Officials consider eradicating Carrizo

Source: Laredo Morning Times

The eradication of the Carrizo that obstructs the view of Border Patrol agents along the Rio Grande may require a combination of manually cutting the cane, spraying herbicides and introducing insects that feast on the invasive species, according to information presented at videoconference held by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo."What came out of this first meeting is that there is not going to be one solution that would be applied all along the border," Cuellar said Friday. "I don't want to just talk about the Carrizo cane, I want to do something about it."


The Carrizo, also called the Arundo donax or the Giant Reed, is an invasive species imported from Europe more than 100 years ago. It absorbs massive quantities of water from the Rio Grande and aids in the fever-tick infestation of cattle, authorities say.

One of the solutions involves applying Habitat, an herbicide manufactured by the BASF chemical company. The herbicide was recently tested near Rio Bravo in August.

"We decided to conduct these tests because we had started talking to the government about it," said Jose Dodier, a member of the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board. "BASF decided they wanted to do a demonstration."



Read more: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19010580&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6

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Sure Dow,Monsanto, and Diamond Shamrock have a safe replacement for Agent Orange.....

How many acres of this are growing along the river? How many tons could be cut, collected and dried? How much could be burned for fuel instead of coal or oil to generate electricity?

Maybe they should spray the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board instead of the plants. :spray: :spray:

It looks like humongous bamboo and it only covers the banks of the river. I don't really remember seeing it in significant quantities along the border besides Laredo.

a chance to eradicate an invasive species ? There is no eradicating once something like this takes root.
Hell, the spin for keeping it is saying it's probably a bio filter cleaning toxins out of the waterway.
kinda like zebra mussels.
ya can't pass a law against an envasive species and expect the government to enforce it. lol

we had that stuff growing on a corner of our property down by a little seasonal creek. The water district that was responsible for the creek decided that the weeds were impeding the flow of water so they decided to burn it off. Of course the fire got out of control. It got out of the flood plain of the creek and burned about 2 acres of dry grass on our property and about 10 on our neighbor's. My neighbor at the time was the local DA who hated practically all of humanity and carried a grudge forever against anybody who ever fucked with him. He filed a bazillion dollar lawsuit against the water district and talked me into going along with him. (It was settled out of court and I wound up getting about 500 bucks). Turned out however the weeds were the only thing that held the creek bank in place and over the next few years the back of our property flooded often, although the grass down there grew better than ever and the horses had plenty to munch on. eventually they bulldozed the reed out and put broken concrete rip rap in to strenghten the bank. Now when it grows back (and it always does) they send a bunch of guys in to brush hog it out.

Point is this is some nasty shit. You may clear it out temporarily but it will always come back. That's why you should not fuck with mother nature. These guys are dreaming, they will never eradicate it permanently.

the reeds. The Mexicans now pass through the reeds, leaving their old lives behind.

Carrizo

Operation Ranch Hand worked so well in RVN (excepting collateral human suffering) why not part of the "Virtual Fence" on the U.S. southern border?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ranch_Hand

http://www.vspa.com/k9/ao_9.htm

a good way to deter passage is what the Massai do to keep predators out, Brambles. Any variety of bramble grow in that region? A dense, wide wall of pain would work just fine.
I fell into a blackberry bush one time, that's all it took. I still wince when I think of it.

If cactus didn't grow so slow, that would work.

How ironic. They always come up with the most benign names for their poisonous compounds and nefarious legislative programs, don't they? Sales tag line: "How 'bout a little Habitat . . . for Humanity?"

although not on the Rio Grande.



From http://www.desertfishes.org/cuatroc/organisms/non-native/arundo/Arundo.html