Attachment To Improve Tamarisk Removal
Conclusions
- Tamarisk roots become more difficult to pull
from the ground as the soil becomes drier.
- When the soil becomes too dry or if the root
system is too extensive, the JAWZ attachment
tends to snap the tamarisk off at the ground
line, allowing the roots to resprout.
- The JAWZ attachment mounted on a compact
tracked loader has enough power to pull smaller
tamarisk clumps.
- The JAWZ attachment mounted on a compact
excavator does not have enough force to pull
tamarisk clumps effectively.
- Machines with track systems are more maneuverable
in sandy soils than machines with
rubber tires.
- Less herbicide is needed to control resprouting
after tamarisk has been pulled than when it has
been cut.
- Pulling tamarisk costs more than cutting
tamarisk, but because sprouting is less of a
problem, chemical treatment of the sprouts
costs less. The combined cost of pulling
tamarisk and chemical treatments to control
sprouts is 13.4 percent higher than the cost of
cutting tamarisk and treating the sprouts. Some
Forest Service units, including the Cimarron
National Grassland, may decide that their
management goals justify the extra expense of
pulling tamarisk rather than cutting it.
- More studies are needed to better understand
the actual difference between the costs of
pulling tamarisk and treating the shoots and the
costs of cutting tamarisk and treating the
shoots.
- Future studies should include a breakdown of
all costs, including piling and burning, so
managers will have a better idea of the entire
cost of eradicating tamarisk.
- The soil disturbance by the equipment used in
the study and the holes created when tamarisk
root balls were pulled out of the ground were
acceptable to managers at the Cimarron
National Grassland.
- Although monitoring will continue, the initial impression of managers at the Cimarron National Grassland and MTDC's project leader is that the concept of pulling tamarisk has merit.
