From: Chang, David
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 2:37 PM
Subject: [SBCWMA News] April 2007
SBCWMA Newsletter
April
2007
SB 311 needs
your support! See news story below.
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News
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City of Santa Barbara Releases Their 2001 – 2006 Water
Quality Monitoring Report 3/29/07
The City of Santa Barbara released their 2001 – 2006 Water Quality Monitoring
Report. The report can be found at http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5ECFF1DE-485C-491F-A565-5591CF95AA4A/0/FiveYearWaterQualityReportMarch2007.pdf
The report did not find herbicides in storm water more often than they were
found. The Results Section of the report stated that “Storm monitoring
over the past four wet seasons [also] detected little evidence of herbicide and
pesticide loading to the creeks. The herbicide glyphosate was detected in two
of 46 samples analyzed (89 collected). The glyphosate levels were well below the
available criterion (EPA maximum contaminant level for drinking water).
However, some products containing glyphosate also contain other toxic
compounds. In particular, most contain surfactants known as polyoxyethyleneamines
(POEA) and some of these are much more toxic than glyphosate. The Creeks
Division will investigate the possibility of testing for these compounds
directly. None of the herbicides permitted for aquatic use contain POEA.”
Three key findings of the report in regards to pesticides are that “1. The
herbicide glyphosate was rarely detected in storm samples (2 out of 90
samples). When glyphosate was detected, it was well below the drinking water
standard, which is the only standard available. 2. Pesticides were never
detected in storm samples. However, the levels of detection currently available
are well above the criteria for protecting aquatic health, so the compounds
cannot be ruled out as pollutants of concern.” and
3. for Restoration Monitoring “Omit dissolved metals,
pesticides, and herbicides from quarterly, dry-season sampling. They were never
or rarely detected and the price of analysis is considerable.”
Team Arundo del Norte Publishes
Catalog of Arundo Data 4/4/07
Team Arundo del Norte has published, at http://gis.ca.gov/catalog/BrowseCatalog.epl?id=105,
a new catalog of spatial data containing Arundo donax and other weed
locations from many sources across Central and Northern California. The Team
Arundo del Norte Catalog is part of CERES. This catalog and a soon-to-be
released aggregated dataset are products of TAdN’s
Arundo Eradication and Coordination Program. After completing a thorough
search and acquisition of existing Arundo distribution data for the Bay Delta
region, TAdN will be mapping un-mapped areas and coordinating with Cal-IPC to
pool data and create a state-wide resource of arundo and other invasive weed
data.
UC Davis Grad Students Publish Paper on Efficacy of
Voluntary Initiatives to Prevent Horticultural Introductions 4/4/07
A paper on the potential efficacy of voluntary initiatives to prevent
horticultural introductions of invasive plants by UC Davis IGERT graduate
students is available on the internet at http://www.cpb.ucdavis.edu/bioinv/index.html
The researchers were able to get 54 nurseries from the San Francisco Bay
Area to respond to a set of questions represent the horticultural industry’s
perspective on invasive plants, responsibility for prevention, participation in
voluntary initiatives, and obstacles to participation. The survey
identifies gaps and makes suggestions to the scientific community on how to
close those gaps.
Bladderflower Found on
Santa Cruz Island 4/7/07
Bladderflower, Asclepidiaceae:
Araujia sericifera,
a “B” rated noxious weed, has been found on East Santa
Cruz Island. Dirk Rodriquez found a plant in upper Scorpion Canyon, and
Ken Owen subsequently found two by Delphine's
Grove. Bladderflower is a fast growing vine in
the milkweed family that is a problem in orchards and riparian areas on the
mainland, including Santa Barbara County. It spreads mostly by seed.
All of these plants were removed.
Free Oak Trees 4/10/07
In 2005, the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, along with Kevin Merrill, of
Mesa Vineyard Management and Premiere Coastal Vineyard, and Jerry Markota, of JM Oak Tree Nursery and Markota
Landscaping teamed up with Santa Ynez High School agriculture students in an
exciting pilot program. Acorns were collected by Lottie Martin, the Oak
Specialist, and Jerry Markota provided potting
materials and planting expertise, the high school students propagated the
acorns and cared for the oak seedlings. Kevin Merrill planted the 1000+
seedlings throughout the hills of Premiere Coastal Vineyard.
The program was a huge success and was expanded to include several other local
high schools. Teachers and students worked with the Oak Specialist to
develop an individualized program that met each schools interests and
needs. Schools that participated are Santa Ynez Valley, Carpinteria,
Cabrillo, Cuyama and Santa Maria and Pioneer Valley High Schools.
A great opportunity to get involved is to plant some of the FREE oak seedlings
on your property. The seedlings are ready for delivery now.
If you are interested in the program, contact Ms. Martin; she can work with you
on species, number of trees and delivery.
This program is provided FREE to the land owners and can only be successful
with your participation. It is a great learning experience for the
students and provides them with an opportunity to get involved in a local
issue.
Lottie Martin can be reached by calling the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office
at 805-934-6200, by email at lmmartin@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
or by visiting www.agcommissioner.com
Support SB 311, for full funding
of WMAs 4/11/07
We need letters now to secure full WMA funding. Last year we were
successful in renewing partial funding to WMAs
because over 100 organizations submitted support letters. This year, SB 311 (Cogdill) seeks to increase WMA funding to the full $2.5
million (approved by the legislature last year, but reduced by the Governor to
$1.5 million). This funding will only happen if we can again show the
breadth of support for WMAs. There's been a lot of
turnover in the legislature, and key committees are run by new faces, so we
need to reinforce the importance of this funding. Committee hearings are
starting now, so time is of the essence -- please send letters ASAP!
For sample
letter and instructions on faxing the letter in, go to: www.cal-ipc.
For a list of organizations that sent letters last year, go
to: www.cal-ipc.
Volunteers Needed for Weed Control Trips on Santa Cruz
Island 4/14/07
There are still some spots available for the Santa Cruz Island Native Plant
Restoration Project’s next trip to Santa Cruz Island. Spring trips are a
bit hard to schedule, so don't miss out on this one! The SCINPRP
needs your help to remove some highly invasive weeds on one of the most
ecologically sensitive areas on the island. This is a great opportunity
to visit a part of the island that's closed to the general public. The
next trip is from Tuesday 4/24 to Friday 4/27. Please contact Ken Owen,
at islands@rain.org or (805) 448-5726, if
you would like to attend. For more information visit http://www.channelislandsrestoration.com/sci/
Planning for NIWAW 9 4/16/07
It is already time to start planning for 2008’s National Invasive Weed
Awareness Week, NIWAW9, February 24 to 29, 2008. Here is a chance for your
input. Some invasive weeds that have been nominated for the NIWAW9 (2008)
poster are: yellow starthistle, cheatgrass, beach vitex, Japanese stiltgrass,
Russian olive, and giant salvinia. Please
suggest other important invasive plants that we could choose from.
We also have to choose a slogan for the poster. Some of those suggested
last year are: “Don’t let America the beautiful become America the weediful”, “Pretty but painful”, “Don’t hesitate, Weeds
won’t wait”, and “Weeds won’t wait”. Please vote for one of these or
suggest another slogan. For your reference, previous slogans were:
2007: “Spread the Word, not the Weed’, 2006: “Looks can kill”,
2005: “Beauty can hide a beast”, and 2004:
“We’d like you to know”
If you are not already on the NIWAW listserve, and would like to offer your
opinion, let me know, and I can either forward your opinion or figure out how
to get your opinion known –dc.
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Educational
Resources
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The CNGA & Cal-Pac 2007 Annual Conference 4/16/07
The California Native Grasslands Association and the Cal-Pac Society for
Rangeland Management are teaming up to present their 2007 Annual Conference and
Spring Meeting and Field Tour in Santa Barbara this year on May 17 – 19 2007.
Take advantage of this excellent opportunity to learn about native
grasses, rangeland restoration, use of native grasses in urban landscapes, and
about the issues involved in rangeland management. The general schedule,
field trip and workshop schedule and registration form have been available on
the CNGA website for some time now at http://www.cnga.org/calendar/200705172007_CNGA_SRM.pdf
The technical session schedule is
currently only available in CNGA’s printed
newsletter, but thanks to Melissa Mooney I have attached a copy of the
technical sessions to this newsletter.
Early registration price is only in effect until this Friday, April 20, 2007 –
a savings of $25.
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Grant Resources
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Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project Work Plan RFPs Due
The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project (WRP) is requesting proposals
for acquisition, restoration/enhancement, and planning projects for wetlands in
the coastal watersheds of Southern California from Point Conception to the
U.S.-Mexico Border. Project proposals must be postmarked by June 15,
2007. Projects selected for the WRP Work Plan become eligible for
technical assistance from WRP Staff and for funding by WRP partner agencies.
Inclusion on the WRP Work Plan, however, does not mean the project has been
awarded a grant or is guaranteed funding.
Optional pre-proposal information meetings will be occurring during May
2007. Applicants are encouraged to present their project concepts at
one of these meetings. In order to make a presentation you will need to
submit a two page pre-proposal summary of your project (Attachment 4) to
kbane@scc.ca.gov by May 1, 2007. Meeting dates and locations are listed
below. There will be a meeting on May 15th, 1:00pm-4:00pm, at the Ventura
City Hall, Community Meeting Room, 501 Poli Street, Ventura.
For more information see the attachment, WRP Work Plan RFP 2007.pdf.
Fisheries Restoration Grant Program
The California Department of Fish and Game has released its Proposal Solicitation Notice (i.e. request for proposals) for this year's Fishery Restoration Grant Program. The due date for proposals is May 18, 2007. Please note that the regional workshops to assist prospective applicants are all scheduled for this week: The workshop in San Luis Obispo will be this Wednesday morning, April 18, and the workshop in Ventura will be this Thursday morning, April 19, at Ventura City Hall. For more information see the attachment, PSN Workshop 2007.pdf.
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In the news
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(Here is a news section where I will place items of interest in the weed field that are not always directly related to Santa Barbara County or California. –dc)
Meijer Stores works with The
Nature Conservancy to Prevent Horticultural Introductions of Invasive Plants
Meijer Stores, a
grocery and general merchandise retailer based in Michigan and operating stores
throughout the Midwest, is participating with The Nature Conservancy, to
prevent the horticultural introduction of invasive plants. Meijer Stores
is identifying some of their plant stock as “Recommended Non-Invasive” and
removing two species known to be invasive from their inventory. Meijer
Stores is training staff on the invasive plants issue and donating $450,000
over 3 three years for stewardship work to reduce invasive plants and help
restore Lake Michigan shoreline. Click
here for the news release.
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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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