Newsletter November 2013

Scotch Broom-why the fuss? You’ll never get rid of it will you?

Andrew Fyson, DCA Land Manager

Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) is a wonder. It is spectacularly beautiful in flower and is supremely well adapted to the temperate monsoon climate we have here. Scotch broom thrives in open (sunny) situations on well drained, nutrient poor and acidic soils.

.

Scotch broom was introduced to Vancouver Island as a garden ornamental in the middle of the 19th century and has since done rather well and has spread widely, largely through man’s activity and a lack of natural enemies. It can form extensive, mono-specific stands and its rapid spread is largely attributable to soil disturbance and transport of its seeds by motor vehicles along roads.

.

But is Scotch Broom a problem or a delight? It is a problem if you are trying to maintain pasture for grazing. Livestock and deer do not control it and it is also mildly toxic. It is a problem on logging roads and landings in clear-cut areas where it may inhibit reforestation. Here it can crowd out and shade out native plants and tree seedlings.

.

The Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (unique to Denman in Canada) breeds in small wetlands, usually in clear cuts. Scotch broom cannot survive in these wet habitats. However, the nectaring flowers in the surrounding dry, sunny areas are crucial to the survival of this butterfly. Scotch broom is a real threat here and measures need to be taken to remove it and prevent its invasion and spread in such areas, for example on the Settlement Lands and the clear-cut areas of the new Denman Island Provincial Park.

.

“But you’ll never get rid of it”, you say. “It will always come back!” If a stand of broom has reached flowering phase (usually 3rd, sometimes second year) and goes to seed, those seeds can remain viable for 20-30 years. Diligence is required! Sustained management will be necessary and care must be taken to minimize soil disturbance which encourages germination of Broom seeds.

Spartina densiflora (see Page 2) photo by Jenny Balke

David Fraser Bursary

This year’s recipient of the Denman Conservancy Association’s David Fraser Bursary was awarded by the North Island College Foundation to Miranda Kent.
Miranda began her second year at North Island College this Fall. She plans to transfer to the University of Victoria next year to complete her Bachelor of Science degree in biology.

We wish Miranda every success in her studies.

page 2

THE PROS AND CONS OF REMOVAL OF THE INVASIVE MARINE GRASS

 SPARTINA DENSIFLORA

Restoring Denman’s sea asparagus – seashore saltgrass – dune grass shoreline ecosystem involves the removal of a South American import, Dense flower cordgrass Spartina densiflora.  This species of Spartina grows high on the foreshore, often right at the seaweed line.  On Denman, Spartina occupies the same shallow flat, sand, gravel or shale-shelf habitat as many existing plant and animal species.

.

Spartina identification and removal in Baynes Sound has been active since at least 2008 and members of the BC Spartina Working Group and the Coastal Invasive Plant Committee have been visiting Denman.  As noted in the November Flagstone article, the manual removal of Spartina from some of the known Spartina areas on Denman’s shoreline has been ongoing since mid-September of 2013.

.

The current project on Denman is now winding down and a full report will be available within a month.  Seven Denman islanders worked to remove two huge dumpster loads of this invasive marine grass and the mapping of plant locations on the remaining shoreline is nearly complete.  Further plant removal work will be completed in 2014.  Also, members of the Spartina Working Group will put on a workshop in January on Denman, which is being organized by the Denman Conservancy Association.

As with any invasive species assessment, a rational review of the new species’ impacts, the feasibility and acceptability of any restoration action and the potential to remain free from the species in the future is important.  Below are some of the reasons pro and con around Spartina removal.

Reasons for Removal

• Grows over sea asparagus, saltgrass and other existing foreshore plants, killing them.
• Tall and very dense colony of stems, eliminates home habitat of marine animals that lived in former plants and prevents others such as native shore birds from foraging, forage fish from laying eggs etc.
• Hydrology of shoreline is altered, can affect geomorphology of lower foreshore and sub-tidal area e.g. negatively affecting eel grass beds.
• Has ability to completely cover high foreshore, creating thick dense saltmarsh ~1m high, restricting marine access, as well as changing shoreline appearance.
• There is a strong long-term commitment to removal by governments and marine stewardship groups from California to BC.
• Denman has a relatively small amount of this grass so manual removal and future shoreline monitoring is realistic.  Plants manually removed by upland owners on Denman over 3 years ago have not re-grown.

Reasons against Removal

• Creates a new ecosystem of nearly pure Spartina monoculture
• Creates a new type of habitat, already spiders make webs among the tall stems, sparrows and juncos feed on seeds and perch on stems; other wildlife use is currently un-studied.
• May assist in damping incoming waves and protecting the high tide-line.
• Tall tough stately plants have attractive seed plumes.

Please bring any of your questions to the Spartina workshop in January, location and time TBA.

page 3

A healthy bed of Spartina on a Denman foreshore.

Denman Conservancy Association                               Board of Directors

The DCA Annual General Meeting will be held in March. It is not too soon to consider offering to serve on next year’s Board. If you would like to find out more about this contact one of the present Board members listed below.

Currently DCA Directors for 2013 are:

• Jenny Balke ————- Co-Chair
• Doug Bell
• Annie Corddry
• DD Fuchs
• Jackie Hipwell
• John Millen ————–  Co-Chair
• Ron Shepherd ———— Treasurer
• Patti Willis
• Susan-Marie Yoshihara – Secretary

The Board wishes to thank Jennifer Ellenton for her work on the Board this year. Jennifer found that she had to resign due to an increase in family responsibilities.

Membership Notes

DCA has about 200 members with 30% of them not residents of Denman Island. However those non-resident members have strong connections to the Island, most are regular summer visitors, are former residents or have family on the Island.

.

While this Newsletter is distributed with the Grapevine so that all residents can receive it, we also mail a copy to off-island members. Our membership application now asks for an e-mail address which will enable us to e-mail future Newsletters to off-island members.

.

Another change to our membership record keeping (new computer program) will result in charitable receipts for 2013 and future years being issued at the end of the year for the total of donations made during a year by a member.

Contributors to this Newsletter:

Jennifer Balke,  Andrew Fyson, John Millen, Patti Willis.

page 4

OVERHEARD AT COFFEE BREAK

“So what’s all this talk by Conservancy about Land Management? Doesn’t Nature just take care of herself in a Nature Reserve, like say Morrison Marsh?”.
Yes, you’ve got a point, mostly what the Conservancy does is manage what people do, not what Nature does.

.

“People on Denman are pretty respectful of Nature. What is there to do?”

Mostly ordinary stuff: trail maintenance, signs and information kiosks; trying to keep Hydro and Highways from unnecessarily cutting trees; posting No Hunting signs; summer patrols to prevent camping and campfires around Chickadee Lake.

.

“Yeah, Hydro, I’ve heard about their tree cutting; can’t help thinking maybe they really don’t like trees or something.”

They are just trying to keep our lights on. Its worth some thought though. There are now some weird lopsided avenues on the Island where Hydro has shaved the trees on one side and trees on the other side overhang past the centre-line of the road. As a contrast the part of East Road through Lindsay-Dickson Forest has no power line and the trees look gorgeous.

.

“And the extraordinary stuff that Conservancy does?”

We watch for, and track down offenders, in the rare instances that there is dumping or firewood cutting on conservation land; we occasionally find illegal plants on our land and deal with them.

.

“Ha, ‘illegal’ plants eh? You mean someone’s cash crop? How do you ‘deal with them’?”

A notice is put on the plants that they must be removed. If they are still there a week later the plants are destroyed.

.

“Why do that?”

Land owners are responsible for illegal plants growing on their property.

.

“Do you notify the police?”

Not necessarily, our objective is to ensure that there is nothing illegal happening on conservation land.

.

“Is that it then? That’s all the land management Conservancy does?”

No, not by a long shot. There is some nature management, mostly removal of alien invasive plants.

We tackle broom, holly, ivy, and daphne laurel, all of which are able to out-compete native vegetation. We would like to do more of that, but it is very labour intensive, seems to use up volunteers pretty fast. We also have a small experiment in one cleared logging landing where we have caged young firs to prevent deer browse.  And I haven’t said anything about the work that comes from having conservation covenants.

.

“Conservation Covenants? They are for private land, right?”

Yes, covenants are agreements registered on the title of land, ensuring that natural values are preserved, and giving the covenant holder rights to monitor and protect those values. Actually two of our covenants are on Islands Trust Fund Reserves, and one is on the new Natural Burial cemetery. The others are on private land.

.

“So what’s the work involved with them?”

Covenants are legal agreements that require a lot of detailed record keeping. Conservancy does annual surveys and monitoring reports on each of the privately owned lands.

.

“Do you find many problems on covenanted land?”

Luckily our land owners are very responsible people. One problem we have had is from irresponsible people, not the land owners, playing on the fragile sand slopes of the Komas Bluffs. We understand the slopes look tempting, but those steep sand slopes can be dangerous and any disturbance destroys colonizing plants and hastens the bluffs’ erosion.

.

“So how much land are we talking about here?”

Conservancy owns three properties: Winter Wren Wood, the Settlement Lands and Central Park; they have a total area of 127 hectares. Then we manage Inner Island Nature Reserve, Lindsay Dickson Nature Reserve and Morrison Marsh Nature Reserve for Islands Trust Fund. The Nature Reserves total 114 hectares. We have eight conservation covenants.

.

“Keeps you busy, eh?”

Yes. Land management is a continuous responsibility. It seems to work best having two part-time people contracted to monitor our lands and administer the conservation covenants. At present those posts are held by Andrew Fyson, Land Manager and Patti Willis, Covenant Coordinator.

.

“Thanks for filling me in. I need another coffee now!”

[raw]
[one_half]

Scotch Broom-why the fuss? You’ll never get rid of it will you?

Andrew Fyson, DCA Land Manager

Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius) is a wonder. It is spectacularly beautiful in flower and is supremely well adapted to the temperate monsoon climate we have here. Scotch broom thrives in open (sunny) situations on well drained, nutrient poor and acidic soils.

.

Scotch broom was introduced to Vancouver Island as a garden ornamental in the middle of the 19th century and has since done rather well and has spread widely, largely through man’s activity and a lack of natural enemies. It can form extensive, mono-specific stands and its rapid spread is largely attributable to soil disturbance and transport of its seeds by motor vehicles along roads.

.

But is Scotch Broom a problem or a delight? It is a problem if you are trying to maintain pasture for grazing. Livestock and deer do not control it and it is also mildly toxic. It is a problem on logging roads and landings in clear-cut areas where it may inhibit reforestation. Here it can crowd out and shade out native plants and tree seedlings.

.

The Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (unique to Denman in Canada) breeds in small wetlands, usually in clear cuts. Scotch broom cannot survive in these wet habitats. However, the nectaring flowers in the surrounding dry, sunny areas are crucial to the survival of this butterfly. Scotch broom is a real threat here and measures need to be taken to remove it and prevent its invasion
[/one_half]
[one_half last] and spread in such areas, for example on the Settlement Lands and the clear-cut areas of the new Denman Island Provincial Park.

.

“But you’ll never get rid of it”, you say. “It will always come back!” If a stand of broom has reached flowering phase (usually 3rd, sometimes second year) and goes to seed, those seeds can remain viable for 20-30 years. Diligence is required! Sustained management will be necessary and care must be taken to minimize soil disturbance which encourages germination of Broom seeds.

Spartina densiflora (see Page 2) photo by Jenny Balke

David Fraser Bursary

This year’s recipient of the Denman Conservancy Association’s David Fraser Bursary was awarded by the North Island College Foundation to Miranda Kent.
Miranda began her second year at North Island College this Fall. She plans to transfer to the University of Victoria next year to complete her Bachelor of Science degree in biology.

.

We wish Miranda every success in her studies.

[/one_half]
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page 2

The Pros and Cons of Removal of the Invasive Marine Grass

 Spartina densiflora

Restoring Denman’s sea asparagus – seashore saltgrass – dune grass shoreline ecosystem involves the removal of a South American import, Dense flower cordgrass Spartina densiflora.  This species of Spartina grows high on the foreshore, often right at the seaweed line.  On Denman, Spartina occupies the same shallow flat, sand, gravel or shale-shelf habitat as many existing plant and animal species.

.

Spartina identification and removal in Baynes Sound has been active since at least 2008 and members of the BC Spartina Working Group and the Coastal Invasive Plant Committee have been visiting Denman.  As noted in the November Flagstone article, the manual removal of Spartina from some of the known Spartina areas on Denman’s shoreline has been ongoing since mid-September of 2013.

.

The current project on Denman is now winding down and a full report will be available within a month.  Seven Denman islanders worked to remove two huge dumpster loads of this invasive marine grass and the mapping of plant locations on the remaining shoreline is nearly complete.  Further plant removal work will be completed in 2014.  Also, members of the Spartina Working Group will put on a workshop in January on Denman, which is being organized by the Denman Conservancy Association.

As with any invasive species assessment, a rational review of the new species’ impacts, the feasibility and acceptability of any restoration action and the potential to remain free from the species in the future is important.  Below are some of the reasons pro and con around Spartina removal.

[raw]
[one_half]

Reasons for Removal

• Grows over sea asparagus, saltgrass and other existing foreshore plants, killing them.
• Tall and very dense colony of stems, eliminates home habitat of marine animals that lived in former plants and prevents others such as native shore birds from foraging, forage fish from laying eggs etc.
• Hydrology of shoreline is altered, can affect geomorphology of lower foreshore and sub-tidal area e.g. negatively affecting eel grass beds.
• Has ability to completely cover high foreshore, creating thick dense saltmarsh ~1m high, restricting marine access, as well as changing shoreline appearance.
• There is a strong long-term commitment to removal by governments and marine stewardship groups from California to BC.
• Denman has a relatively small amount of this grass so manual removal and future shoreline monitoring is realistic.  Plants manually removed by upland owners on Denman over 3 years ago have not re-grown.

[/one_half]
[one_half last]

Reasons against Removal

• Creates a new ecosystem of nearly pure Spartina monoculture
• Creates a new type of habitat, already spiders make webs among the tall stems, sparrows and juncos feed on seeds and perch on stems; other wildlife use is currently un-studied.
• May assist in damping incoming waves and protecting the high tide-line.
• Tall tough stately plants have attractive seed plumes.

Please bring any of your questions to the Spartina workshop in January, location and time TBA.

[/one_half]
[clear]
[/raw]

page 3

Photo by Jenny Balke

A healthy bed of Spartina on a Denman foreshore.

[raw]
[one_half]

Denman Conservancy Association                               Board of Directors

The DCA Annual General Meeting will be held in March. It is not too soon to consider offering to serve on next year’s Board. If you would like to find out more about this contact one of the present Board members listed below.

Currently DCA Directors for 2013 are:

• Jenny Balke ————- Co-Chair
• Doug Bell
• Annie Corddry
• DD Fuchs
• Jackie Hipwell
• John Millen ————–  Co-Chair
• Ron Shepherd ———— Treasurer
• Patti Willis
• Susan-Marie Yoshihara – Secretary

The Board wishes to thank Jennifer Ellenton for her work on the Board this year. Jennifer found that she had to resign due to an increase in family responsibilities.

[/one_half]
[one_half last]

Membership Notes

 

DCA has about 200 members with 30% of them not residents of Denman Island. However those non-resident members have strong connections to the Island, most are regular summer visitors, are former residents or have family on the Island.

.

While this Newsletter is distributed with the Grapevine so that all residents can receive it, we also mail a copy to off-island members. Our membership application now asks for an e-mail address which will enable us to e-mail future Newsletters to off-island members.

.

Another change to our membership record keeping (new computer program) will result in charitable receipts for 2013 and future years being issued at the end of the year for the total of donations made during a year by a member.

Contributors to this Newsletter:

Jennifer Balke,  Andrew Fyson, John Millen, Patti Willis.[/one_half]
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page 4

[raw]
[one_half]

Overheard at Coffee Break

“So what’s all this talk by Conservancy about Land Management? Doesn’t Nature just take care of herself in a Nature Reserve, like say Morrison Marsh?”.
Yes, you’ve got a point, mostly what the Conservancy does is manage what people do, not what Nature does.

.

“People on Denman are pretty respectful of Nature. What is there to do?”

Mostly ordinary stuff: trail maintenance, signs and information kiosks; trying to keep Hydro and Highways from unnecessarily cutting trees; posting No Hunting signs; summer patrols to prevent camping and campfires around Chickadee Lake.

.

“Yeah, Hydro, I’ve heard about their tree cutting; can’t help thinking maybe they really don’t like trees or something.”

They are just trying to keep our lights on. Its worth some thought though. There are now some weird lopsided avenues on the Island where Hydro has shaved the trees on one side and trees on the other side overhang past the centre-line of the road. As a contrast the part of East Road through Lindsay-Dickson Forest has no power line and the trees look gorgeous.

.

“And the extraordinary stuff that Conservancy does?”

We watch for, and track down offenders, in the rare instances that there is dumping or firewood cutting on conservation land; we occasionally find illegal plants on our land and deal with them.

.

“Ha, ‘illegal’ plants eh? You mean someone’s cash crop? How do you ‘deal with them’?”

A notice is put on the plants that they must be removed. If they are still there a week later the plants are destroyed.

.

“Why do that?”

Land owners are responsible for illegal plants growing on their property.

.

“Do you notify the police?”

Not necessarily, our objective is to ensure that there is nothing illegal happening on conservation land.

.

“Is that it then? That’s all the land management Conservancy does?”

No, not by a long shot. There is some nature management, mostly removal of alien invasive plants. [/one_half]
[one_half last]

We tackle broom, holly, ivy, and daphne laurel, all of which are able to out-compete native vegetation. We would like to do more of that, but it is very labour intensive, seems to use up volunteers pretty fast. We also have a small experiment in one cleared logging landing where we have caged young firs to prevent deer browse.  And I haven’t said anything about the work that comes from having conservation covenants.

.

“Conservation Covenants? They are for private land, right?”

Yes, covenants are agreements registered on the title of land, ensuring that natural values are preserved, and giving the covenant holder rights to monitor and protect those values. Actually two of our covenants are on Islands Trust Fund Reserves, and one is on the new Natural Burial cemetery. The others are on private land.

.

“So what’s the work involved with them?”

Covenants are legal agreements that require a lot of detailed record keeping. Conservancy does annual surveys and monitoring reports on each of the privately owned lands.

.

“Do you find many problems on covenanted land?”

Luckily our land owners are very responsible people. One problem we have had is from irresponsible people, not the land owners, playing on the fragile sand slopes of the Komas Bluffs. We understand the slopes look tempting, but those steep sand slopes can be dangerous and any disturbance destroys colonizing plants and hastens the bluffs’ erosion.

.

“So how much land are we talking about here?”

Conservancy owns three properties: Winter Wren Wood, the Settlement Lands and Central Park; they have a total area of 127 hectares. Then we manage Inner Island Nature Reserve, Lindsay Dickson Nature Reserve and Morrison Marsh Nature Reserve for Islands Trust Fund. The Nature Reserves total 114 hectares. We have eight conservation covenants.

.

“Keeps you busy, eh?”

Yes. Land management is a continuous responsibility. It seems to work best having two part-time people contracted to monitor our lands and administer the conservation covenants. At present those posts are held by Andrew Fyson, Land Manager and Patti Willis, Covenant Coordinator.

.

“Thanks for filling me in. I need another coffee now!”

[/one_half]
[clear]
[/raw]