Week of February 17, 2008

Updated February 21

There has been an extension of the public comment period for 2008-2012 National Invasive Species Management Plan -- Draft for Public Comment (PDF 143 KB) All comments must be received by close of business on Mar 12 , 2008.

---------------------------------------------------------

New York State's State’s road, bridge, rail infrastructure grim

COLONIE — The state transportation system will need more than $175 billion in capital investment over the next 20 years, Department of Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn told a forum at DOT headquarters Friday.

She painted a gloomy picture of “a system under stress,” with inadequate funding and old infrastructure that is about to produce “a deficient bridge wave” of aging structures needing repair or replacement.

Scott Lorey of the Adirondack Council called for alternatives to road salt and actions to discourage invasive plant species. Full Article

----------------------------------------------------------

Volunteers needed to eradicate invasive pepperweed at Massachusetts marsh

Essex - Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Massachusetts Audubon are looking for volunteers to help with their ongoing project to control and eradicate perennial pepperweed in the Great Marsh.

Perennial pepperweed is a recent invader to New England and is threatening its salt marshes. Volunteers are needed to help map, pull and monitor this invasive plant in Essex, Salisbury, Amesbury, Haverhill, Newburyport, Newbury, Rowley and Ipswich.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, 7-8:30 p.m., Parker River Refuge will host a training session on how to identify and map this invasive at the Refuge Headquarters at 6 Plum Island Turnpike in Newburyport. This meeting is open to the public with no obligation to volunteer. Anyone interested in volunteering for this project but cannot make the training is encouraged to contact Sarah Janson (sarah_janson@fws.gov).

The goal is to control or eradicate pepperweed before it becomes as pervasive as Phragmites or purple loosestrife. Volunteers are essential to the success of the pepperweed control project. Last year, 80 volunteers treated pepperweed on over 70 sites removing it from 8.5 acres of salt marsh. In 2008, the refuge and Mass Audubon will continue pepperweed control in the entire Plum Island Sound watershed and have teamed up with partners such as Parker River Clean Water Association, Ipswich River Watershed Association, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Plum Island Kayaks. Plum Island Kayaks are training their staff in Newburyport and Salem on pepperweed identification and will help to educate the thousands of people they bring to the marsh each year. Article

---------------------------------------------------------

Conservation Commission in Massachusetts to discuss herbicide in pond

WAYLAND, MA - Milfoil weeds have grown so invasively in Dudley Pond that some residents say the only way to completely clean up the body of water is to use chemicals. Responding to petitions and requests from residents and town officials, Conservation Commission Chairman Roger Backman said the ConCom may vote next week to sanction the use of an herbicide called fluridone to clean weeds from Dudley Pond. The chemical, also known as Sonar, would rid the pond of weeds faster than residents say it would take to accomplish the same task using water circulators or harvesting weeds mechanically and by hand. Full Article

----------------------------------------------------------

The 9th Annual National Invasive Weed Awareness Week (NIWAW) reminds us to spread the word, not the weeds

Nearly 200 scientists and invasive plant management stakeholders from industry associations, professional societies, government agencies and private organizations all over North America will gather in our nation's capital to raise awareness about the severe economic and environmental impacts caused by invasive plants during the 9th Annual National Invasive Weed Awareness Week, February 24 - 29 at the Four Points by Sheraton, Washington, D.C.

This special awareness week, hosted by the Invasive Weeds Awareness Coalition, will continue a national conversation about the destructive effects of invasive weeds. The impact of invasive weeds on the nation's agriculture, water quality, wildlife and recreation already costs the U.S. an estimated $34.7 billion annually, according to a recent Cornell University report. PDF News Release

--------------------------------------------------------