7/27/09 Today at 5:00pm, weather permitting, several members of the Ecology Committee will meet at Linda B‘s house to clear trails using hand and power weed whackers. Linda explained the situation: “mostly…. the trails on the north side of Crellin are overgrown and harder to find. The main problem is “cheat grass” — lots of it, all gone to viable seed but easy to slash away from the sides of the trails!”
Watch “Water Bottle Disaster” Presentation
7/25/09 Peggy G emailed: “Remember my plastic bag email [?]. Well here is one for plastic bottles. I don’t buy bottled water anymore but not sure what to do about the Gatorade and ice tea and other bottled beverages I consume. Tough choices. At least there is recycling available now.”
I found a link to the presentation she sent on this website: http://gei.newscorp.com/daily-degree/2009/05/water-disaster.html.
Eco SWAT Team Hits Gate 1
7/18/09 8 am: This morning 7 members of the Ecology Committee (Ellen, Harry, Jim, Jonathan, Judy, Peggy, and Wynne) tackled noxious weeds, mostly Diffuse Knapweed (DK), surrounding Gate 1. An estimated 700 pre-seed stage plants were removed in just over an hour, see 7/18/09 Work Log Report. During that time 30-40 vehicles drove by and Peggy suggested that we take advantage of the visibility by making an educational sign so passersby would know who we are and what we are doing…not wanting to be mistaken for those serving their Community Service sentences! Harry said that he and Judy have removed DK from under the fenceline along Red Feather Lakes Road in years past and they found many plants there again. The group was in favor of Jim’s idea to spruce up the rock island at the entrance by planting rugged, yet attractive, native plants. Jim reported that there are many DK plants at Gate 8, so hopefully this will be our next target.
Haystack July Site Visit
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.
Paul’s Utah Field Update
6/27/09 : “Here are a few more pics from the Utah DER, maybe you could post a few on the blog you created? I also made a comment on our work there and my next project at Camp Gurnsey. Thanks for posting this stuff up!” Read the details from Paul’s email by clicking the link below his photos….
Glacier View Meadows Ecology 