Protecting California from invasive weeds

California's farms and parks, its rural landscapes and riverbeds, even its mountain ranges and deserts are slowly being degraded by invaders with names like squarrose knapweed, giant arundo and scarlet wisteria. Some of them, such as iceplant, pampas grass, and Himalayan blackberry, have become so pervasive that most Californians assume they've always been here.

What Californians don't see, though, is the native plants that have been forced from their natural habitat by these invasive, non-native weeds. Each displacement of a native plant, in turn, can push out wildlife and further disrupt a region's natural cycles. They can have extensive effects on society as well, by increasing wildfire danger, reducing flood control capacity, consuming valuable water resources, and damaging recreational opportunities.

"Californians are slowly gaining an awareness of the damage these weeds can do," said Dr. Elizabeth Brusati, an ecologist with the nonprofit California Invasive Plant Council. "They clog water pumps, poison livestock and wildlife, intensify fires, close trails and threaten endangered species habitat."

Andrea Fox of the California Farm Bureau Federation says invasive plants are quietly, inexorably damaging the agricultural landscape. That's why Farm Bureau participates in the California Invasive Weed Awareness Coalition.

The coalition cooperated with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to develop a state action plan on weeds. The California Noxious and Invasive Weed Action Plan (PDF) is a 50-page blueprint for addressing urgent needs such as detecting new infestations, analyzing control options, coordinating response efforts among multiple agencies and organizations, and conducting research to advance the effectiveness of weed control.