CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : POINT REYES : Group Wants to Line Route With Poppies

Environmentalists in west Marin County want to sow the California state flower--the golden poppy--along the coast highway for beauty and to prevent pesticide spraying for roadside weed control. “It will make Marin look like Oz,” said Bert Crews, a member of Mow Our Weeds, a group that has been battling the California Department of Transportation for years over its use of pesticides along the winding California 1. But state and federal officials have asked MOW not to plant because the group wants to use poppy seeds imported from Oregon. “The concern is that if (imported poppies) are brought in, they will cross-breed and alter the native population,” said Bill Shook, a state resource management specialist.