Natives Now SoCal!: Local Hero in Habitat Restoration

Today I had the pleasure to visit the site of an ongoing habitat restoration. Since 2004, Arne Johanson and a handful of volunteers has painstakingly and lovingly tipped the balance from invasive weeds to native plants on nearly 1000 acres of the Artesian Creek watershed in San Diego County. Arne uses a recruitment technique, called the Bradley Method, developed by two sisters from Australia. The method is remarkable for its logic and cost effectiveness. Traditional habitat restoration entails killing weeds and then planting or seeding native plants. Without constant vigilance areas such as these are quickly overtaken by a new crop of non-native weeds. The irrigation, and costs for plants, plus labor, is often prohibitive. Not to mention, the plants or seeds used are often from different localities not as suited for the unique conditions of the site they are planted.

Restored Area of Artesian Creek

Arne has perfected his technique which relies on the recruitment of native propagules that naturally move in once the biomass of invasive weeds is reduced. He is strategic, and prioritizes weed removal to areas that have established populations of native plants, so seeds of the native plants are able to move in and fill in the vacuum created by weeding. While it may appear that wholesale removal of a large area of weeds in a short amount of time is an effective method to revegetate acreage, but the weedless expense is quickly reengulfed if native plant communities are not close by. The Bradley Method relies on the power of Mother Nature to heal a disturbed landscape with a little nudge from Arne and his band of volunteers. A guiding principle for this type of restoration is never to weed an area larger than can be recolonized by neighboring native plants. Arne and his team accomplish all this on a tiny annual budget of $500-$1000. He has expanded his efforts to include Black Mountain, Lusardi County Park, Rattlesnake Canyon, and Poway Lake.
Ask Arne why he fights the good fight, and he will tell you, "It needs doing, and I can do it" it's his short answer to the philosophical question. The long answer is his heart felt joy upon seeing animals recolonizing an area, or seeing a new field of wildflowers, where there once was weeds. He says he will continue to wage this war, "as long there are people able to keep at it."
Arne as a true hero! After many years of hard work he was recently nominated as a finalist for the Cox Conserves Heroes award. Let's hope he wins! Good job Arne and keep up the unbelievable work you do!

Rough Geographic Area of Arne's Restoration

We botanized as we appreciated all that Arne and his team have accomplished. I attempted to write down most of the plants we saw, and here are some of the highlights: