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MEETING
ANNOUNCEMENT
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A membership meeting for the Santa Barbara County Weed
Management Area is scheduled for February 16th, 2006. To make
it easier to attend, there will be two meetings. Both meetings have the
same agenda. Non-members are welcome to attend. A map to the
Agricultural Commissioner's Office is available on the web. Click
here: Map to
Agricultural Commissioner's Offices.
9:30 – 11:30
A.M
1:30 – 3:30 P.M.
Agricultural Commissioner's Office
Agricultural Commissioner's Office
263 Camino del
Remedio
624 W Foster Rd
Santa Barbara CA 93110
Santa Maria CA 93455
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NEWS
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National Invasive Weeds Awareness
Week VII is February 26 – March 3, 2006
Organizations and individuals who support noxious and
invasive weed management and habitat restoration will be converging on
Washington D.C. during February 16 – March 3, 2006 to talk to agency chiefs and
legislators about how invasive plants impact their state and to request support
for research and control projects. Events have been designed to focus on
the important roles the Federal government must play to help the U.S. deal with
the problems. Attendees are scheduled to meet with their Congressional
delegations, individual federal agencies and each other. NIWAW 7 is
organized by the Invasive Weeds Awareness Coalition. For more information
visit: http://www.nawma.org/niwaw/niwaw_index.htm
The California Invasive Plant Council has been sending
delegates to NIWAW for the past 3 years and is sending a group to this year’s
NIWAW. The expense of travel and lodging in DC are significant, so Cal-IPC
is seeking donations to help send Cal-IPC representatives to NIWAW. If you
can help, please contact info@cal-ipc.org or call 510-843-3902.
For more information visit: http://www.cal-ipc.org/news_and_legislative_updates/
California Invasive Weeds Awareness
Day at the Capitol is March 8, 2006
Join Cal-IPC and CALIWAC in Sacramento for the 2006
Weeds Day at the Capitol! In morning meetings, the latest agency
developments, including invasive species coordination efforts through the
Resource Agency’s Biodiversity Council, will be discussed. In the
afternoon participants will split into teams for appointments with Senate and
Assembly members’ offices.
We are working behind the scenes on a possible Weed
Management Area funding bill, and your presence in Sacramento helps make the
case for this type of resource management funding. Stick around at the end
of the day for a social hour for discussing the day’s activities. Note
that attendees from Southern California are extremely important for helping
visit the large number of legislators from that end of the state. Last
year attendees met with two-thirds of the representatives’ offices, and left
materials for the rest. Our message was heard – even in a difficult budget
climate, we reminded legislators that invasive and noxious weeds don’t stop
spreading!
If you are able to attend, the registration deadline is
February 17. After that date, registrations are accepted on a
space-available basis. Download the registration form at www.cal-ipc.org/day_at_the_capitol/.
We will send you preparatory materials prior to the event. Invasive Weeds
Day at the Capitol is sponsored by CALIWAC… The California Invasive Weeds
Awareness Coalition is a partnership of private sector groups working to support
and enhance existing weed control efforts and promote public awareness of
invasive weed issues in California.
New Video Available on Roadside
Invasive Weeds
01/26/06
The USDA Forest Service, in partnership with the
Department of Transportation Federal Highways Administration, the US Fish and
Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System, the Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation, and others have produced and released the first video of a
series on invasive species prevention best management practices. It is
called DANGEROUS TRAVELERS- CONTROLLING INVASIVE PLANTS ALONG AMERICA'S
ROADWAYS. The video targets road maintenance personnel and equipment
operators. This first video is available on DVD or via the internet, free
of charge. The web address to view the 26-minute program is http://www.fs.fed.us/invasivespecies/news.shtml.
Channel Islands Restoration
Recruiting Volunteers for Santa Clara River Arundo Project
1/24/06
Channel Islands Restoration, a habitat restoration
company, will be working to remove Arundo
donax, from the Santa Clara River near Ventura later this
month. This will take place on property owned by The Nature Conservancy,
and volunteers are needed to help with the project. Here are the days
scheduled for the Arundo removal project: Sat. 2/18; Sun. 2/19; Mon. 2/20;
and Fri. 2/24. If you are interested in volunteering or for more
information contact Ken Owen at (805) 448-5726, islands@rain.org
Invasive Weeds
Calendar
Cal-IPC has a page in this year's Weeds Gone Wild/ Plant
Conservation Alliance calendar. The calendar can be downloaded from http://s94402343.onlinehome.us/apwgcalendar/.
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EDUCATIONAL
EVENTS
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24th Annual Salmonid
Restoration Conference
The Salmonid Restoration Federation will hold the 24th
Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference, “Rediscovering Urban Creeks and Creating
Healthy Watersheds,” at the Santa Barbara Veterans Memorial Center February 22 –
25, 2006. This premiere restoration conference offers full-day workshops
including Water Conservation, Fisheries and Wildlife Friendly Agriculture: A
Workshop on Sustainability, Removing Coastal California’s Fish Passage Barriers:
From Prioritization to Implementation, and Reestablishing Salmonids in Cities:
The Next Generation of Urban Stream Restoration Projects. Field tours
include visits to the Ventura River and Matilija Dam, Native Chumash restoration
sites, Urban Creek projects, and fish passage sites on the Santa Clara River as
well as tours to urban creek restoration projects and to a local vineyard and
ranch that have restored steelhead habitat. For more information,
visit: http://www.calsalmon.org/conference/2006/index.htm
A Wild and Scenic Film Festival is also part of the
Conference and will be held at the Santa Barbara Veteran’s Memorial Center on
Thursday, February 23rd, from 7 – 10 P.M. For more information
visit: http://www.calsalmon.org/conference/2006/film-festival.htm
Steelhead Festival, Sunday February
26.
Come help us have fun and learn about Steelhead at the
first Santa Barbara Steelhead Festival on Sunday, February 26, 2006 at the Santa
Barbara Zoo. Entrance to the zoo will be free for the first 300 visitors
with a voucher available at the zoo entrance or on the web, by clicking on entrance
voucher The festivities include Steelhead
art exhibits – eight sculptures will be mounted on State St. in downtown
Santa Barbara from Feb 18th to the end of April and a 5K
Run/Walk – starts at 9:00 A.M. in the Santa Barbara Zoo
parking lot. Race registration includes a t-shirt. Then, head up to
the Zoo Hilltop for an all-day
(10 A.M. – 3 P.M.) festival with live music by the Soledadeez
and Antara and
Delilah, educational activities, and information about how you
can help the federally endangered Southern California Steelhead Trout. For
more information, click here
The Steelhead Festival caps off a week of Steelhead
related events including the 24th annual statewide conference by the California
Salmonid
Restoration Federation, to be held at the Veterans Memorial
Building from Feb. 22 - 25.
If you are interested in having a booth at the Festival
or volunteering, contact Katie DeLauw of the CEC at kdeleuw@cecmail.org
(805) 963-0583 ext. 116, by February 10th.
2006 Wetlands Symposium, March 8 –
10.
The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project will
hold its fourth biennial Wetlands Symposium on Thursday and Friday, March 9 and
10, 2006, at the University Center on the campus of the University of
California, Santa Barbara. The two-day conference will feature a number of
nationally and regionally prominent speakers and cover a variety of important
issues relating to the protection, conservation and restoration of coastal
wetlands and watersheds in Southern California.
The Symposium will be preceded by optional field
workshops on Wednesday, March 8 at two coastal wetlands in the Santa Barbara
area. The Wetlands Recovery Project’s Board Governors and Public Advisory
Committee will also meet in Santa Barbara on March
8th.
Information about registration, hotel accommodations,
program topics, field workshops, and other aspects of the Symposium is now
available on the Wetlands Recovery Project’s website at www.scwrp.org under
“What’s New.” The registration fee for the two-day Symposium is only $75
if paid before February 10.
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GRANTS
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Call For WMA Work Plan Proposals
2/3/06
The California Department of Food and Agriculture is
requesting work plans to implement noxious weed control projects in northern and
central California. (Counties excluded, due to alternate funding already
provided to their region, include: San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange,
San Bernardino). The funding available ($212,000) comes from the US Forest
Service and is addressing the prevention, early detection, and eradication of
noxious weed populations on non-federal public and private lands near forested
lands (including USFS lands) in California. Proposed projects must be on
state, county or private lands, near forested or
rangelands.
Proposals must be submitted on behalf of a California
Weed Management Area Group mostly in northern and central California.
Projects within the work plan can be conducted by: members of the Weed
Management Areas, but the lead agency (contractor) must be a County Agricultural
Department or Resource Conservation District. Project proposals that were
funded in the 2005 funding cycle will not be accepted as they still have funding
for 2006. However, NEW projects are highly encouraged from all eligible
WMA groups.
Increased priority for funding will be given to a
project that has a direct link with a coordinated ongoing and/or planned project
on Federal forested lands within the WMA. Increased priority funding will
also be given to a project that addresses A-rated Noxious Weed(s).
Proposals will be funded on a 50:50 cost-share basis.
Matching funds can be in-kind. In-kind or monetary matches must be
non-federal. Funding cannot be used on federal or tribal lands.
Furthermore the funding cannot be sub-contracted to a federal
entity.
All proposals must include some kind of clear, explicit
map showing the location of the weed populations proposed for
eradication/containment in the proposal. This map must also show other
populations of that same weed species in the WMA or in the greater surrounding
region where control is proposed. Ideally the map should show the
boundaries of the national forest lands with in the county. CDFA will
assist you in the production of this map if you contact us prior to February
20th (hopefully sooner).
Proposals due by 5:00PM, Wednesday, March 1st, 2006.
Email proposals to Steve Schoenig, sschoenig@cdfa.ca.gov
NRCS Wetlands Reserve Program
2/2/06
The Wetlands Reserve Program is a voluntary program
offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on
their property. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
provides technical and financial support to help landowners with their wetland
restoration efforts. The NRCS goal is to achieve the greatest wetland
functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre
enrolled in the program. This program offers landowners an opportunity to
establish long-term conservation and wildlife practices and protection. Current
Closing Date for Applications: Mar 28, 2006. Expected Number of Awards:
12. Estimated Total Program Funding: $9,500,000. Award Ceiling:
$3,000,000.
For more information visit: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/wrp/
NAWCA Small Grants
Program
2/2/06
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA)
promotes long-term conservation of North American wetland ecosystems, and the
waterfowl and other migratory birds, fish and wildlife that depend upon such
habitat. Principal conservation actions supported by NAWCA are
acquisition, establishment, enhancement and restoration of wetlands and
wetland-associated uplands. The North American Wetlands Conservation
Council (Council) has created a Small Grants program. to promote long-term
wetlands conservation activities through encouraging participation by new
grantees and partners who otherwise may not be able to compete in the Standard
Grants program. Also, the Council believes that a Small Grants program can
be important in developing a pool of new partners/grantees who eventually might
participate in the Standard Grants program. Current Closing Date for
Applications: Dec 01, 2006. Expected Number of Awards: 40. Estimated Total
Program Funding: $2,000,000. Award Ceiling:
$75,000.
For more information visit: http://www.fws.gov/birdhabitat/NAWCA/USsmallgrants.html.
CIPM Grants for Research
1/30/06
The Center for Invasive Plant Management (CIPM)
announces its 2006 research grant program. Grants are available in several
categories (seed money, information synthesis and assessment, and
decision-making). Projects must focus on plants and issues that are
problematic in the West, although the research can be conducted anywhere in the
U.S. Proposal deadline is March 10. For more information, see http://www.weedcenter.org/grants/grants_overview.html.
Application Period Open for WRP Small
Grants Program
01/17/06
The Request for Proposals and guidelines for the
Wetlands Recovery Project’s 2006 Small Grants Program are now posted on the
Recovery Project’s website (www.scwrp.org) under “What’s New.”
The due date for proposals is Friday, April 28
Next month’s Santa Barbara County Task Force meeting on
Thursday, February 2, will include an informal discussion of concepts for
potential proposals to this year’s Small Grants program. If you are
considering submitting a proposal this year and would like to discuss your
preliminary ideas with the Task Force, please plan on attending the Task Force
meeting on February 2. Because of the Wetlands Symposium on March
9-10 at UCSB, the Task Force will not meet in March, and so the discussion at
the February Task Force meeting will provide you with the best opportunity for
an early evaluation of whether your project might be a good fit for the
program.
Please circulate this announcement to others who might
be interested in applying to the small grants program this
year.
Announcement of Funding for the
Management and Control of Invasive Species Affecting Grazing
Land
01/19/06
Applications for grants
($50,000 to $500,000) to manage or control the spread of invasive species
affecting grazing land are being sought. Up to $4,146,120 is available for
projects. Approximately 40 grants are expected to be awarded. A 1:1
match is required. Proposals that address invasive species concerns on
western range (grazing) lands will be given a priority. Proposals are due
into NRCS Headquarters by 5:00 p.m. on April 3, 2006. For additional
information contact: Thomas Sommer, 202-205-4211, thomas.sommer@wdc.usda.gov.
More information about this opportunity may be found at
the following site: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/glci/.
CIPM grants for
WMAs 01/19/06
The Center for Invasive Plant
Management offers grants of up to $5,000 for Cooperative Weed Management Areas
in the western U.S. The focus of the 2006 grant program is prevention and
early detection. For more information, including online application, see
http://www.weedcenter.org/weed_mgmt_areas/wma_grants.htm.
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Sincerely,
David
Chang
Agricultural Commissioner's Office
County
of Santa Barbara
(805)
681-5600
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