Illegal Aliens

USA Today is reporting that there are aliens causing problems along the USA-Mexico border...and it turns out they're actually talking about alien plants. "Carrizo cane" spreads so fast and grows so tall that it is being blamed for providing cover for drug dealers and people trying to cross into the US illegally. It took a lot of Googling to track down the true identity of "Carizo cane" - the common name is attributed to Arundo donax, but also sometimes to Phragmites australis, and to other grasses as well. Finally, at the Journal of Homeland Security, I found proof: it is Arundo donax, also known by the common name giant reed.

The Department of Homeland Security is paying the US Department of Agriculture $1.5 million to help manage the problem, and from the article it sounds like this involves tracking down a biological control in the plant's native Europe. I find this slightly amusing in light of the fact that it was just a few months ago that Florida businesses were calling for permission to cultivate "e-grass" - the very same Arundo donax. Gee, hope that biocontrol doesn't spread...

Tip of the virtual hat to Ryan Grim over at Slate.

Fueling Around

Sounds like APM's Marketplace will be doing a piece about a Florida company that wants to grow the invasive grass Arundo donax as a biofuel. I say "sounds like" because I can find no evidence of it on the Marketplace website - minus two points to them, and minus 50 points if the report refers to the plant as "e-grass!"

When the story goes up online I will update this post with a link to the audio. Until then, your homework is to read these two previous ISW posts about farming the giant reed, and the recent statement by the Florida Native Plant Society about Arundo donax (hint: they don't like it!).

Update: Marketplace has posted a transcript along with a link to the audio of the report here. The piece did look at both sides of the issue, but was way too short to provide any real answers: the brush-off of people opposed to the project ("Citizens Opposed to Virtually Everything") was rude, and there was no questioning of the statement that ditch boundaries are an effective control (what happens when there is a flood...or hurricane-force winds?). At least only a passing reference was made to "e-grass" :-).

E-grass, I've had a few...

Seems the Sierra Club is not too happy about Florida's plans to farm giant reed (Arundo donax) for use as a biofuel, according to this story from the Palm Beach Post. If the Biomass Investment Group has its way, they'll be planting 15,000 acres of the grass, burning it to generate electricity, and then selling it to a local power company.

Setting aside the fact that whoever decided to start calling this plant "e-grass" needs a stern talking-to (grrrrrr, just look at B.I.G.'s URL), consider that it may not be the best thing for Florida to purposely introduce yet another invasive species there. California, which has also entertained proposals for using giant reed as a biofuel, has been dealing with invasions in the San Diego area for over a decade.

Thanks to Lynn M. for sending in an email about this story.

Reeding is Fundamental

As reported by Sign On San Diego, this week workers began clearing a swarth of giant reed (Arundo donax) that covers more than five miles of the San Luis Rey riverbed. Normally this type of removal project wouldn't be that newsworthy, but this project was stalled for more than 10 years! The reeds are so dense and populous that they act as a dam, and are considered an enormous flood hazard. Luckily, the permit hurdles and other barriers of bureaucracy were overcome before there was an actual flood. About $1.3 million has been allocated to the project so far, for the cleanup and an environmental impact report (there are two endangered bird species in the area). The Army Corps is also working on a flood control plan in the hopes of avoiding future problems. It was estimated that if a disaster had occurred it would have cost California $180 million in damages.

Raising Canes

At first glance, this looks like a nice story about a pulp mill trying to make good use of a nasty invasive plant. Unfortunately, it turns out that Samoa Pacific Cellulose (SPC), which started shipping giant reed (giant cane, Arundo donax) after wood chips and demand for them both became scarce, can't make a decent profit from buying the grass that's collected in small batches from infested sites across the country. The company's idea is to farm the stuff, planting 5000 acres of it in Central Valley, California. Luckily for this part of California, giant reed doesn't seem to grow very well there (for now), and though this is frustrating for SPC, it does mean that the chance of the species becoming invasive there is lessened. Still, there is concern about the potential for the species to spread to wetlands from the site where it will be planted or during transport. SPC is marketing the pulp under the trade name "Samoa cane," which they insist is proprietary. The grass yields short fibers that can be used for products like tissue paper, and because the pulp is wood-free, it may command a higher price in U.S. markets as well as overseas.

Invasive Plants non grata in San Diego

A member of the Yahoo! newsgroup ma-eppc posted a reference to this article about a proposal by the San Diego City Council to "ban the sale, distribution and cultivation" of four well-known invasive plant species: Pampas grass (Cortaderia jubata), Tamarisk (Tamarix sp.), Giant reed (Arundo donax) and German ivy (Delairea odorata or Senecio mikanioides) (Would have been be nice to have the scientific names in the article!). The proposal is similar to the restrictions put into place by Palm Beach County, Florida. The minutes of the Council meeting may eventually posted here.