Humboldt Bay Invasive Spartina Eradication Project

The purpose of this project is to treat 100 acres of invasive spartina in Humboldt Bay and acquire a Marshmaster as a shared tool to increase current and future capacity to treat spartina more quickly and at a lower cost.  Employing both a Marshmaster and hand-held brushcutters, RCAA and program labor crews will effect both primary and secondary mechanical and manual treatment of dense, monocultural invasive spartina in the salt and brackish marshes owned by the City of Arcata and the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District.  This project is nested within a larger Regional Invasive Spartina Eradication project conceived to aggressively eradicate invasive  Spartina densiflora  from Humboldt Bay, the Eel River Delta, and the Mad River Estuary, and furthers numerous local, regional, and statewide plans.

Invasive Spartina is a major threat to the biodiversity and productivity of tidal marshes in Humboldt Bay and other West Coast estuaries.  Spartina excludes native plants, reduces primary productivity, alters the benthic invertebrate community, and threatens mudflats that provide key foraging areas for shorebirds and waterfowl.  Invasive spartina has been recognized as a major threat to estuarine biodiversity by the West Coast Governor's Alliance (WCGA) on Ocean Health.