Humans have introduced many alien plants to Southern Nevada, and in 1973-85 when erosion destroyed the wetlands, the invaders quickly filled the void. The most virulent is tamarisk or salt cedar. Brought to the United States a hundred years ago, the plant has flourished because of aggressive characteristics which eliminate the competition for soil and water. As a monoculture plant, it grows exclusively with other tamarisks and is now the dominate species in the Wetlands Park.
It sends roots quickly to surprising depths, tapping and drawing ground water below the reach of other plants. It pre-empts other plants by saturating the soil with salt from its fallen leaves and too successfully colonizing bare ground, being first with the most seeds. While its needle-like leaves turn pink in flower, they give off a dusty, unpleasant odor, wastes. Tamarisk is incapable of cleaning water as marsh plants do and actually prodigious amounts by releasing it into the air. (Common reeds, also monoculture plants, have fewer insidious traits.)
Nearly every summer numerous man-caused fires sweep the wetlands near Sam Boyd Stadium. Tamarisk fuels fires, but itself benefits from burnings. Thousands of new tamarisks sprout up to re-establish their colony in record time.
In order for the Wetlands Park to accomplish its goal of using cattail marshes to clean valley water, hundreds of acres of tamarisk must be removed, and native plant communities must be re-established. The work is slow and difficult. Tamarisk grows in impenetrable thickets full of dust and pollen. Cutting it back merely promotes re-growth. A stump must be instantly coated with herbicide Garlon 4 when cut, or in 15 minutes it will be too late–the stump seals itself and the herbicide cannot penetrate.
Both paid and volunteer crews have been working to eradicate tamarisk/salt cedar at numerous locations around Clark County, including Laughlin and Moapa Valley.