Salt Cedar Control is Focus of KGLC Tour

"With increasing concern about salt cedar or tamarisk invading our western Kansas watercourses and rangelands the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition (KGLC) is holding its fall tour on Friday, October 17, 2008, in Meade and Clark counties to get a first-hand look at the plant and its control," said Tim Christian, coordinator.

The tour will begin at 8:30 a.m. with registration at the Meade County U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Service Center, 301 N. Post or a block north of the Chuck Wagon Truck Stop located on the west side of town. KGLC is charging a $10 fee to cover lunch costs. Two sites are featured on the tour. The first being the Walter Hager/Todd Siverson ranch located on Crooked Creek south of Meade in Meade County, and the other being the Dunne ranch operated by the Gardiner family located south of Ashland in Clark County.

The morning stop at the Hager/Siverson ranch will show treating salt cedar with a stump cut and herbicide treatment, and participants will see the machinery in action. The second stop will highlight past treatment and how effective the control has been to date on the Dunne ranch. Ranchers will be discussing their plans and goals for the affected areas. It is believed that critical stream flows could be restored, benefiting ranchers while at the same time benefiting the habitat for several threatened or endangered species, Christian said. The Kansas Geological Survey is conducting studies on the Cimarron River near the Dunne ranch and we hope to get an update from them on changes in stream flow.

Salt cedar, a highly invasive, non-native woody plant, has become the scourge of watercourses and grazing lands throughout the intermountain West and has been gaining a foothold in Kansas for the past 30 or 40 years with a recent upsurge in its spread from south to north and west to east – at least to mid-state with sightings into McPherson along the Smoky Hill River and Reno County along the Arkansas River. It was introduced early in the 20th century as an ornamental and soil erosion control planting and has few natural deterrents.

Participants need to RSVP and pay for lunch by October 14, so don’t wait to call Tim Christian, KGLC coordinator, at 620-241-3636, or e-mail tchristian@kglc.org. You may also contact Ken Sherraden, KGLC staff member, at 785-922-7061, or ksherraden@kglc.org.

Last Modified: 10/06/2008