April 4, 2008:
The SC Dept. of Natural Resources held its spring sea turtle
workshop at
Ft.
Johnson,
Charleston, SC. Betsy Brabson, SC
Task Force coordinator, gave a brief update on beach vitex
eradication to project leaders and other volunteers. Brabson thanked
the group for their surveying/reporting efforts and asked that they
continue to search the coast during their beach walks. The SC Sea
Turtle Network is an army of about 800 volunteers along the SC coast
who protect sea turtle nests.
Clemson
Update
All
beach vitex has been treated at
Pawleys
Island and most of the dead
debris has been cleared. Planting of the dunes was initiated in
March and April.
The
Carolina Dunes site in
Myrtle Beach, which was treated last fall, was
cleared and the area was replanted in April.
The
largest beach vitex site found to
date and most problematic,
Kingston Plantation in
North Myrtle Beach, was treated last December.
Clearing began the end of
April and will continue into May. Clemson technicians did some minor
retreatment of the 1.6 acre site. The dunes will be replanted with
sea oats and bitter panicum.
North Carolina Update
The educational beach vitex video
produced by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 2006 is now playing
regularly on the
New
Hanover
County government cable
channel. The Task Force is grateful to Mr. Mark Boyer, Public
Information Officer for
New
Hanover
County, for making the
decision to show this important and informational film.
Beach vitex was been discussed at
several sea turtle volunteer orientation meetings all along the
North Carolina coast this spring. Thanks go out to Dr. Matthew
Godfrey (NC Wildlife Resources Commission) and James Casey (UNCW),
as well as all other sea turtle folks who will be helping the Task
Force in surveying efforts.
March 2008
South Carolina Update
March 6, 2008: The Weed Science Society of North Carolina (WSSNC) held its annual
meeting at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in
Raleigh,
NC. Betsy Brabson, SC Task Force
Coordinator spoke to 75 members about Organizing a successful
multi-state education and eradication program for beach vitex.
The WSSNC was formed to advance the discipline of Weed Science in
North Carolina and improve the
well-being of the citizens of the state through a better
understanding of weeds and their management.
March 13, 2008:
The Coastal Observer (Pawleys
Island) ran an article, SC to share success stories at symposium, notifying its’ readers
about the upcoming Beach Vitex Symposium on March 19.
March 19, 2008:
The 2008 Beach Vitex Symposium was held at the North Myrtle
Beach (SC) City Hall with about 55 people in attendance from Federal
and state agencies, municipalities, academia, conservation
organizations and concerned citizens. There was a large contingency
of
North Carolina attendees as a result
of moving the location of the symposium to a more central location
between the
Carolinas.
The morning session focused on 2007 task force
accomplishments, news of
North Carolina’s recent grant of
$128,500 and plans for large scale eradication, the role of the
Carolina’s sea turtle network in
surveying for beach vitex, improvements/changes on the website and
an update on beach vitex being listed as a State Noxious Weed in NC.
After lunch, the group watched a demonstration of Clemson’s
eradication technique and learned how the dunes are replanted with
native vegetation after beach vitex is removed. After the symposium,
a small group went to Kingston Plantation to see the largest stand
of beach vitex on the SC coast. The site was treated last fall and
will be cleared and replanted this summer.
View the
Summary of the
2008 Beach Vitex Symposium
(pdf)
View the
2007
Significant Accomplishments
(pdf)
March 20, 2008:
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach,
SC) ran a large article on beach
vitex complete with photos on the front of the local news section.
The article updated readers on the 2008 Beach Vitex Symposium.
View the
article (pdf)
Myrtle Beach television channel WPDE
featured an interview with Task Force SC Coordinator Betsy Brabson
on several of its news programs. Brabson was interviewed during the
2008 Beach Vitex Symposium.
Dr. Chuck Gresham retired from
Clemson
University’s Baruch
Institute after a 33 year career in forest science.
Gresham has been the backbone of the
beach vitex eradication project in
South Carolina and has worked on it
eagerly and tirelessly for the past 4 ½ years. His enthusiasm has
been an inspiration to the Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force and
greatly appreciated. As a retirement gift, the task force presented
Gresham with the t-shirt he has been
requesting and some extras for him to share with the eradication
crew.
Clemson Update
During March Clemson's dune restoration project
made great progress in clearing the killed vitex from lots on
Pawleys
Island. The crew cleared
cleared 24 of the 50 lots where the beach vitex was injected last
fall. Although this sounds like the Clemson crew is only half way
through, they tackled the big sites first and probably removed 70%
to 80 % of the dead vitex on the island. Only one set of four lots
with a heavy beach vitex infestation remains to be cleared. The
remainder of the lots has small populations of 1 to 2 plants that
can be rapidly cleared. Clearing will proceed to sites north and
south of
Pawleys
Island in April and
planting will begin then.
North Carolina Update
The NC Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) presented Melanie Doyle, Carolinas Beach Vitex Task
Force, NC Coordinator, their Sustainability Award - Large Project,
for her work with the task force.
March 5, 2008: Melanie Doyle made a presentation to the NC Colonial Waterbirds
Working Group during their annual meeting at Hammock
Beach's
State Park updating them on
the Task Force’s progress in
North Carolina. Surveying and
eradication efforts planned for the 2008 season were also detailed.
March 19, 2008:
A large delegation of the CBVTF from
North Carolina attended the Beach
Vitex Symposium in
North Myrtle Beach on March 19. Melanie Doyle
presented a summary of
North Carolina’s achievements, as
well as a description of the work planned for the 2008 season.
March 31, 2008:
The Star News (Wilmington,
NC) ran an article, State hopes
to wipe out pretty but invasive plant, about the state’s recent
grant receipt and hopes to eradicate beach vitex.
View the
article (pdf)
February 2008
South Carolina Update
February
2008: BASF Corporation’s quarterly magazine winter edition,
Latitude, featured a cover story, Ordinary People,
Extraordinary Change: Saving Sea Turtles on the
Carolina
Coast. The article was
written about the impact beach vitex has on loggerhead sea turtles’
nesting habitat and the efforts of the Carolinas Beach Vitex Task
Force to eradicate the invasive plant from the coastline. Betsy
Brabson, Task Force SC
coordinator was featured for her work with sea turtles and concern
about beach vitex that lead to the formation of the CBVTF. Chuck
Gresham and Jack Whetstone, Clemson’s Baruch Institute, received
recognition for their research and control demonstrations on beach
vitex. These test sites helped fine-tune the most effective method
(hack and squirt) and herbicide (BASF’s Habitat) to treat the
invasive plant. BASF is a partner on the Task Force’s National Fish
& Wildlife Foundation’s Pulling Together Initiative Grant.
February 15-17, 2008: The Carolinas Beach Vitex Task
Force was an exhibitor at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE)
in Charleston,
SC. The Task Force display, which has been
updated to reflect the eradication/restoration work, was in the
Conservation Tent at Marion Square
and manned by Task Force volunteers and partners. Now in its 26th
year, SEWE is the largest wildlife art and nature event in the
nation. The Expo attracted 40,000 attendees to enjoy world-class
original art, diverse exhibits, interesting presentations and
lectures.
February 26, 2008: The Carolinas Beach Vitex Task
Force received an award from the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation during National Invasive Weed Awareness Week (NIWAW) in
Washington,
DC. During a reception at the US Botanic Garden,
Task Force SC
coordinator Betsy Brabson, accepted a plaque for the 2007 Pulling
Together Initiative Community Spirit Award. The inscription reads:
For exceptional achievements utilizing partnerships to manage
invasive plants through the Pulling Together Initiative Grant
Program. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awards 40-50
Pulling Together Initiative Grants annually.For more info about the
award, please visit the
NFWF web site.
Clemson Update
Even
though February is normally a slow month, Clemson's dune restoration
project has remained active. Mimi Williams, NRCS, visited sites to
inspect the sweetgrass variety trials that were planted on 10
cleared vitex sites last summer. She indicated that she could
provide more sweetgrass to add textural variety to the replanting
effort.
Surveying for beach vitex of beaches north of
Winyah
Bay has been completed. 12 additional
infestations were documented, fortunately none were very large.
The
data from a competition experiment conducted in the
Brookgreen
Gardens greenhouses in 2006 was analyzed
and a significant antagonistic relation between beach vitex and sea
oats and vitex and seashore elder was documented.
Six thousand American
beachgrass seedlings were planted at 33 sites on
Pawleys Island,
one site at Litchfield by the Sea and six sites at DeBordieu in
Georgetown County. American beachgrass is a known beach dune builder
that has been used for decades on the South
Carolina
coast.
Craig Aubrey and Tera Baird of the
Environmental Services section of the Charleston US Fish and
Wildlife Service office visited the Clemson Lab and then toured
beach vitex sites at Pawleys
Island to learn about the restoration
project.
Finally, the new chipper was put into
production use as the Clemson crew began clearing vitex sites that
were injected with herbicide last fall.
North Carolina Update
Task Force members are continuing to make
contacts with coastal towns and developing a work plan for
North Carolina’s National Fish & Wildlife
Foundation Keystone grant.
February 3, 2008: Melanie Doyle, NC Task Force
Coordinator, conducted a seminar at the Spring “How Does Your Garden
Grow Show”, sponsored by the New Hanover County Arboretum & North
Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. The subject was invasive
species that began as landscaping plants. A substantive portion of
the talk covered beach vitex and the efforts of the Carolinas Beach
Vitex Task Force.
February 7, 2008: The Cape Fear Garden Club held its
2008 Wildlife Seminar focusing on backyard wildlife. Melanie Doyle,
gave a presentation about invasive plant species that, although
attractive to wildlife, should never be planted. Beach vitex was
included in this list, as well as a description of the problems this
plant causes.
January 2008
South Carolina Update
January 8, 2008: Chuck Gresham,
Clemson, and Betsy Brabson, Task Force SC coordinator, were invited
to give a presentation about invasive plants at the monthly meeting
of the Alhambra Garden Club, Mt. Pleasant, SC. Gresham’s power point
presentation focused on invasives in general. Brabson then spoke
specifically about the beach vitex problem. Club members were
instructed about what they could do to help and asked to write their
Congressmen in support of beach vitex eradication and to appropriate
funding.
January 19-20, 2008:
Clemson’s Baruch Institute
participated in the Winyah Bay Heritage Festival in
Georgetown, SC. The festival celebrates the
rich heritage of hunting, fishing, decoys and conservation in the
Winyah
Bay
area. Clemson was one of 25 conservation organizations exhibiting.
Beach vitex was one of three topics highlighted in the Clemson
display. A giant beach vitex stump, removed from an oceanfront
property in
Georgetown
County, was made to look like a gnarly
monster. Hal Drotor, Clemson’s chief beach vitex eradicator, was the
artist. Most festival attendees decided they did not want oceanfront
dunes to look like this!
January 31, 2008:
Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force partners gathered at Clemson’s
Baruch Institute for a 2008 planning meeting. Partners were updated
on Task Force activities, eradication/restoration work in SC and
plans for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for the NC
coast. A date was chosen for the 5th Beach Vitex
Symposium which will be Wednesday, March 19 at
10:00 a.m. The location this year will be at the
North
Myrtle Beach
City Hall,
1018 2nd Ave. South,
which is more central to both
Carolinas.
If
you plan to attend, please contact Betsy Brabson at
wbrabson@sccoast.net
Click here for
directions to the North Myrtle Beach City Hall
Click here for the agenda for the
2008 symposium
Task Force Partners posed for a photo with the
Beach Vitex Monster (standing left to right: Mike Walker,
Huntington Beach State Park; Jack Whetstone, Clemson; Bill Eiser,
Office of Coastal Resource Management-DHEC; George Chastain, Baruch
Foundation; Jen Spicer, North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR; Randy
Westbrooks, US Geological Survey; Jennifer Koches, US Fish &
Wildlife Service – kneeling: Betsy Brabson, Carolinas Beach
Vitex Task Force; Chuck Gresham, Clemson; Dale Suiter, US Fish &
Wildlife Service.
North
Carolina Update
January 17, 2008:
Melanie Doyle, NC Task Force
coordinator and Dale Suiter, US Fish & Wildlife Service, met with
Rick Iverson (NCDA), Rob Richardson (NCSU), Sarah True (NCSU) and
William Strickland (BASF) to discuss the implementation of the
Keystone Grant in NC.
December 2007
South Carolina Update
December 13, 2007:
Clemson
University took delivery on a new
chipper, a Bandit 65 XP. This machine replaces one that was on loan
from the University and was called back. The chipper enables Clemson
technicians in the field to chip up enormous amounts of beach vitex
on site and cuts down on the number of visits to the spoil site. The
purchase of the chipper was made possible through a grant from the
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). A workshop in chipper
operation/safety and christening ceremony were held at the Clemson
Lab at Hobcaw Barony,
Georgetown,
SC.
Clemson Update
During the week of December 3-7,
Clemson's Baruch Institute tackled the largest beach vitex site
located to date. Kingston Plantation, North Myrtle Beach, SC,
consists of four beachfront high rise condominiums and two high rise
hotels; Embassy Suites and the Hilton Inn. These contiguous
buildings are on span over 1,700 feet of beachfront and about 970
feet of this span had a thick beach vitex population. During the
week, Clemson provided about 114 man hours of effort to inject the
plant and Kingston Plantation provided 151 man hours of
labor. Approximately 1.6 acres of beach vitex was treated and about
22.5 gallons of Habitat solution was injected. The results of this
effort will first be visible in the spring when the plant tries to
leaf out. Clemson will provide the equipment and some labor for
clearing the dead beach vitex in May or June and will work with Kingston Plantation to replant the dunes.
North
Carolina Update
December 3, 2007:
NC Task Force coordinator Melanie Doyle and Dale Suiter, US Fish
& Wildlife Service met with Carolinas Beach Vitex Task Force members
at
Pine
Knolls
Shores. There are 2 confirmed locations
of beach vitex in
Dare
County
which are now the northernmost locations of the plant. In the
spring, the Task Force plans to survey the northern Outer Banks.
