Mountain Communities Wildfire ReLeaf
Since 2004 ReLeaf volunteers, partnering with the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District staff and the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection have planted over 300,000 seedlings on several hundred acres of land in the mountain communities.

The Mojave Desert RCD continues to oversee the reforestation effort in the San Bernardino Mountain area devastated by the bark beetle decimation and the 2003 and 2007 Wildfires. The goal of the ReLeaf program is to educate the public and create a mixed conifer/hardwood forest with all native species, spaced in a fashion that provides for a healthy forest. Erosion control in these areas will protect the waterways and natural resources as well as the neighboring properties from runoff and sediments. These plantings will also provide different types of food and cover for the variety of wildlife in the forest.

The majority of the funding for this project is received through a grant with American Forest Global ReLeaf in Washington DC. American Forests has again funded ReLeaf for the sixth season. As technical advisor and financial sponsor, the California Department of Forestry plays an important role in the project. This project also makes native trees available to residents in the San Bernardino Mountains through the local retail nurseries.

Approximately 80,000 seedlings were purchased from CALFIRE Magalia Nursery and were planted during the spring of 2010 in the San Bernardino Mountains, Riverside area and San Diego areas affected by the 2007 wildfires. These seedlings were propagated at California Department of Forestry Magalia Nursery where the seeds have been previously collected in the burned areas as well as current cone crops. Volunteers for 2010 year's plantings were recruited through Disney's "Give a Day" "Get a Day" volunteer program, Volunteermatch.com, Hands on the Inland Empire, and local media.  Due to winter weather conditions this year's opening planting date was pushed out to mid-March.  In 2010 corporate sponsor, Naked Juice, came out to support our project and assist in planting seedlings.  Media coverage for the 2010 planting season consisted of news print, internet, and radio.  The ReLeaf concept is continuing to garner public support, which has led to further inquiries for volunteerism - the 2010 volunteer bank added another 300 dedicated volunteers to the already existing 325 from previous planting seasons.  This year volunteers came from all over Orange, Riverside, LA and San Bernardino Counties, in addition to two volunteers returned from England to assist in planting after viewing our website from overseas.  Due to the 2007 wildfires and continued bark beetle epidemic more land is being treated to prepare the sites for planting in 2011 to assist in the recovery efforts.  In the San Bernardino Mountains alone over 60,000 seedlings were planted in a six week period - using volunteers and planting crews.  We are finding seedlings from our first season that are now 5 years old and approximately 3-4 feet high.  We have gone back into several areas to re-evaluate the growth and success rate of this project.

On February 1, 2011, approximately 45,000 seedlings arrived and were placed in cold storage.  Due to weather the planting has been pushed back to April 16th.

Composed of federal, state, regional and local agencies, as well as local stakeholders, this partnership includes but is not limited to: CALFIRE California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services, American Forests Global ReLeaf, Hearts and Lives, Sempra Energy, Actor - Matthew Modine, Inland Empire Resource Conservation District, Greater San Diego RCD, Windermere Real Estate, Arrowhead Lake Association, Mountain Rim FSC, Arrowhead Communities FSC, Rim Family Services, Big Bear Valley FSC, Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, Lake Arrowhead Community Service District, California ReLeaf, Municipal Advisory Committee, MAST, Southern California Edison, US Forest Service, and Mountain-Desert Resource Conservation and Development. A Statement of Cooperation has been completed and endorsed by all partners.

For more information on Mountian Communities Wildfire ReLeaf, visit our website or call Cheryl Nagy, Project Coordinator @ (951) 323-1253.

Mojave River Invasive Weed Control Program
The District is continuing the project of controlling tamarisk, arundo and Russian-olive in the Mojave River. During the fiscal year from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, the District's contractor (SWEAT) removed a total of 905.47 weed acres or 3,502 full acres of these non-native, invasive plants.  This work area (Phase III) began just north of Darghty Rd. in Oro Grande and ended at Hinkley Rd. in Hinkley.  SWEAT also completed the first and second retreatment of our Phase II work area and a portion of our Phase I work area.  This brings the total weed acres removed by SWEAT since the beginning of the project in 2008 to 1,480 (7,510 actual acres).  The methods used were foliar/basal bark (872 weed acres), manual cut stump (358 weed acres), and extraction/grinding (250 weed acres).  Just as was done in Phase I and II, landowner meetings were held to address concerns that property owners may have on this project and mailings were sent to all landowners asking permission to remove on their property.  Technical assistance was obtained from Casey Burns, NRCS Biologist, for required bird surveys.  Assistance was also given by Katie Eskew, NRCS Archaeologist, for the required cultural resource oversite.

Phase III and IV included a portion of the river which had special concerns not identified as critical for erosion potential in upstream reaches treated in previous years.  In addition, recent low rainfall years have escalated the highlighted liabilities and concerns that need consideration in our current work areas that include sandy stretches with erosion potential.  Unlike reaches treated in the first two phases of the project, vegetation densities were generally much less, and removal of predominant invasive plants could create increased erosion from wind and water, as well as affect the existing habitat.  Therefore, an NRCS multi-discipline evaluation team was formed to evaluate the effects of the invasive plant removal for Phase III and Phase IV of the project, and make recommendations for work scheduled in future years.

With the exception of a few acres located in the Barstow area, we have completed all the actual removal that can be done.  We have had to leave some areas in place due to lack of landowner permissions and/or locations located in sand blow/erosion areas that NRCS has required us to leave in place.  The total weed acres removed since beginning this project in 2008 are 1,780 or 10,471 full acres.  Re-treatments will continue for the next 3-5 years to make sure all weeds stay eradicated and any new sprouts are taken care of before they go to seed.  The majority of the funding for these re-treatments will be provided by the Mojave Water Agency.

Funding for this project continues to be provided by Mojave Water Agency(MWA), and the Biological Resources Trust Fund. The Trust Fund is administered under the Department of Fish and Game Habitat Water Supply Management Plan as a requirement of the Mojave Basin Groundwater adjudication.

Objectives/Benefits
1. Implement the Mojave Basin Area Judgment (improve riparian habitats, maintain ground/surface water saturation at root zone, increase downstream flows).

2. Reduce evapo-transpiration of ground and surface waters (water conservation).

3. Reduce salt deposition in the riverbed (water quality).

4. Reduce wildfire potential.

5. Keep channels open – reduce debris damming and severity of flooding, etc.

Priority Locations
Eradication was began at the furthermost upstream portion possible in order to stem seed spread from flooding, birds, and wind. However, removal will occur at any location along the river where permits and “priority” conditions exist.  After the initial eradication, crews will maintain a two-year follow-up to eradicate any re-sprouts of these non-native species.Click here for PDF of the Salt Cedar /Arundo / Russian-Olive Eradication Plan.

Illegal Land Scraping/Dust Control
Due to our work area having severe issues with blowing dust, sand an soil erosion from landowners and developers scraping/de-brushing their land of all vegetation, the District created a brochure titled "Effects of Illegal Land Clearing."  Our primary objective was to inform the public about the major sources of particulate matter (fugitive dust or airborne dust).  This brochure was done in coordination with Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District(MDAQMD) and states rules and regulations for land clearing and repercussions should someone decide to resolve their weed issues by completely de-brushing their property.  This brochure promotes a mutual alternative solution (mowing versus stripping the land bare creating dust, erosion and future weed seed germination issues) to both the nuisance and dangers of overgrowth.  Agencies involved in this endeavor are the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District, USDA NRCS, Apple Valley Fire District and various County agencies such as County Fire, Land Use Services and code Enforcement.

Mojave Weed Management Area (MWMA))
The Mojave WMA is coordinated by the district, which organizes and hosts quarterly meetings and oversees ongoing projects and outreach efforts.  This year the Memorandum of Understanding was updated and sent out for signatures.  The main change was in the geographic scope; the MWMA now only includes the portion of Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park that resides within San Bernardino County.  The MWMA will have 23 signatories from agencies such as San Bernardino County Dept. of Agriculture, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Dept. of Fish and Game, Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve, to name a few.  We are working with our partners on prevention and control of noxious/invasive weeds on both public and private lands in the Mojave Desert.  San Bernardino County continues to work on the grant received through the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) eradicating two known infestations of Halogeton in the Mojave WMA/San Bernardino county.  One area is near Barstow and the second is the Shadow Valley area near Cima Road, midway between Baker and Stateline.  By eradicating these infestations, the Mojave WMA will prevent the spread of Halogeton further in the Mojave National Preserve (NPS), Bureau of Land Management property (BLM), Caltrans highway roadsides and private property. This will protect the native plant communities within the Mojave WMA.  Perennial Pepperweed will also be eradicated at a known site in Helendale with funding from this grant.  Due to funding restraints, and future weed removal performed by the County will be spent strictly on the higher ranked invasive weeds.

The San Bernardino National Forest submitted and received funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) base funding grant to remove 3 acres of Spanish Broom on National forest system lands along State Highway 138 in the Silverwood Lake area.  This project is part of a larger effort to control and reduce the spread of Spanish broom along 4 state highways utilized as evacuation routes on national forest system lands.

The Mojave Weed Management Area's goals are:

* Protect and enhance biodiversity and promote fully functioning ecosystems
* Protect and enhance water resources
* Reduce fire hazard and fire control costs
* Increase profitability and value of cropland and rangeland
* Decrease costs of roadside, park, and waterway maintenance

For more details click here to visit the Mojave Weed Management Area Website.