The San Juan River

A view downstream near one of our camps, mid afternoon. The trees in the foreground are tamarisk, a Mediterranean ornamental shrub that was imported to North America around the beginning of the 1900's. Although originally intended to reinforce and strengthen river banks, the plant spread quickly through the Southwest and now is found on every virtually every river in the four corner states (CO, UT, NM and AZ) .  It has become a serious pest...on slower river stretches like the Green River through Canyonlands, in Utah, the tamarisk can be 25 feet high and 20 feet thick along the banks of the river, making camping virtually impossible for long stretches and making it very difficult for native animals to reach the river.  Every eradication effort launched against the tamarisk has failed.   June 1995

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