July 2008
South Carolina Update
Beach vitex will be featured on the television
show “Making It Grow” on Tuesday, August 19 at
7:00 p.m.
This interactive call-in broadcast produced by South Carolina ETV
and Clemson
University, serves viewers with current
research-based horticultural information. Host Rowland Alston and
featured guests focus on gardening topics, while highlighting
interesting places and products from around the state. The “Making
It Grow” crew visited Georgetown County,
SC in May to film sites of beach vitex and
phragmites.
Clemson Update
During July, the Clemson crew cleared 17 lots
and planted 22 lots. The B list should be completed by mid August.
Going into fall, Clemson crew will concentrate on monitoring for
regrowth and treating those areas.
North Carolina
Update
July
7, 2008: Melanie Doyle (NC Aquarium,
Fort
Fisher and NC Task Force Coordinator)
was asked to speak about beach vitex at the
Carolina
Beach monthly Town Council meeting.
Following a brief description of the plants, the threat they pose,
and what the Task Force’s mission is, the Council unanimously voted
to pursue adoption of an ordinance banning the plant. This will be
voted on during the August 12 meeting.
July
8, 2008: The mayor and board of commissioners of the
Town of Emerald Isle voted
(5-0) for an ordinance amendment prohibiting and calling for the
eradication of beach vitex.
The town council of the Town of Oak Island
voted to adopt an ordinance prohibiting and calling for the
eradication of beach vitex.
July 8-10, 2008:
Dale Suiter made site visits to North
Topsail Beach,
Topsail Beach
and Surf City
in order to verify some reported locations as well as survey for new
sites. Visits with town officials were made also.
July 14, 2008: Dale Suiter and JohnAnn
Shearer (US Fish & Wildlife Service) and Melanie Doyle visited Oak
Island and met with Gene Kudges, Public Works Director, and the town
staff responsible for the beach vitex eradication efforts. New
control methods were discussed and several site visits were made to
both treated and un-treated vitex colonies. Good progress has been
made thus far in getting the vitex under control. Following
Oak
Island, a visit was made to
Caswell
Beach with Mr. Chuck Seenes, who has
been treating the vitex. Again, good progress has been made.
July
25, 2008: Melanie Doyle met with Ken Wells (New
Hanover County Cooperative Extension, Horticulture Agent) to discuss
the design of a class for professional landscape pesticide
applicators specifically about the biology and control of beach
vitex. The first class is scheduled for September 17th in
Wilmington, NC.
July
29, 2008: Dale Suiter and Melanie Doyle met with Billy
Beasley (Parks Supervisor) and Robert Simpson (Town Manager) from
the Town of Wrightsville Beach to discuss beach vitex. Melanie Doyle
is scheduled to speak before the Town Council on August 29th
about vitex and the need for an ordinance and eradication program.
June 2008
South Carolina Update
June
24, 2008: The SEWEE Association Inc. in
Awendaw,
SC is a non-profit corporation organized to
promote understanding and appreciation of natural environments of
the Southeast. SEWEE partners with several National Wildlife Refuges
and forests of coastal South Carolina.
The organization hosted a week long workshop for area school
teachers (grades 6-12) called Reclaiming the Lowcountry:
Investigating Local Ecosystems from the Forest
to the Sea. The workshop (including field studies) concentrated
on invasives, their effect on ecosystems and what can be done about
them. Betsy Brabson, task force SC coordinator, gave a presentation
on beach vitex, its effect on the dune ecosystem and the
eradication/restoration efforts.
Clemson Update
The Clemson crew cleared six lots, cleared and planted one lot and
planted 17 lots during the month of June. Due to hot weather and
lack of rainfall, the previously planted lots have required extra
attention, mainly periodic watering. The effort is going well and
rainfall toward the end of the month helped. In addition, all
reported sites of regrowth have been retreated or will be in the
first two weeks of July.
North Carolina
Update
June
2, 2008: Several members of the Carolinas Beach Vitex
Task Force attended a workshop sponsored by BASF and
North Carolina State
University
regarding a new herbicide called Clearcast. This could have beach
vitex control application. William Strickland of BASF and Dr. Rob
Richardson of NCSU were both organizers and presenters. Presenting
from SC was Jack Whetstone of Clemson’s Baruch Institute, speaking
in detail about beach vitex, the task force, and our eradication
efforts. Also attending were Dale Suiter (US Fish &Wildlife
Service), Sarah True (NCSU), Rick Iverson (NCDA) and Melanie Doyle
(NC Aquariums) and NC task force coordinator.
Letters went out to every town along the
North Carolina coast this month from the task
force and written by Dale Suiter, officially informing them of the
grant funds available for eradication efforts to begin this fall and
the importance of getting beach vitex under control as soon as
possible. Many of the recipients of those letters have already
responded positively.
June
10, 2008: Dale Suiter and Melanie Doyle met with
Charles Derrick, Public Works Director, Town of Topsail Beach, to
discuss the planned eradication efforts for this fall. The group
also toured beach vitex sites that had been treated two seasons ago
with either physical removal, herbicide spraying, or both.
Unfortunately, all sites still had beach vitex. A few new locations
were recorded also.
June
13, 2008: Melanie Doyle met with an employee of the
Town of Kure Beach to survey a few unreported locations of beach
vitex, as well as to get a copy of the town’s new ordinance
prohibiting the species.
June
27, 2008: Melanie Doyle met with three members of the
Town of Carolina Beach government to discuss the adoption of an
ordinance and to survey both known and unreported sites of beach
vitex.
