VM-1. Maintain, restore, or enhance the diversity, distribution, and viability of populations of native plants, and maintain, restore, or enhance overall ecosystem health.
VM-2. The distribution and abundance of invasive plants will be contained, and through active management, the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems will be reduced from current levels.
VM-3. All upland areas will include:
a plant community that consists of native perennial grass and ground cover adequate to improve wildlife habitat, and
improved watershed function based on monitoring and ecological site potential. Upland sites include five percent or greater dry-weight composition of native perennial grass, as limited by the potential of the ecological site as described by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) ecological site guides.
VM-4. The desired plant community for upland sites will have a long-term stable population of columnar cacti and paniculate agave, where the sites have the potential for such plant communities.
RP-1. Riparian areas will include a plant community that consists of stream banks dominated (> 50 percent) by native species from the genera Scirpus, Carex, Juncus, and Eleocharis. The size class distribution of native riparian obligate trees will be > 15 percent seedlings, > 15 percent mid-size, and > 15 percent large size (depending on existing conditions and the site potential). Size classes are defined as follows:
Seedlings are < 1 inch in basal diameter.
Mid-sizes are 1 to 6 inches in basal diameter.
Large sizes are > 6 inches in basal diameter.