March 2007 SBCWMA Newsletter

From: Chang, David
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 4:55 PM
Subject: [SBCWMA News] March 2007

SBCWMA Newsletter March 2007

(This is the most recent newsletter since December 2006. -dc)

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News

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Project Budburst

People across the nation will be collecting important climate change data on the timing of leafing and flowering of trees and flowers through Project BudBurst! This national citizen science field campaign targets native tree and flower species across the country. By recording the timing of the leafing and flowering of native species each year, scientists can learn about the prevailing climatic characteristics in a region over time. Project BudBurst is looking for your help to compile valuable environmental information that can be compared to historical records to illustrate the effects of climate change. For more information go to www.budburst.org

NPS Treats Cape Ivy Infestation on Anacapa Island 1/4/07

Channel Islands National Park personnel treated half of the largest of three incipient infestations of cape ivy (Delairea odorata) located at Oak Canyon on Anacapa Island in December of 2006. Park Service personnel together with volunteers from Channel Islands Restoration and the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden surveyed for possible new infestations and treated the remainder of the Oak Canyon infestation in January 2007. Steep hills, the remoteness of the site and no trails added to the difficulty of treating the site. No new populations were found. Two cliffside patches remain to be treated. NPS’s Sarah Chaney, SB Botanic Garden’s Steve Junak, and Channel Island Restoration’s volunteers: Ken Owen, Valentin Arvisu , Carolyn Greene, Irina Irvine, Suzie Null, and Greg Wall are named in appreciation of their work.

A map and pictures of the treatment expedition can be found at: http://www.channelislandsrestoration.com/anacapa

DPR Begins Outreach on Calif. Red Legged Frog Injunction 12/19/06

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation is preparing agricultural commissioners to educate pesticide users about prohibitions on pesticide use within and around California Red Legged Frog (Rana aurora draytonii) habitat. The prohibitions are a result of a stipulated injunction that settles a case brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others by the Center for Biological Diversity because U.S. EPA did not consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine that California red-legged frog would not be adversely affected by the registration of 66 pesticide active ingredients.

Santa Barbara County is included in the injunction and there are herbicides, including glyphosate, triclopyr, and imazapyr among others, listed within the 66 applicable pesticides. The 66 pesticide active ingredients are prohibited from use within and around California Red Legged Frog habitat. Following is a map of areas in Santa Barbara County where the prohibitions apply. If you are using pesticides in the indicated areas contact the County of Santa Barbara Agricultural Commissioner's Office for more information. California state and local governments will not be enforcing the injunction through pesticide regulations or permit conditions. It can only be enforced through citizen law suits.

For those of you using one of the 66 pesticides within an area where the injunction applies know that there is an exception if the use is for the control of invasive or noxious weeds. That exception is:

“Invasive species and noxious weed programs – permissible when administered by public agencies as long as application of The Pesticides is a spot treatment using hand held devices and is not within 15 feet of California red-legged frog aquatic breeding or non-breeding aquatic critical habitats or not within 15 feet of aquatic features in the listed sections.”

The injunction applies when your pesticide use is within USFWS designated CRLF critical habitat and in certain MTR sections outside of critical habitat. Then you have to consider whether your use will be in or within a buffer of an aquatic breeding habitat, non-breeding aquatic habitat, aquatic feature or upland habitat of the frog.

The US EPA will be mailing brochures about the injunction to every licensed and certified commercial pesticide applicator in California and to every certified private applicator in the applicable counties. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has a website to help pesticide users understand the prohibitions. That website is located at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/es/rl_frog/index.htm. The specific injunction can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/espp/stipulated-injunction.pdf. The section of the Federal Register that identifies critical habitat of the California Red-Legged Frog can be found at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-3344.pdf

Distribution of First Round of WMA Funding 1/29/07

Following are more detailed results of the first round of state funding of WMAs that resulted from the passage of AB 2479.

Weed Management Area Program
Final Funding Allocation
2006/2007 FY
Weed Management Area*		Amount Awarded
Amador	Salt cedar eradication from the county			$56,314.03
Calaveras	Gorse eradication from the county			$4,450.25
Colusa, Glenn, Tehama	Eradicate populations of perennial pepperweed, purple starthistle, tamarisk, Arundo, barbed goat grass			$73,590.90
El Dorado	Spotted knapweed eradication, yellow starthistle (YST) leading edge containment			$99,849.42
Fresno	YST leading edge containment and eradication of outliers			$12,585.32
Inyo, Mono	A-rated weeds on Walker River floodplain; pepperweed eradication and control; tamarisk eradication on the lower Owens River			$98,732.72
Lake Tahoe	Noxious weed eradication: spotted and diffuse knapweed, Dalmation toadflax, perennial pepperweed, musk thistle			$49,855.30
Los Angeles	Eradicate priority weeds of Catalina Island, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Santa Monica Mountains: YST, Arundo, spotted knapweed			$73,607.76
Mariposa	Iberian starthisle eradication and YST leading edge containment			$63,188.38
Mendocino	Eradication of only woolly thistle distaff population in the county			$8,980.00
Modoc	Widespread eradication and control of Scotch thistle on rangeland			$41,000.00
Orange	Restoration of costal chaparral through removal of exotics in Caspers Wilderness Park			$4,400.00
Riverside	Wildlife habitat enhancement through multiple weed removal; tamarisk removal in rare palm habitat			$94,920.03
San Diego	Eradication of all purple loosestrife, YST and perennial pepperweed in the county			$99,732.71
San Luis Obispo	Arundo removal on the Upper Salinas River; Fiscalini Ranch Preserve restoration through invasive weed control			$70,066.74
San Mateo	Eradicate only California population of Slender false brome; exotic grass control in a rare grasslands; Canary Island St. John's wort eradication; pampas grass removal			$99,531.52
Santa Clara	Eradicate Illyrian thistle, barbed goatgrass , purple and Iberian starthistle, broom, weeds of Arastadero preserve			$86,599.90
Shasta	Arundo and scarlet wisteria eradication from the county			$54,801.00
Siskiyou	Control of invasive weeds near endangered species; Meadow, squarrose, spotted and diffuse knapweed eradication on rangelands			$82,080.00
Northern County Support	Eradication of A-rated Weeds			$25,714.02
TOTAL		$1,200,000.00
* listed by county where possible
Research Projects
Dr. Joe Ditomaso UC Davis	Control of 3 Priority Noxious Weeds			$70,000.00
Dr. Carl Bell UC Coop Extension	Control of Perennial Pepperweed in Wetlands			$20,000.00
Dr. Ray Carruthers - USDA ARS	Biological control of pepperweed and tumbleweed			$60,000.00
TOTAL		$150,000.00
CDFA Administrative Costs				$150,000.00
Grand Total			$1,500,000.00

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Educational Resources

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2007 Society of Wetland Scientists International Conference

The Western Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists is hosting the Society’s 2007 International Conference on June 10 – 15, 2007 at Sacramento, California. The meeting aims to bring together wetland scientists from all fields to explore the most recent findings in wetland science, to learn new techniques and procedures, to exchange information on wetland and water policy throughout the world, and to discover the unique attributes of western wetlands. For more information go to http://www.sws.org/sacramento2007/index.html

CNGA & Cal Pac SRM Holding 2007 Annual Conference in Santa Barbara 3/22/07

The 2007 Annual Conference of the California Native Grasslands Association and the Cal-Pac Society for Rangeland Management’s Spring Meeting and Field Tour will be held at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Barbara. The theme is Restoring and Managing California’s Grassland Landscapes: the science and applications. The keynote speaker is Dan Dagget, author of Beyond the Rangeland Conflict: Toward a West that Works (2000) and Gardeners of Eden: Rediscovering Our Importance to Nature (2005).

Besides the technical session, a BBQ social, and a banquet featuring Bob Haller, the conference includes workshops on grass identification, grassland monitoring, and rangeland restoration; and fieldtrips to El Chorro Ranch, Hollister Ranch, and sites on the South Coast.

For more information go to the CNGA’s calendar of events website at http://www.cnga.org/calendar.php

and scroll down to the May 17 – 19 event.

Two new publications: Yellow Starthistle Management Guide and Weeds of California and Other Western States 1/10/07

The California Invasive Plant Council announces the publication of two new books on weeds: The Yellow Starthistle Management Guide, by Joseph DiTomaso, Guy Kyser, and Michael Pitcairn and the Weeds of California and Other Western States (in 2 vol., with CD-ROM), by Joseph DiTomaso and Evelyn Healy. Order these and other publications at http://www.cal-ipc.org/shop/index.php.

Yellow Starthistle Management Guide By Joseph DiTomaso, Guy Kyser, and Michael Pitcairn

Yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is one of the most serious rangeland, grassland, and wildland weeds in the northwestern United States, impacting native plant diversity, altering water cycles, and poisoning livestock. Yellow starthistle invades 12 million acres in California alone. This guide begins with a description of the biology and ecology of yellow starthistle and its history in California. It then provides a comprehensive overview of treatment methods for yellow starthistle, including each method's advantages and disadvantages, timing, and best fit in a strategic management plan. Published by Cal-IPC. Full color, photos, 74 pp.

Thanks to funding, Cal-IPC is offering this publication for only the cost of shipping. 1-2 copies: $5, 3-5 copies: $6, 6-10 copies $7. Call Cal-IPC at 510-843-3902 to order more than 10 copies. Also available as a downloadable pdf at http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/yst.php

Weeds of California and Other Western States (in 2 vol., with CD-ROM) By Joseph DiTomaso and Evelyn Healy

This 1900-page, 2-volume set is the most complete book on weed identification ever produced in the United States. Identification guide to 750 weed species with 3000 color photos. Detailed descriptions of morphology and biology. Includes a CD with all photos from the book, copyright-free for educational use. Published by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. $100 plus CA tax and shipping.

FHWA Handbook “Roadside Weed Management” Available for Free 1/9/07

A Federal Highway Administration handbook on the control of nonindigenous terrestrial vegetation species, titled "Roadside Weed Management", is being offered for free to Agencies, Regional Offices, States, and other Work Groups. Contact Maggie Johnson, U.S. EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Risk Assessment Division EPA East Building, Mail Code 7403M 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20460; 202-564-8924 Fax: 564-9063 johnson.maggie@epa.gov with the number of copies desired and include your mailing address.

The table of contents of the handbook is attached.