Little River State Beach restoration efforts underway
At Little River State Beach, bulldozing recently wrapped as part of an effort to rid the sands of invasive plants and crews scattered 10 different native plant species in their stead.
European beach grass — first introduced to California in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in the 1800s before traveling to Humboldt County in 1901 where it saw planting in the dunes near Samoa's now-defunct timber mill — and non-native yellow lupin compete with local plants for resources, and California State Parks brought in heavy machinery to remove the invasive species and ready the dunes for reseeding.
“Initial treatment of European beach grass, that wrapped up at the end of the last month and now they're re-vegging, so that means either distributing seed or plants that we've grown out in local nurseries, and then this will be on an annual maintenance cycle for some time because the beach grass will continue to re- sprout the rhizomes and until we can deplete those energy stores will just have to keep retreating by hand,” Amber Transou, natural resources program manager for California State Parks, said.
When crews began restoration efforts in 2009 — initially billed as a plan to help increase snowy plover populations, then expanded as a greater dune management system — native plants consisted of 2.5% of the total greenery on the beach. By 2016, the last official monitoring survey, they had climbed to 11%.
Ultimately, California State Parks plans a visitor park containing pathways teeming with native plants, such as yarrow, seaside daisy and beach bursage. This summer, crews aim to reseed native dune grass alongside several other native plants.
“By doing this restoration, it provides more habitat for the animals and provides more recreational use space and hopefully more area to for everyone to share the beach. That's the concept is for humans to share the beach with the wildlife,” Transou said.
Visitors can help keep dune ecosystems healthy by leashing dogs, who often trample snowy plover nests during breeding season.