Wildfire Awareness Week May 8-14, 2005 Wildfire Awareness Week is an annual campaign to remind people to take steps to reduce the risk of wildfire damage and to act in a fire safe manner. This year’s theme is, It’s a Clear Choice. “Residents of Trinity County do have a clear choice: Be fire safe! This means clearing defensible space to give firefighters a safe zone to fight fires,” said Jesse Cox, Chairman of the Trinity County Fire Safe Council. Defensible space used to be a minimum 30-foot clearance of flammable plants from around a structure. The California Legislature expanded that zone to 100 feet last year This does not mean 100 feet of bare dirt, but means thinking about a fire resistant landscape. Homeowners can assess their home’s defensibility by using the homeowner’s checklist at www.firesafecouncil.org. The California Fire Safe Council recently approved three proposals to implement fuels reduction work. Poker Bar Property Owners Association requested the assistance of the RCD to implement shaded fuel break and defensible space for their community that borders Bureau of Land Management. The other fuels reduction projects funded were for the Bear and Rush Creek communities and the residents of Lower South Fork Road.

Thanks to all of you, who returned the weed survey that was in the last issue of the Conservation Almanac. It is apparent from the response that yellow starthistle is the noxious weed most commonly known to the Trinity County residents. You all will be happy to know that ongoing biological control methods are continuing and that a new agent has been approved for testing in our county. Previously, efforts of control have focused on six species of insects all collected from yellow starthistle in its native range, the Mediterranean. The insects were all extensively tested to ensure that they were safe to our native and agricultural species. Ongoing studies show that the insects destroy a large proportion of each year’s seed production; however, this is not enough to control yellow starthistle.

A new pathogen recently has been approved for testing, Puccinia jaceae var. solstitialis, a rust fungus that diminishes the vigor of yellow starthistle’s capacity to produce large quantities of seed. Mark Lockhart, the County Agricultural Commissioner, shown in the photograph, began testing the fungus by spraying it on yellow starthistle on March 31, 2005. Mr. Lockhart treated an area heavily infested with yellow starthistle with a solution of 100 milligrams of spores within 200 milliliters of water. The spores will germinate within 8 to 12 hours under a black polyethylene film cover. The inoculation will be deemed successful, if rust colored pustules appear upon the treated weeds in the following weeks.

Thank you Mr. Lockhart for your long-term efforts to achieve biological control of yellow starthistle.