Free Republic

A row of 'racist' trees standing between an African-American neighborhood and a city golf course will be removed, local officials in Palm Springs, California, told neighborhood residents. On Sunday, Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon told residents of the historically black Crossley Tract neighborhood that the city would remove the line of tamarisk trees and a chain link fence that runs between the neighborhood and the Tahquitz Creek Golf Course, reports the Desert Sun. The decision to remove the trees and fence comes after neighborhood residents complained that the 50-foot tall tamarisk trees — an invasive species that blocks views of...

A bird native to Arizona and other western states could be listed as a threatened species by the federal government. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo lives along the Verde, Colorado and San Pedro Rivers in Arizona. It also can be found at the Gila River and Rio Grande in New Mexico and the Sacramento and Kern Rivers in California. Federal officials said the bird’s habitat is shrinking because of dams and other construction projects on the rivers, plus cattle grazing.

A small group of local residents has a vision for a portion of the Colorado River that includes shaded places to rest and a return to the native ecosystem. It’s a dream the 80-some members of the Friends of McInnis Canyons hope others will share. For too long, invasive tamarisk trees have dominated the riverbanks along the 25-mile stretch between the Loma boat ramp and Utah’s Westwater section in Ruby Canyon and Horsethief Canyon. As tamarisk beetles work to kill the water-guzzling species, an effort is under way to replant Freemont cottonwood trees to help return the area to its...

Gov. Janet Napolitano has permanently reinstated the Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council, a group that addresses threats from non-native species such as the roof rat, the yellow star thistle and the recently discovered quagga mussel... the quagga mussel, which has caused extensive damage in the upper Midwest, was found in Lake Mead, Lake Havasu and Lake Mohave along the Colorado River... the Game and Fish Department announced that an invasive fish thought to have been eradicated in Arizona, the bighead carp, has been found in Tucson's Lake Kennedy. It grows quite large and can damage ecosystems. The department also said...

Insect could help fight spread of tamarisk. residents who have battled with the invasive tamarisk, or salt cedar, could find relief in the form of a beetle. The Colorado Department of Agriculture is introducing a beetle - the only known natural enemy of the tamarisk. The beetle comes from Asia, where tamarisk first originated. The tamarisk is an invasive, nonnative plant that was originally brought to the United States from Asia to control erosion. But the noxious shrub is said to cover 10,000 acres in Montezuma County. It can have roots that run as deep as 100 feet and can...

Legislation designed to control and eradicate tamarisk was signed into law by President Bush Wednesday night, U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., announced Thursday... creating funding for a large-scale effort to control tamarisk, also known as salt cedar... "The tamarisk is causing severe problems throughout Colorado and the West," said Allard. "The President's signing of this legislation marks a major milestone in the ongoing effort by Congress and this administration to provide critical resources for the removal of this destructive and invasive species." The tamarisk has invaded the margins of streams, lakes and wetlands throughout the Western United States. An individual...

A bill aimed at tackling water-thirsty tamarisk cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, passing the U.S. House of Representatives. Tamarisk, the fluffy plant with lavender blooms, is also known as salt cedar and has invaded stream banks throughout the American West. It drinks enough water annually to supply 20 million people, according to some estimates. The Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act would provide $80 million over the next five years to assess the extent of the plants’ infestation and offer solutions. It is estimated the tamarisk plant and Russian olive trees, both of which are nonnative species, occupy...

Products based on NASA Earth observations and a new Internet-based decision tool are providing information to help land and water managers combat tamarisk (saltcedar), an invasive plant species damaging precious water supplies in the western United States. This decision tool, called the Invasive Species Forecasting System (ISFS), is being used at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Institute of Invasive Species Science in Fort Collins, Colo. It is the result of combining USGS science and NASA Earth observations, software engineering and high- performance computing expertise. "The ISFS combines NASA satellite data with tens of thousands of field sampling measurements, which...

For the second evening in a row, large wildfires are being fought along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. This one broke out about 8:30 pm around the Montano Bridge and are threatening several areas. Evacuations are now occurring on the east and west sides of the River. Arson is suspected as was the fires last night. Muleteam1