Table Rock Rehabilitation Seeks to Restore Native Plant Communities
Collaborative efforts to rehabilitate Table Rock have begun! This multi-year effort will seek to restore native wildlife habitat. This fall, the City of Boise has conducted two volunteer days to plant sagebrush and bitterbrush, and one additional planting date remains, November 5th. Volunteers will meet at the Old Idaho Penitentiary parking lot at 9 am on Saturday. As of today, November 3, 2016, over 200 volunteers have successfully planted 1500 seedlings at Table Rock. The City will also conduct invasive species management efforts, which were initially stated for the week of October 24th, but were delayed due to inclement weather.
In order to restore native habitat, rehabilitation professionals will be applying a targeted herbicide with ATVs the week of November 7th to areas where invasive species are the dominate plant cover. This herbicide has been developed to specifically target the germinating seeds of nonnative grasses. Spraying will occur on properties owned by the Idaho Department of Lands and City of Boise.
The targeted herbicide will be visible with a purple dye. Martha Brabec, Foothills Restoration Specialist with City of Boise Parks and Recreation, encourages folks to stay off of the treated areas for at least 24 hours.
Trails within the Table Rock Reserve may be obstructed intermittently while project work is being completed. Please stay on designated trails that remain open. Signs will be posted to notify users of rehabilitation efforts.
For more information, contact:
Martha Brabec, City of Boise, 208-493-2535
mbrabec@cityofboise.org
Sharla Arledge, Idaho Department of Lands, 208-334-0286
sarledge@idl.idaho.gov