From: Chang, David
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 1:27 PM
Subject: [SBCWMA News] January 2008
SBCWMA
News
January 2008
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News
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The Scotts Company Assessed $500,000 Civil Penalty for GM
Bentgrass Release 11/26/07
A $500,000 civil penalty settlement agreement with Scotts was assessed by the
USDA with respect to the accidental release of glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass. The full official press release is posted at: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2007/11/0350.xml
Biofuel Crops: Panacea
or Pandora's Box? 12/4/07
It's a Cinderella story. Weeds, scorned and trod on for years and persistently excluded
from the manicured gardens and uniform crops of respectable horticultural and
agricultural society are fast becoming the darlings of a burgeoning biofuel industry. But not all fairytales have a happy
ending. See the link to the PDF of the press release for the full text. http://www.wssa.net/WSSA/PressRoom/WSSABiofuelPressRelease.pdf
Steve Schoenig Leaves CDFA 12/13/07
After 9 years of leading the State of California’s
Weed Management Area program and a total of 17 years at the California
Department of Food and Agriculture, Steve Schoenig will be leaving the
department to a new job as Supervising Biologist for the Biogeographic Data Branch http://www.dfg.
NMFS Releases Recovery Outline for Steelhead 12/18/07
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has released a Recovery Outline
for the Southern California Coast Steelhead Distinct Population Segment.
To download the documents and for more information on this process see http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/So_Cal.htm
California Watershed Assessment Manual, Vol. II 12/18/07
The California Watershed Assessment Manual Team has released the second volume
of the Watershed Assessment Manual on their website at http://cwam.ucdavis.edu/
Volume I detailed the process for watershed assessment, from organizing the
stakeholder process through scientific evaluations, to reporting conditions and
developing watershed management plans. Volume II provides the watershed
community with guidance on ways to include information on water quality,
benthic macroinvertebrates, periphyton,
fire ecology, and river processes. It does all of this in the context of
environmental indicators and conceptual models, described in Chapter 1 of the
new volume.
Tree of Heaven Seeds Requested for Study 12/20/07
Emmi Felker-Quinn, a graduate student at the University of Tennessee, is
conducting research on tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima).
She is investigating how traits related to invasability
vary within and among A. altissima populations
across the U. S. She is requesting help in collecting seeds from tree-of-heaven
from different locations. Seeds can be mailed to her at the address
below. Ms. Felker-Quinn requests at least 100 seeds from at least ten
trees in at each location. In addition, data concerning the collection date,
detailed location data, and other site characteristics describing where the
seeds where collected and by whom is needed. Seeds will be used in greenhouse
experiments and biosecurity protocols are in place to
avoid the spread of this species. Ms. Felker-Quinn can be reached by e-mail at efelkerq@utk.edu
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Grant
Opportunity
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National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - Five-Star Restoration Matching Grants Program
(Closing Date: February 15,
2008)
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Volunteer
Opportunity
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Volunteers Needed to Control Weeds on Santa Cruz
Island
Channel Islands Restoration is seeking volunteers to control invasive weeds and
trees on Santa Cruz Island. The next trip is scheduled for January 25 –
28, 2008. Volunteers stay at the University of California Reserve Field
Station. Please contact volunteer coordinator Cindy Kimmick
ckimmick@library.ucla.edu to
sign up or to ask any questions. For more information, visit http://www.channelislandsrestoration.com/sci/index.htm.
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Weed Control
Services
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Carlos' Grazing Service
An
Urban Wildlife Interface Services Company
Raul
S. Carlos, Lompoc, CA (805) 291-2892
Carlos' Grazing Service takes a unique approach to weed abatement! We do this
by using sheep to selectively graze areas of dense weeds, brush and
grass. Why? Sheep are small, quiet, and easily controlled.
They are natural foragers and will readily consume yellow mustard, cheese
mallow, sow thistle, and many other types of problem vegetation common to Santa
Barbara County. Unlike hand crews, sheep are better able to negotiate
steep or uneven terrain, unburdened by power equipment. Because sheep
possess many positive traits making them uniquely qualified to perform this
type of service, our objective is to provide you with a safe, natural
alternative for:
Carlos'
Grazing Service specializes in dense growth on rough terrain of small
properties of ¼ to 20 acres in size. If you are interested in seeing your
vegetation problems managed in a safe, natural way, please call for a free
estimate!