Other News
May 2, 2024: WA State Governor and Assistant Secretary of WSF Talk Ferry Service & Solar Power with SJC Officials
Apr 11, 2024: Community Meeting: Sea Level Rise Adaptation for Outer Bay and Agate Beach Areas on Lopez Island
Mar 11, 2024: Queers in Unexpected Places: Searching for (and Finding) Gender and Sexual Non-Conformity in the Rural and Early PNW
Mar 7, 2024: DRAFT Richardson Marsh Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Dec 5, 2023: County Council Member Jane Fuller and Senator Liz Lovelett to Host Public Meeting on Lopez
Nov 3, 2023: County and Town Send Open Letter to State Officials Regarding Impacts of Poor Ferry Service
Sep 29, 2023: Conservation Land Bank Announces Special Meeting to Discuss Watmough Bay Preserve Addition
Sep 14, 2023: The mobile dental van is coming to Lopez! // ¡La camioneta dental móvil ya llega a López!
Aug 22, 2023: San Juan County Adopts 32-Hour Work Week in the Name of Fiscal Health, Recruitment, and Islander Wellness
May 25, 2023: Recap of Lopez Neighborhood Meeting Regarding the Relocation of Public Works Facilities
May 23, 2023: District 3 Councilmember Jane Fuller Opens Office on Lopez and Hosts Community Conversation
Apr 17, 2023: Give Lopez Starts April 17th - A two week fundraiser benefiting 15 Lopez Island Non-Profits
Sep 22, 2022: Interim Watmough Preserve Addition Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Italian Arum Eradication Project - Spring challenges
Mar 30, 2021
By Dixie Budke
Spring has arrived on Lopez Island, and Italian Arum is delighted to be wiggling up from the ground ahead of native plants.
This is a good time for Aruminators (dedicated community volunteers who locate and eradicate Italian Arum) to start the annual campaign against this invasive menace.
We have learned a great deal about this plant over the last few years, including the following:
• Italian Arum (AI) spreads by dispersal of its many small "bulblets" and berries that the birds and other animals transport.
•AI does much of its growth in the Winter and early Spring before competitive plants emerge.
•The most effective ways to eliminate IA are as follows:
o Dig up the plants, including all
bulblets, and dispose at the Lopez Dump.
Tell receiving personnel what it is as
noxious weeds are quantified.
o Cover patches of AI with semi-permeable
or non-permeable plastic sheeting.
o Pick flowers/berries as soon as possible
and dispose at the Lopez Dump.
• The best time to locate AI is from December through March. Afterward, other plants make detection difficult.
So now for the Spring adventure!
We invite you to read the attached documents for "next steps" when Italian Arum is located.
On a positve note - we are often reminded that there are many things we can not fix and we can not change. Italian Arum...we can both fix and change it. So let's do it!
For Lopez Island Spring fun? Join us in this perfect socially distanced, environmentally responsive, and fixable challenge.
With Gratitude,
Jim and Birte Falconer, project sponsors
Jim Falconer, lead researcher
Dixie Budke, project coordinator
We have learned a great deal about this plant over the last few years, including the following:
• Italian Arum (AI) spreads by dispersal of its many small "bulblets" and berries that the birds and other animals transport.
•AI does much of its growth in the Winter and early Spring before competitive plants emerge.
•The most effective ways to eliminate IA are as follows:
o Dig up the plants, including all
bulblets, and dispose at the Lopez Dump.
Tell receiving personnel what it is as
noxious weeds are quantified.
o Cover patches of AI with semi-permeable
or non-permeable plastic sheeting.
o Pick flowers/berries as soon as possible
and dispose at the Lopez Dump.
• The best time to locate AI is from December through March. Afterward, other plants make detection difficult.
So now for the Spring adventure!
We invite you to read the attached documents for "next steps" when Italian Arum is located.
On a positve note - we are often reminded that there are many things we can not fix and we can not change. Italian Arum...we can both fix and change it. So let's do it!
For Lopez Island Spring fun? Join us in this perfect socially distanced, environmentally responsive, and fixable challenge.
With Gratitude,
Jim and Birte Falconer, project sponsors
Jim Falconer, lead researcher
Dixie Budke, project coordinator