King Mountain Being Cleared of Invasive Vegetation

A multi-agency vegetation modification project started this week in the 105-acre King Mountain Open Space Preserve just west of downtown Larkspur to reduce fire danger and weed out invasive trees and shrubs.

Marin County Parks, in collaboration with the Marin County Fire Department and the Larkspur Fire Department, is implementing Phase I of the 20-acre King Mountain Wide Area Fuelbreak, which involves cutting and piling highly flammable eucalyptus and acacia trees not far from homes. Phase I includes the upper 10 acres along the ridgeline; Phase II is the lower 10 acres bordering Vine and Willow streets. 

The 14-member Marin County Tamalpais Fire Crew will cut and pile the acacia and eucalyptus debris in the project area over the next few weeks, and the dried piles will be burned later this winter. 

Subsequent treatment of nonnative re-sprouts in the project area will take place in the spring of 2014, 2015 and 2016 if necessary to preserve native habitat.

A new Integrated Pest Management (IPM) element will introduce low-intensity grazing to a separate area of the fuelbreak. A small number of Boer goats will reduce nonnative populations in an enclosure managed by Marin County Parks staff. The same approach is being used successfully at Horse Hill Open Space Preserve between Corte Madera and Mill Valley.

The goal of the project is to achieve a 95 percent reduction in invasive nonnative weed density so Parks can manage both areas by hand-pulling seedlings and with volunteer programs.

Learn more about vegetation modification efforts and subscribe to e-mailed notifications at www.marincountyparks.org.