progress reports, and results of BRD scientific efforts. For
instance, Borman's works in progress on ravens, phainopeplas, etc, can
be accessed for reference. The site address is
<http://cristel.nal.usda.gov:8080/star/brd.html>. A companion site,
called WERC Products (Western Ecological Research Center, USGS),
contains finished products that are easily accessible for
reference/review. The site address is
<http://ratbert.wr.usgs.gov/products/research.asp.html>.

Len passed out Bob Webb and Kathyrn Thomas' paper on Recoverability of
Severely Disturbed Soils and Vegetation in the Mojave Desert which was
published in the Proceedings of Desertification 2000, International
Conference on Desertification, in Dubai, United Arab Emirate, Feb 12-15
2000. He also passed out a summary of major ongoing scientific
activities that SMDT is compiling, which can be found on their website
at <http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/MojaveEco/SDMT/summary.html>. Val agreed to
consolidate a list of projects from DLRTF members and send it to Len for
addition to the list. Len added that Bob Webb has over 100 historical
photos with detailed captions that are being posted to the SDMT site.

Jeff added that Dennis Casebier at Goff's has over 36,000 photos of the
Mojave Desert, and over 6,000 volumes in his reference library, that are
available for researchers.

There was a group discussion on the requirement to merge bibliographies,
which Clarence said was doable -- Jeff's, MDEP's, JTNP's, MCAGCC's, and
any others.

Finally, discussion centered on planning for a joint field
trip/workshop. A joint sub-committee was formed, consisteting of Ruth,
Zina, Len, Bill, and Jane Belknap (not present, volunteered by Len!).
The sub group will post the agenda in two weeks to the SMDT and DLRTF
webservers (<smdt@mohavedata.gov> and restoration_team
\@mohavedata.gov). Tentative dates are for two days in the week of 22
May, or 5 June (to coincide with DLRTF's next planned
workshop/fieldtrip). Len volunteered to pay for one 44-pax bus. If there
is overwhelming interest, the cost of another bus will be prorated
amongst the members. Fieldtrip locations will include the ValJean SMDT
research site, and a restoration site, possibly Ft. Irwin, or the
Viceroy Mine, and may include a stop at the burn site just off the
freeway with the evening stop at Longstreet Inn or the Buffalo Bill's in
Primm, or even Zzyzx, depending on what the sub-committee comes up with
for sites. John recommended that the DMG managers for the two groups be
invited to attend, as well as any congressional staffers who may be
interested, and possibly the media. The group assented after much
discussion, with the caveat that any attendees, not members of DLRTF or
SDMT, understand that the purpose of the fieldtrip/workshop is for the
two teams to expand on collaboration efforts, not a "dog and pony show".

**The next meeting date was tentatively set for Wed, 7 June,**possibly
in conjunction with the joint SDMT field trip/meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Val Prehoda and Jane Rodgers

Co-chairs, DLRTF