Abstract: San Miguel Tamarisk Eradication Project

The San Miguel River, a tributary of the Dolores River in the Upper Colorado River Basin, is one of the few remaining naturally functioning riparian ecosystems in the Western United States. The Tamarisk Eradication Project is designed to preserve and protect the biological health of the riparian areas throughout the San Miguel River Watershed by removing non-native invasive trees. Invasion by the non-native woody species of tamarisk, Russian olive, and Siberian elm is one of the top threats to the health of the watershed's riparian areas. The project's goals are ambitious and unique: to establish the San Miguel as the only naturally functioning, tamarisk-free river in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The success of the project will be measured by a number of factors including landowner participation, miles of stream cleared, percentage of re-growth after 12 months, and the percentage of non-native versus native canopy cover in the riparian area over time. Support for the Tamarisk Eradication Project is very strong. Partners include the BLM, Terra Foundation, the Telluride Foundation, Monsanto, San Miguel Weed Board, San Miguel Watershed Coalition, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the San Miguel Basin Conservation District, local governments, and private landowners.

Mallory L. Dimmitt serves as the San Miguel River Project Director for The Nature Conservancy of Colorado, where she is responsible for creating and maintaining effective partnerships which further the protection of and abate the threats to the San Miguel River watershed. Ms. Dimmitt has worked on preserves on the San Miguel in a variety of positions since joining The Nature Conservancy in 1998. She is the President of the Board of Trustees of The Tamarisk Coalition, as well as a San Miguel County Commission-appointed member of the San Miguel Weed Board. As a member of the Board of Trustees of the non-profit Pinhead Institute, she helps schoolchildren monitor plants, birds, and insects in riparian plots throughout the San Miguel watershed using protocols designed by the Smithsonian Institute's Conservation Research Center in Virginia with input from The Nature Conservancy. She holds a B.S. in Natural Resources from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.

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