Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report
San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project: Spartina Control Program
April 2003

Table 3.7-1:  Summary of Potential Visual Resource Effects

 

Impact

Manual Removal
(Hand pulling and manual excavation)

Mechanical Removal
(Excavation, dredging, and shredding)

Pruning, Hand-mowing, and Smothering

Flooding
(Diking, drowning, salinity variation)

Burning

Herbicide Application

Beneficial Effects

VIS-1: Alteration of Views from Removal of Non-native Cordgrass Infestations.

All Alternatives: Short-term impact on small, isolated infestations.

 

All Alternatives: Temporary impact on large stands (>10 acres). Views of dense vegetation would be temporarily replaced with unvegetated mudflats until revegetation.

 

All Alternatives: Immediate increase in visual contrast
between vegetative cover (before) and treated areas (after), and focus
on infestations that are 1 to 10 acres. Views of the abandoned cut material would be comparable to views of natural dieback.

 

All Alternatives: Short-term impact for up to two years. Areas would be similar to existing intertidal views (flooded or dry).

 

All Alternatives: Short-term impact from green to brown or blackened vegetation. Views would change from dense vegetation to dead plant material.

 

All Alternatives: Views of green vegetation would be replaced with blue-tinted plants that decompose over time. The color of treated plants would be bluish-brown and the blue colorant would rinse off.

Alternative 2: No impact.

N/A

VIS-2: Change in Views from Native Marsh, Mudflat, and Open Water
to Non-native Cordgrass Meadows and Monocultures.

Alternatives 1 & 2: No impact.

Alternative 3: Potentially significant impact from the spread of non-native cordgrass to uninfested areas and spread of existing colonies
of non-native cordgrass.

 

Alternatives 1 & 2: No impact.

 Alternative 3: Potentially significant impact from the spread of non-native cordgrass to uninfested areas and spread of existing colonies
of non-native cordgrass.

 

Alternatives 1 & 2: No impact.

Alternatives 3: Potentially significant impact from the spread of non-native cordgrass to uninfested areas and spread of existing colonies
of non-native cordgrass.

 

Alternatives 1 & 2: No impact.

Alternative 3: Potentially significant impact from the spread of non-native cordgrass to uninfested areas and spread of existing colonies
of non-native cordgrass.

 

Alternatives 1 & 2: No impact.

Alternative 3: Potentially significant impact from the spread of non-native cordgrass to uninfested areas and spread of existing colonies
of non-native cordgrass.

 

Alternatives 1& 2: No impact.

Alternative 3: Potentially significant impact from the spread of non-native cordgrass to uninfested areas and spread of existing colonies
of non-native cordgrass.

 

N/A