Case Study - Guadalupe Restoration Project

The Guadalupe Resotration Project is rejuvenating the former Guadalupe Oil Field, which spans more that 2,700 acres in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex on California's Central Coast between Sun Luis Obispo and Santa maria.

The Guadalupe/Nipomo Dunes area has been  designated a National Natural Landmark. The fragile dune habitat on this windswept coast is home to 260 plants and 320 terrestrial vertebrate species. Fourteen plants and 31 animals here are classified as rare, threatened or endangered. And there are more endemic species here than any other california coastal dune location.

Unocal and now Chevron oversees habitat resoration and protection efforts for the project. After a long qualitfication process, Unocal selected All Seasons Weed Control, Inc. to handle invasive plant management as part of the Site Wide Exotic Species Management and Eraditation Program.

"To achieve the goals of restoring the disturbance areas at the Field, management and control of exotic invasive species is a principal objective," notes an April 2003 report on the program.

Staff scientists and technicians of All Seasons Weed Control, Inc. have mapped and prioritized invasive species at restoration sites. They follow a schedule to abate widely distributed non-native plants such as veldt grass, Carpobrotus and slender leaf iceplant. Limited-distribution non-native plants, such as purple ragwort, pampas grass and tree tobacco, are targeted for eradication. Staff members also reduce seed banks and monitor sites for reinvasion.