STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
It’s the bane of our existence. It gets in our dog’s ears, creating red painful abcesses that need to be treated by veterinarians. And It dries out more quickly than other vegetation, leaving dense fields of flammable fodder for wildfires.
Dr. Roger Rosentreter will present an online talk on “Cheatgrass: History, Biology and the Future” at 7 p.m. Wednesday March 24.
The Zoom presentation is hosted by the Wood River chapter of Idaho Native Plant Society and will include time for questions and answers.
Cheatgrass is a very common species on rangelands, pastures, vacant lots, waste areas, eroded sites, and roadsides. It is especially obvious in the late summer when swaths of it are a haze of pinky red, said Lisa Horton a member of the Idaho Native plant Society.
Cheatgrass has become a dominant species in the Intermountain West and exhibits invasive behavior in our sagebrush ecosystem. It has made major inroads in the Wood River Valley in recent years
In his presentation, Rosentreter will pose the question: “What is cheatgrass and why is it a problem?” To answer, he will discuss the history of cheatgrass in North America and its genetics and ecology. He will also explore where cheatgrass grows the best and its future. Finally, he will discuss possible solutions.
Rosentreter, known as Dr. Plant, and Dr. Lichen in Boise circles, is an entertaining and passionate presenter.
He recently retired from a 35-year career with the Idaho Bureau of Land Management working in the sagebrush steppe habitats as a plant ecologist. He has authored about 100 scientific publications and is an author or co-author of six botanical books.
In 2008, he received the Idaho Weed Hall of Fame Award. He has worked with several other agencies such as the National Park service on cheatgrass issues in Zion National Park and with the USAID on the auto-ecology of the cedars of Lebanon.
The talk is free. To receive a link to the Zoom presentation, email 1gypsy2016@gmail.com with Cheatgrass in the subject line. To learn more about the Native Plant Society, visit www.IdahoNativePlants.org