Boulder Community AllianceShifting Focus: BCA’s Riparian Work Transfers to GSEP
BCA has been particularly well known for its involvement in the removal of Russian olive on private lands throughout our watershed. On February 1, 2015, this work was officially transferred to Grand Staircase Escalante Partners (GSEP). GSEP, which had previously handled the eradication of Russian olive only on public lands, will now manage this task for both public and private lands. BCA will continue its current landscape projects and plans to move into new and exciting realms with input from Boulder residents and a recently expanded board.
Since February 2015, GSEP added riparian restoration on private land to their existing work on public land.
GSEP is the official support organization for the Monument, with a mission to: “preserve and protect the vast landscape of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.”
BCA completed the removal of virtually all invasive Russian olives on private lands in Boulder town and continued to manage and retreat these sites until 2014. This restoration program also involved work on private lands in the greater watershed, including the town of Escalante. In 2013 alone, BCA and its partners worked with approximately 40 landowners to facilitate the removal of Russian olive on 175 acres in Boulder and Escalante.
BCA removed and maintained invasive Russian olive populations from 2010 – 2014 on private lands throughout the Escalante Watershed.
This work was funded by a generous Walton Family Foundation grant and made possible through close coordination with the Escalante River Watershed Partnership (ERWP). While BCA is no longer involved in this effort, maintenance and re-treatment in our area will continue through the cooperation of GSEP and private landowners.
Now that this project has expanded past Boulder’s town boundaries and into the greater watershed, GSEP is better equipped to handle restoration in the broader sense—a mission that will continue to benefit our landscape in a variety of ways.
For More Information
Sue Fearon, who served as BCA’s regional coordinator from 2012 – 2014, was responsible for the successful development and oversight of the private land Russian olive initiative. She is now continuing this vital work in her new position as Private Lands Project Coordinator at GSEP.
For questions, please contact her at sue@gsenm.org.