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| 8/23/2006 4:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article
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Elizabeth Long photo
Sen Patty Murray, D-Wash., enjoys some oysters on an oyster barge while visiting Willapa Bay last week for an update on the progress of the spartina eradication efforts. |
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Murray pledges to continue battle against spartina
Scientists, local leaders celebrate progress against the invasive grass
By ELIZABETH LONG
Observer staff writer
WILLAPA BAY - U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and a host of others got an up-close view of the spartina eradication efforts while visiting Willapa Bay last week.
They also received an update on the progress of the program while enjoying the spectacular scenery from the deck of an oyster barge - and a delicious lunch featuring Willapa oysters and clams courtesy of Taylor Shellfish Farms.
In the background close to shore, airboats dashed back and forth as they applied the herbicide imazapyr to the invasive grass, the sound of their propellers a background buzz. The applications are carefully timed to coincide with low tides so the herbicide is as effective as possible.
The weed threatens not only waterfowl habitat, robbing the birds of their foraging ground, but also the oyster beds, an integral part of the local economy.
But the tide is turning, thanks to a massive effort. For the first time an invasive species could be totally eradicated from an area. The results have been impressive. Spartina once covered about 18,000 acres. Now it has been virtually eliminated from areas such as the Palix River and Porter Point, once overrun with the weed.
"We're pretty excited about the data," said Kim Patten, Washington State University scientist. "Where you clear out the spartina the birds are coming back."
Murray asked if imazapyr was at all a threat to the wildlife. Patten assured her it was safe.
She also asked "Two years from now will we be able to say we've gotten it?"
"The idea is not to do this forever," Charles Stenvall, project leader of the Willapa National Wildlife Complex, told her. While small patches might remain, and will have to be treated, the majority of the infestation will be controlled.
Dick Sheldon, an oysterman, warned that they would also have to guard against reinfestations from other areas such as San Francisco, which is also infested. "There are islands of this stuff in the ocean," said Sheldon. And they drift north, spreading it as they move with the tides and currents.
Murray complemented the coalition of organizations and individuals, ranging from nonprofits to the oyster growing industry to state and federal agencies, on their work and success.
"The partnership is really impressive," she said. Murray, along with the director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Valoria Hoveland, have been strong supporters of the efforts. Sheldon complimented them in return, saying they were instrumental to the program and in obtaining funding from the federal government.
"Without you, we'd be screwed," he said, much to the group's amusement.
Unlike the West Coast, spartina is native to the East Coast. There are even efforts there to restore it to areas where it has been wiped out.
"It is a little hard on the East Coast to convince people that spartina is a problem," she jokingly conceded. She also promised those gathered her continued support. "We'll stay with you," she said. "We will keep working with you until we get it done."
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