From: Chang, David
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 11:35 AM
Subject: [SBCWMA News] October 2007
SBCWMA Newsletter
October
2007
My
apologies for the long absence between newsletters. The
last one I sent out was in June. – dc
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News
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Cal-IPC Creates Endowment Fund 10/2/07
The California Invasive Plant Council officially completed the paperwork, on October
2, 2007, to open the "Cal-IPC Wildland Stewardship Fund" at the Marin
Community Foundation. The endowment fund was opened with $10,000 in
contributions from Jake Sigg and Greg Omori. The Cal-IPC board and staff
thanks Jake and Greg and congratulates them on helping Cal-IPC reach this
milestone! It's a big step forward for the sustainability of the
organization.
Cal-IPC will
be looking to grow the endowment. In November and December, a consultant will
help Cal-IPC develop a fundraising plan so that board and staff can be most
effective in generating contributions to support our work.
Cal-IPC is a non-profit organization that depends on donations for its
work. Individuals and organizations may make a special gift to the Cal-IPC
Wildland Stewardship Fund. More details will come later, but in the
meantime, you can contact Cal-IPC at (510) 843-3902 or visit www.cal-ipc.org for more information.
As a member of the board, it is my responsibility to seek donations for
Cal-IPC. Often, it is the friends and family of a board member that are
the first to get solicited for donations. As a friend or member of the
SBCWMA, please consider making a donation, large or small, to Cal-IPC. You can
even make a purchase of Cal-IPC products and get a return on your donation.
Thank you. - dc
Wasp Found Feeding on Arundo 9/11/07
Scientists have discovered a beneficial wasp in southern California that
attacks a highly invasive weed, saving the federal government time and money
that would have been spent to import the insect from Europe. Two European
beneficial insects that the USDA is working with are already here and could
eventually provide natural control of the weed
throughout the Southwest. "We've confirmed that Tetramesa
romana is genetically the same as wasps back in
its native Mediterranean region, so the USDA won't have to import it to control
giant reed," Dudley says. Extensive surveys by postdoctoral
researcher Adam Lambert also found that another candidate for importation, a
"shootfly" of the genus Cryptonevra,
is also here.
…Excerpted from a September 11, 2007 news release by Stephanie Klunk from UC ANR News. The full news release is at http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfm?story=1020
Ninth Annual NIWAW 9/7/07
The 9th Annual National Invasive Weeds Awareness Week (NIWAW 9) will be held in
Washington, D.C. the week of February 24 to February 29, 2008 to bring people
and groups from across the country together to focus national attention on the
severe impacts caused by invasive weeds. Individuals and organizations
interested in this issue are invited to participate in this event and help
build on the success of NIWAW activities in previous years. NIWAW 9 events are
designed to focus on the important roles the Federal government must play to
help the U.S. deal with invasive weed problems. The schedule is designed to
provide ample time for attendees to meet with their Congressional delegations,
individual federal agencies and each other.
For more information visit: http://www.nawma.org/niwaw/NIWAW%20IX/niwaw_index.htm
Reserve hotel blocked rooms by January 24, 2008, and register for NIWAW by
February 1, 2008.
English as a Second Language Class Volunteers on Santa
Cruz Island 7/9/07
A group of ESL/Civics students assisted the Santa Cruz Island Native Plant
Restoration Project with the control of Eucalyptus on Santa Cruz Island.
A news story can be seen at http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/jul/09/immigrants-study-the-environment/
El Segundo Blue Butterfly Population Increases 7/8/07
The endangered El Segundo Blue butterfly has reappeared at two L.A. area
beaches where it has not been seen in decades. The return is attributed
to the removal of invasive iceplant and the replanting of native vegetation,
including the butterfly’s food plant, buckwheat. A copy of the story can
be seen at: http://www.topix.net/content/trb/2007/07/rare-butterfly-makes-comeback-on-l-a-area-beaches
Aquatic Plants Don’t Plant a Pest Brochure Now Available 7/5/07
A new "Don't Plant a Pest!" brochure is available from the California
Invasive Plant Council. The new statewide Aquatic Plants brochure is aimed at
the growing interest in water gardening. It describes alternatives to pond
margin and bog plants, floating and rooting emergent species, and submerged
plants. Thanks to funding from CDFA, Cal-IPC is distributing this brochure at
NO CHARGE. We would especially like to distribute the Aquatic Plants brochure
to agencies and other organizations that manage waterways in California. Please
contact Elizabeth Brusati at edbrusati@cal-ipc.org
for a sample brochure or to order larger quantities. A pdf
of the brochure is posted at: www.cal-ipc.org/landscaping/dpp/brochures.php.
City of Encinitas Considers Invasive Plant Ban 7/5/07
Citing that there are no prohibitions to planting invasive ornamentals, such as
pampas grass, City Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan was
able to convince Councilwoman Teresa Barth, Mayor Jim Bond and Deputy Mayor
Jerome Stocks to vote in June to revisit recommendations made by the 2002 Blue
Ribbon Environmental Committee, a citizens panel the council formed to overhaul
Encinitas' policies concerning the environment. The 2002 Blue Ribbon Committee
suggested, among other things, banning non-native plants on city property and
requiring new residential and commercial developments to avoid using them. It
also suggested eradicating pampas grass and arundo from city properties.
Besides pampas grass and arundo, the Blue Ribbon committee also listed acacia,
giant reed, ice plant, wild fennel, perennial pepperweed, myoporum,
castor bean, Brazilian and Peruvian pepper tree, and tamarisk/salt cedar as
commonly found invasive plants in Encinitas. In June, the council majority also
voted to form a citizens committee to study what to do with invasive
plants. Objecting to the formation of a bureaucracy and preferring an
educational approach, Councilman Dan Dalager cast the
only dissenting vote in this latest anti-invasive plant effort.
…Adapted from a July 5th, 2007 news article by Angela Lau from the San Diego Union Tribune. A copy of the complete article is available at http://www.calcoast.org/news/localgovernment0000024.html
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Grant
Opportunities
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2007 West
Coast Estuaries Initiative for the California Coast 9/29/07
U.S. EPA
Region 9 is soliciting proposals for projects that conserve, restore and
protect the water quality, habitat and environment of California coastal
waters, estuaries, bays and near shore waters through comprehensive approaches
to water quality management. The emphasis is on supporting implementation
activities based on existing plans, such as Comprehensive Conservation
Management Plans (Clean Water Act Section 320), State programs such as the
Integrated Regional Water Management Plans, and local watershed plans.
States,
local governments, public and private nonprofit institutions/organizations,
federally recognized Indian tribal governments, U.S. territories or
possessions, and interstate agencies are eligible to apply. Proposals are
due November 19, 2007.
Region 9
anticipates awarding approximately 2 to 5 grants or cooperative agreements for
the California Coast under this solicitation. Awards will range from
approximately $500,000 to no more than $1,000,000 each with project periods of
three to five years. A minimum non-federal match of 25 percent of the total
cost of the proposal is generally required.
For
additional information, see: http://www.epa.gov/region09/funding/wcei.html.
Pulling Together Initiative Grant Period Open 8/8/07
The RFP for the 2008 PTI grants has been posted to the NFWF web site at www.nfwf.org/pti. The Pulling Together
Initiative (PTI) provides support on a competitive basis for the formation of
local Weed Management Area (WMA) partnerships. These partnerships engage
federal resource agencies, state and local governments, private landowners, and
other interested parties in developing long-term weed management projects
within the scope of an integrated pest management strategy. The goals of PTI
are: üTo prevent, manage, or eradicate invasive and noxious
plants through a coordinated program of public/private partnerships. üTo increase public awareness of the adverse impacts of invasive and
noxious plants.
PTI grants are financed by funds from federal agencies, which must be matched
by cash or in-kind contributions from state, local, and private partners on at
least a 1:1 basis. Proposal submission is invited and encouraged nationwide.
All proposals are reviewed by a national steering committee composed of weed
management experts from government, industry, academia, and non-profit
organizations. This Request for Proposals will fund projects occurring
between May 1, 2008, and September 30, 2009.
Preproposals are due October 26, 2007.
Successful preproposal applicants will be invited to
submit full proposals by December 14, 2007.
River Parkways Grant Program 8/8/07
The Proposition 50 California River Parkways Grant Program in the Resources
Agency is a competitive grant program for river parkways projects. Eligible
projects must provide public access or be a component of a larger parkway plan
that provides public access. In addition, projects must meet two of the
following conditions: ü Provide compatible
recreational opportunities including trails for strolling, hiking, bicycling,
and equestrian uses along rivers and streams. ü Protect, improve, or restore riverine or
riparian habitat, including benefits to wildlife habitat and water
quality. ü Maintain or restore the open-space character of lands
along rivers and streams so that they are compatible with periodic flooding as
part of a flood management plan or project. ü Convert existing developed riverfront land into uses consistent with
river parkways. ü Provide
facilities to support or interpret river or stream restoration or other conservation
activities. For more
information visit: http://resources.ca.gov/bonds_prop50riverparkway.html.
Applications are due October 19, 2007. (sorry
about the late notice. – dc)
ESRI Updates Grant Assistance Program 6/29/07
The ESRI Grant Assistance Program (GAP) is a free program that helps GIS users
find the best grants to suit their needs and assists with their grant
applications. In the past, the Non-ESRI-Sponsored Grants Program worked as a
grant notification service, sending e-mails about grants released a specific
interest area.
Rather than sending notifications, users can now request information on the
grants that best suit their organization and its needs. You can receive
personalized attention through a Customized Funding Solution Report that
includes information on grants most applicable to your project and organization
and details about their free services.
Their web site has been fully updated to feature helpful resources on the
process of finding and applying for funding including helpful links to federal
agencies and a simple online Assistance Request Form that you can use to
request help in finding funding, obtaining information on specific grants, or
applying for a specific grant. Visit www.esri.com/grants
to see the new changes!
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Educational
Opportunities
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California Weed Science Society Annual Conference
(Monterey)
The 60th Annual Conference of the California Weed Science Society
will be held on January 28 – 30, 2008 at the beautiful Portola Plaza Hotel at
Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, California. The theme will be “Everyone
Benefits from Weed Control”. Seventeen hours of DPR continuing education
credit will be available. More information and registration is available at www.cwss.org.
The call for research and student posters is still open. Titles are due
November 30, 2007 and abstracts are due December 31, 2007.
Roadside Weed Management Book Available 10/2/07
With the publication of Roadside Weed Management, by Bonnie L
Harper-Lore, Maggie Johnson, & Mark W. Skinner, the Federal Highway
Administration in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, and
Natural Resources Conservation Service, presents a sequel reference to the 1999
Roadside Use of Native Plants. The new reference features a
state-by-state analysis of noxious weed law for all land managers. It
also offers expert essays on the issues common to the "war on weeds"
waged by all federal, State, and local agencies across the country. And
finally the reference includes educational examples that have increased public
awareness at various levels.
This joint effort to go beyond the law and policy of weeds to the applied
science of weed control and management succeeds only because so many
contributors have chosen to "pull together" since 1994. This
book is intended to help the reader confront the complex issue of weeds or
invasive plants and encourage on-the-ground partnerships across fencelines. Weeds ignore political boundaries and so
will the partnerships of the future.
How to order: Roadside Weed Management has been distributed to all
Greener Roadside readers, along with State Departments of Transportation, FHWA
Division Offices, and Resource Centers. All FICMNEW agencies will have a
limited supply available from their Invasive Species Manager in agency
headquarters. After October 1, 2007, copies may be ordered directly from
the FHWA warehouse by faxing your request for Pub. No. FHWA-HEP-07-017 to:
(301) 386-5394, attention -- Johnny Booze. Your book or books will be
shipped directly to the address you supply.
3d Edition of "Ecology of Weeds and Invasive Plants: Relationship to Agriculture and Natural Resource Management " Released
The University of California announced the release of Ecology of Weeds and Invasive Plants: Relationship to
Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (Wiley-Interscience, 2007), a classic reference authored by Jodie
S. Holt, a professor of plant physiology at the University of California,
Riverside; Steven R. Radosevich of Oregon State
University; and Claudio M. Ghersa of the University
of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The book details how weeds and invasive
plants develop and interact in their new environment, and how people can manage
and control them.
The first edition of the book, published by Wiley in 1987, described principles
of ecology and explained the relationships of weeds to agricultural
development. The second edition, published by Wiley in 1997, dramatically
expanded the subject matter by including chapters on weed demography,
interference, methods to study weed/crop interactions, and the physiology of
competition. It also included three chapters on weed control and for the first
time introduced social and ethical concerns that can arise from that practice.
In the just
released third edition, the authors maintain the basic structure of the earlier
editions, but expand the topics to include exotic invasive plants of wildland
ecosystems, as well as weeds in agriculture and other managed systems. They
also update the previous texts with more recent references and provide
different as well as additional examples.
For the complete news release, visit http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfm?story=1032
2007 Tamarisk Symposium
The Tamarisk Coalition and CSU Extension are hosting the 2007 Tamarisk
Symposium at the Two Rivers Convention Center, in the heart of downtown Grand
Junction, Colorado, on Wednesday, October 24th –Friday, October 26th This
conference, held every two years, is considered the preeminent conference on
the tamarisk problem and will bring together nearly 300 people from throughout
the West that include key researchers, on-the-ground program managers,
environmental interests, and federal/ Tribal/ state/local interests to better
understand the nature of the tamarisk problem, and develop and implement
long-term solutions.
Session topics range from revegetation, research summaries from the 2006
Tamarisk Research Conference, restoration projects, the role of NRCS and its
partners, a special session on Russian olive, an update on legislation,
funding, and policy, and more! The Symposium’s focus is on implementation and
is a sister conference to the 2006 Tamarisk Research Conference. For more information on these past conferences visit www.tamariskcoalition.org.
For a complete agenda, registration information, hotel accommodations, and
poster and booth registration please visit: www.coopext.colostate.edu/TRA/Special/2007Tamarisk/2007Tamarisk.htm.
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Condolences
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Peggy Young-Rose died on July 4, 2007. Peggy was an integral part of the
Ventura County environmental community as well as the face behind the Ventura
County Resource Conservation District for many years. She was
instrumental in the work of the Ventura County Arundo Task Force which expanded
to form the Ventura County Weed Management Area in 2006. We will miss
her!
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More news. . .
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(Here is a section where I
place items of interest in the weed field that are not strictly related to
Santa Barbara County or California. – dc)
Texas Invasives Plant Conference
On November 14, 15, and 16, 2007, the Pulling Together Initiative will host the
second statewide conference on invasive plants at the Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. Building off the first statewide invasive
plant conference in 2005, the 2007 conference will be a professional level
meeting including keynotes, concurrent sessions, posters, field trips and
symposia. This conference is designed to serve scientists, land managers, state
and federal agencies, local governments, the green industry and other
professionals interested in invasive species issues in the state of
Texas. For more information visit http://www.texasinvasives.org/conference07/conference.html
Natural Areas Conference (Ohio)
It's not too late to register for the Natural Areas Conference and attend the Midwest
Invasive Plant Network annual meeting and special session on Invasive Plants in
the Midwest, co-sponsored by the Ohio Invasive Plants Council.
Information on the program is available on the MIPN website at www.mipn.org. To register, visit http://naturalarea.org/07conference/default.htm.
Rocky Mountain Conference on Invasive Species (Montana)
Invasive Species in Natural
Areas: A Conference on Impacts and Management
13-14 February 2008
Missoula, Montana
A conference at the interface between applied research and management of
invasive species in natural areas: During two days, university and agency
researchers will meet with land managers of the Rocky Mountain States to
discuss possibilities and problems specific to the management of invasive
species in natural areas.
In three concurrent sessions, presenters will address impacts, management, and
restoration practices for invasive species in natural areas.
Presentations will attempt to
provide answers to the following four underlying questions:
*
Individual invasive species management versus community oriented management;
what do we want to see when we look at natural areas?
*
Restoration with exotic versus native species; how native do natural areas have
to be?
*
Greatly degraded natural areas; what can we do besides throwing our hands up?
*
Invasive species replacement; how do we break out of the vicious cycle?
In addition, participants
will discuss the formation of a Rocky Mountain EPPC (Exotic Plant Pest Council)
Hawaii Landscape Architects Developing List of Invasive
Plants to Avoid 8/15/07
The American Society of Landscape Architects
(ASLA) Hawai‘i Chapter is developing a recommended list of potentially invasive
plants to avoid using within the industry. The ASLA Executive Committee has
determined three basic approaches to best address the invasive plant issue: ü Develop a more proactive approach. ü Use more caution
in choosing plants. ü Continue to use plants that have more benefit than
risk. For more information, visit: http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?be25bc22-2d62-486e-a076-c1bd8a21ae28
EPA Releases Draft on Effects of Climate Change on
Aquatic Invasive Species… 8/10/07
EPA announces the release of the draft document, Effects of Climate Change on
Aquatic Invasive Species and Implications for Management and Research (External
Review Draft) in the Aug
10, 2007 Federal Register Notice. The draft document, available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=180043,
is provided for a 30-day public viewing and comment period. Public
comments received on the document before Sept 10th will be provided to the
external peer reviewers for their consideration. Any comments not received
within the requested time period, may not be considered by EPA in the final
report. (Sorry, the comment period is apparently over, but I thought
some of you might be interested in the document. – dc)
Long Island Passes Stringent Anti-invasives Bill 7/12/07
The Suffolk County, N.Y., Legislature passed a resolution
last week banning the sale of 63 plants deemed threats to Long Island's
ecology. The first of its kind in New York, the bill calls for plant
wholesalers and retailers to phase out 58 trees, shrubs and aquatic plants by
2009, and another 7 by 2011. Some nursery owners had resisted an earlier version
of the bill, saying it included plants whose sterile varieties pose little
threat. The compromise took some plants off the no-sale list. Earlier in June,
the N.Y. Legislature passed a bill setting up a council on invasive species to
develop a statewide management plan for invasive plants and
animals.
2008 Weeds Across Borders
Conference (Canada)
The 2008 Weeds Across Borders Conference will be held
May 27-30, 2008 in Banff, Alberta and is hosted by the Alberta Invasive Plants
Council in partnership with U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Okanogan
County Noxious Weed Control Board and the North American Weed Management
Association (NAWMA).
This is an international conference covering the interests of professionals and
organizations involved in weed management and regulation. It is composed of an
affiliation of organizations from various jurisdictions across North America
with a common interest in sharing information and promoting weed management
throughout North America.
Because weeds do not obey human imposed laws or boundaries, we must develop
partnerships, share information, coordinate programs and projects that cross
these boundaries.
Visit http://www.invasiveplants.ab.ca/WAB2008.htm
for further information.
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Acknowledgement
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This
newsletter is compiled from various sources, including emails I receive from
people who are involved in the invasive weed field, and from listserves.
I modify the emails, but sometimes they are inserted here nearly
verbatim. I thank those people for this information and for their devotion
to protecting and conserving habitat. If you recognize something that you
wrote and object to its use here or on my website, contact me and I will
promptly remove it from my website.
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Sincerely,
David Chang
Agricultural Commissioner's
Office
County of Santa Barbara
(805) 681-5600
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