Paul Brunner with the Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority says the plant is being planted for two very different reasons near the Feather River.
BRUNNER: "We've used poison oak as a barrier for keeping these people away Native American Indian cultural sites, burial grounds."
Brunner says they also needed to plant poison oak and other native vegetation after completing a recent levee improvement project south of Marysville.
BRUNNER: "We had to do some re-grading of drainage swells that needed to be replanted for habitat as we go forward, so, in that mix are voluminous amounts of poison oak, but that's only within the amount that's naturally occurring."
The project was designed to bring 200 year flood protection to the area.
