The timbisha shoshone tribe in death valley, california, is concerned about the health of the trees in a large honey mesquite (prosopis glandulosa) bosque located on the edge of the death valley playa

These trees are in a tribal mesquite use area, located on land managed by the national park service in death valley national park. The tribe has traditionally harvested the mesquite pods as a major food source. These mesquite pods are known to be the sweetest tasting seed pods in the area. The mesquite bosque also provides important habitat for many migratory birds including lucys warbler (oreothlypis luciae), costas hummingbird (calypte costae) and verdin (aegithalus flaviceps).the tribe would like to remove invasive plants on their reservation to increase the amount of water reaching the mesquite bosque and to reduce the risk of fire to historic structures. The following invasive plants has been mapped on the reservation: 89 athel tamarisk trees (tamarix aphylla), 1 date palm tree (pheonix dactylifera), 3 fan palm trees (washingtonia filifera), 1 giant reed (arundo donax), and 6 oleanders (nerium oleander). Giant reed is listed as a state of california noxious weed. The athel tamarisk trees are located close to eight historic homes, posing a huge fire risk to these structures. The tribe will hire a contractor to remove athel tamarisk trees with an excavator and or hire a hand crew to do chainsaw hand work. Once removed, trees will be moved to a burn pile, cut-up by chain saw for use as firewood, and or chipped using a chipper owned by the national park service. Permission will need to be obtained from each homeowner prior to removing the target weeds around their houses. Each homeowner will sign a landowner agreement with the service and timbisha shoshone tribe before work can occur.