News of the Arroyo
Title: | Getting back to nature |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2004-12-24 |
Summary: | Thursday, December 23, 2004 - Nonnative trees being removed from Arroyo Seco |
Author: | Cindy Chang |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | Sometime in the next few weeks, the last eucalyptus in this part of the L ower Arroyo Seco will fall. The slayer will not be a potent parasite but a man with a chainsaw, bent on removing all traces of nonnative vegetation and restoring the Arroyo to its original splendor. After long years of back-and- forth with neighbors, two key portions of the Arroyo Seco Master Plan have been approved by the Pasadena City Council, and their first stages are now being implemented. Two 10-acre sections of the Arroyo Seco one in the Lower Arroyo, underneath the Colorado Street Bridge, and one near Devil\'s Gate Dam and the Foothill (210) Freeway are being stripped of invaders from abroad and planted with natives like sycamore, willows, black cottonwood and coastal live oak. The project is part of the Arroyo Seco Master Plan and is being funded with a $1 million state grant. \"If it\'s sensitive to the natural environment and it\'s restoring native plants, it sounds like the right move,\' said Mayor Bill Bogaard. Eucalyptus are only the best- known of the invader species and pose special dangers because they are highly flammable and their branches break easily. Other nonnatives with a substantial presence in the Arroyo include palm trees, climbing ivy and \"trees-of-heaven.\' At least 276 large trees have been removed so far, along with innumerable smaller trees and shrubs. Throughout the winter and spring, workers will be planting the denuded sections with native plants. The reintroduction of native trees means that native undergrowth, much of which was crowded out by the hardy invader species, can flourish again. The new undergrowth in turn will attract animals like bobcats, hawks and deer back to the Arroyo\'s meandering curves. \"Now we\'re seeing native ferns and blackberries. As we\'re taking out other things that were growing over, we\'re revealing more than ever. The native plants are flourishing now that they\'re getting sunlight,\' said Lynne Dwyer, the project manager. Neighbors have been surprisingly accommodating about losing the large trees that screened their properties from other back yards, Dwyer said. To ease the transition, some nonnative trees will not be cut down until their native replacements have grown tall. |
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