appropriation; resin bush
eradication
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Committee on Natural Resources & Agriculture |
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Committee on Appropriations |
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Caucus and COW |
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As Passed the House |
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SB 1194 appropriates $378,000 in FY 2001-02 and $220,600 in FY 2002-03 for eradication of the sweet resin bush.
Overstocking and poor livestock management in the early 1900’s created a need to revegetate lands in Arizona. Attempts to revegetate with native grasses failed and in response, the United States Department of Agriculture looked for plants from other semi-arid regions of the world. Consequently, sweet resin bush (Euryops subcarnosus subspecies vulgaris) was introduced in Arizona from Africa in the 1930’s as a plant that showed potential for erosion control, groundcover and as forage.
In 1998, the sweet resin bush was officially listed as a Registered Noxious Weed. According to the Arizona Department of Agriculture, the bush poses a severe environmental threat to native ecosystems. Livestock and wildlife do not eat the plant so it grows unchecked in pure stands. Although brought in as a potential erosion control plant, it is undesirable because it eliminates other vegetation in the area exposing bare soil and increases erosion problems.
Currently sweet resin bush exists at sites throughout central and southern Arizona. Sweet resin bush occurs on about 3,400 acres at elevations from 3,000 to 5,000 feet.