Category Archives: Noxious Weeds

Haystack July Site Visit

Land Restoration, Noxious Weeds

7/8/09 Tim D’Amato (Larimer County Land Steward Manager) met with members of the Ecology Committee (Ellen, Harry, Lee, Linda P., Jim, Judd, Judy, Susan, Wynne) to review the progress of the Haystack Weed Demonstration Plots. Tim passed out copies of his experimental design and it was obvious that the Milestone and KJM spraying had worked to reduce the target species: Canada thistle. Other species (grasses, sedges, cinquefoil and forbs), except wild rose, appeared unaffected.  Tim said “we should keep monitoring for at least a year and a half to see long term affects.”  Tim was impressed by the interest in the GVM property owners association, and would like to use us as a model. He is also looking for input for other test sites in GVM. We treated Tim to dinner at the Western Ridge Restaurant after the site visit and then attended our July Ecology Meeting.

Crellin Trails Maintenance & Plant Photos

Nature Trail, Noxious Weeds, Plant List, Wildflowers

June 28, 2009: Our June work day was a multipurpose one: Peggy weeded and identified problem spots on the Nature Trail, Jeff and Judd brought weed-eaters to clear the West Crellin trail, Judd diverted water from a slippery spot on the #4 marker on the Nature Trail, Jim and Ellen started a photo catalog of plants on the Nature Trail and removed a few Canada and musk thistles too. Person-hours worked: 7.5 Weeding and Trails Maintenance, 5 Plant Photo Catalog.

Haystack Site Visit, Dinner & Presentation on July 8

Committee, Field Monitoring, Land Restoration, Noxious Weeds

Tim D’Amato, Larimer County Land Steward,  will be at the Haystack Weed Demonstration site this Wednesday, July 8, at 4:00pm. We will have dinner at the Western Ridge Restaurant at 5:15pm before our July Ecology meeting at 6:30pm. Directions to Haystack Weed Demonstration Site: From Gate 10, drive south on Iron Mtn Dr, go right on Haystack Dr, continue on to near junction with Manhead Mtn Dr

Haystack Tour with Tim and Phil

Field Monitoring, Noxious Weeds

On 6/20/09 Jim, Wynne and Ellen accompanied Tim D’Amato (Larimer County Land Steward Manager) and Dr. Phil Westra (CSU, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management) to the Haystack Weed Demonstration area. Read previous blog post for more details. The Canada thistle (CT) plants were very small due to our cool spring. But CT seemed to be visible only in the unsprayed areas so Tim and Phil were pleased with the early results. A return site visit is planned for August 12 to allow the CT to grow larger.

Riddle Lake Work Day

Noxious Weeds, Plant List, Work Days

Last Saturday, 5/16/09, Ellen, Harry, Judy and Linda B. met at Riddle Lake to remove musk thistle rosettes and view a patch of Mountain Sagebrush Linda had spotted on the south slope above the lake. Jim Erdman joined us to view the sagebrush and wildflowers. Using shovels, weed tools, and a crowbar, we dug out ~500 musk thistle rosettes, which have a distinctive white outline around their leaves.

May Work Weekend

Hiking Trails, Noxious Weeds, Work Days

Our Ecology Work Day has morphed into a Work Weekend!
Saturday 5/16 9:00am @ Riddle Lake, (located 1/2 mile in from Gate 1). We will work on musk thistle and view mountain sagebrush (see Linda B’s email below). So far it looks like Harry, Judy, Linda B., Jim, and Ellen plan to be there.
Sunday 5/17 9:00am @ Crellin Lake We will work on Hiking Trails maintenance. So far it looks like Casey, Jeff, Odell, and Peggy plan to be there.

Continue reading May Work Weekend →

New Page Added: GVM Plant List

Noxious Weeds, Plant List

Today Jim Erdman’s provisional plant list for GVM  was added as a page to our blog for easy access. Jim and his colleagues have identified ~227 species categorized by: trees, shrubs, grasses-sedges-rushes, forbs, ferns, mosses, lichens and fungi. Please submit a comment here or on the “Plant List” page with any new sightings you find this season. Thanks!!

Sowing Seeds at Crellin: Our October Workday

Land Restoration, Noxious Weeds, Work Days

This morning was our biggest work day yet thanks to 7 people (Chana, Ellen, Harry, Jeff, Judy, Peggy, Wynne) + 7 dog helpers (Butters, Buttons, Cooper, Floyd, Maggie, Sufi, Tate). While Jeff and Wynne headed down the Nature Trail to trim branches, the rest of us got some helpful strategies from Steve, who was working in the area and stopped by. Focusing on the north and east sides of the lake shore, we removed Canada thistle, created trenches, and then raked in Foothills Grass Seed Mix. We logged 17 person-hours. I hope the pictures below show our progress (tip: click to enlarge image, then hit browser back button to go back to this post….you don’t have to leave a comment….unless you want to of course).