Updated 3/5
Open Letter to The Nature Conservancy #1
By Steve Young, invasives volunteer
Arlington County
Posted at http://plantwhacker.blogspot.com
Attacks on invasives efforts are going on at every level from the global and national down to the local, as here in Arlington. I can't find a public announcement directly from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), but email traffic shows that they have made the internal decision to disband their Global Invasive Species Team effort and fire all those folks in a few months. Arg. Here is the letter I have just finished and will post tomorrow.
February 27, 2009
Mark Tercek, President and CEO
The Nature Conservancy
4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100
Arlington, VA 22203-1606
Dear Mr. Tercek:
I have been a member of The Nature Conservancy since 1981. No, certainly I am not one of your biggest donors, but I have been a faithful member and I have believed in TNC’s work and given what I can. For all this time I have been of the impression that the mission of the Conservancy is to conserve nature. Apparently, I am mistaken. Recently I learned that TNC is disbanding its Global Invasive Species Team. I must have missed the survey and the process by which TNC consulted with its members before taking such a step, when invasive species are widely viewed as the second-greatest threat to biodiversity. I will forego the lecture on invasives since the scientific literature is extensive and compelling.
Apparently I also missed some process by which TNC repurposed its mission into something other than what I believed in. As my colleagues in the movement to fight invasive species will attest, the GIST has been an important and effective force in mobilizing efforts all over the world to conserve nature on the ground. I myself have found the GIST web site a highly useful resource for my volunteer work on invasives right here in Arlington, Virginia.
As I exited the Metro station in Ballston every evening and looked at TNC Headquarters across the street, I used to feel pride in TNC and in my membership. Now, I am deeply disappointed. Unless TNC reconsiders its decision and restores its support for all the invasives work, this will be the last year I am a member. I hate to end it after 28 years. But if TNC no longer exists to conserve nature, including fighting the devastating impact of invasives, then it is time for me to move on. I realize that you won’t care about my concerns and my decision as perhaps you would if I were a celebrity or a big-dollar donor, but I hope this letter gives you and your staff some pangs, anyway. Now that I think about it, can I have my money back? I’d like to give it to an organization that is conserving nature. But you can keep the interest.
Sincerely,
Steve Young, Invasives volunteer, Arlington County
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Open Letter to The Nature Conservancy #2
From: ipetrus.blogspot.com
Roger Milliken, Jr., President
Baskahegan Company
Cumberland, Maine
Chairman of the Board
The Nature Conservancy
19 February 2009
Sir:
This is an open letter written to express concern about the decision to end the work of the TNC Global Invasive Species Team. The loss of this team exacerbates the losses of natural areas and their ecosystem services to the arrival and establishment of invasive species. From the negative impacts on regulating services such as clean air and erosion control to services which include habitat protection and enhancement through resource and raw material production to informing services such as recreational use, the work of the team focused efforts to encourage a wide range of disparate stakeholders to find common ground. Quietly without fanfare your team provided a focus nationally for wide ranging efforts to stem the destructive spread of invasive species.
Invasive species are a symptom of a larger challenge, the survivability of our culture and of our current expectation for life on this planet. Currently there are groups who excel at raising awareness of other crises, but invasive species issues have been for so long centrists’ issues of insiders that no one actually notices that there is any urgency. There other major issues brewing which share a similar fate, such as the increase in world population over the rate of food production yields. Boring and seemingly non controversial, with no champions of notoriety in tow, invasive species issues slumber in the cloudy sub consciousness of our public policy attic.
Without champions at a national level, there are no funds. Without vocal demands for extreme action, there are no champions; the issues of invasive species are not glamorous. Scary perhaps, but not enough for the big time celebrities which we need to fire us up as we need the celebrity stamp of approval. Invasive species are a slow fire taking place just below our daily time horizons, too slow to make an impact until too late to stop. We expect as inevitable that kudzu will cost two states 500 million dollars annually, and then we wonder why our states are going broke. But we do nothing, we say nothing, and we learn nothing, because other issues are more important having been identified for us by the chic of the moment, by trend setters of style.
We are engaged in a public policy battle on climate change without understanding that invasive species are linked at the hip to the issue. We speak of carbon negative landscapes without knowing that invasive plants make, in general, wonderful carbon sinks. Complex webs of interactions take too much time to digest, and we have no time because we are in a hurry to get to the next new thing, and therefore wind up paying for the old thing which we failed to understand in the first place. Too hard for us to assess and respond in time; too hard to prove a negative, we build costly prisons after the fact ,just as we allow invasives to establish themselves and then deal with the expense later as if they were always a problem though we knew it cheaper to react early thereby deflecting or avoiding the coming crisis.
Our political systems work by catering to extremes; solutions driven successfully from the consensus center receive no attention and with invasive species it is no different. Successful collaboration with diverse stakeholders has led to complacency and even malaise. We move quietly towards a center, while loading future costs one upon another. 22 million acres of ash trees are dead and gone, and now a few impacted residents of the Midwest wonder why, and more practically how they will afford to cut the dead trees down, as all the while the general warning went unheeded. Some say we cannot predict well enough to protect, and convince us that it is better not to try. This is the mantra that said we could not go to the moon or cure polio and were wrong.
Invasive species are crippling the environment which provides us things we need to live: clean air, soil for food, clean water, medicines, and recreational release to name a few. Invasive species are giant hammer blows of a 900 pound canary singing in a mine, tolling for the future, warning of the change which is coming. Surrounded by so much quiet desperation, we teeter on the edge of inaction unwilling to assume one more crucial issue and so we shunt invasive species to the does-not-matter-compared-to-the-everything-else-we-must-solve arena.
But the failure of our ecosystem infrastructure will be costly whether we acknowledge it or not, and ignoring invasive species will simply pass costs on to repair and maintenance until we can no longer afford to clear our canals of the water hyacinth that can curtail our transportation of goods, or until the citrus greening removes the last orange juice tree. Do we truly believe that hardwood trees, the oaks of North America are not important as a pathogen begins to take them down on the west coast? What price to lose elms and chestnuts and maples and ash and then oaks? What tree do the un-aroused suggest take the place of all that is lost? What price to pay for cooling when the hardwoods are gone?
The homogenization of the world is refreshing at first, for we can go anywhere and find McDonalds knowing that our first meal will taste the same with no surprises. But who will visit Alaska to see salmon runs with no fish, waterways covered by Lythrum, a flower readily visible in the backyards of over 24 states of the lower 48? We want a green English landscape in the desert, but after the initial view did we actually travel to the desert to see Windsor palace or did we come to see the diversity of our planet and to recognize the power of this diversity? Our activities from trade to style encourage the introduction of species much as our city development encourages the introduction of Starbucks. We trade familiarity for uniqueness in order to get efficiency through predictability. We want this sameness because it makes us comfortable. And we are paying a price which so far we are willing to pay.
But the piper will be paid. Our system of systems that regulates life on earth will increase the costs of this homogenization until we cannot pay, much as an evening of over eating and drinking will cause a payment to be rendered of the system so abused. We expect our marketplace providers of goods for consumption to lower costs and encourage them to dismiss or not consider the environmental assessment. We do not place a price on shipping containers coming in without inspection for lack of funding and for time considerations, while we spend billions looking for grenades and bombs. We blithely ignore an unidentified ant, which loves to eat electrical wiring and is headed for Houston Space Flight Center. Rather than paying to deal early and cheaply we will suffer a five minute sound bite of recrimination when we have to move the Space Flight Center, spray it with toxins or encase it in ant proof new buildings or loose its wiring to an invasive species.
Why have a plan when we can couch the inevitable in terms of our inadequacy of knowledge, an endless loop of where is the science. We are still waiting for the complete science behind the loss of the Chesapeake Bay’s oysters when we could have done something we found reasons to delay, and now we find reason to move on as if we have lost nothing off importance. We accept the destruction of our landscapes because we have become landscape illiterate. Isolated in our silos, totally depended on our urban system services, we have forgotten that these same services are built upon the foundation of the ecosystem services whose loss we no longer cry for. We have forgotten the lessons of Aldo Leopold; perhaps we never learned.
This we need an effort such as your GIST. Surely the resources can be found to continue to protect our environment by keeping the Global Invasive Species Team in place.
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Hunters shrink New Jersey's wild boar population
by Brian Murray, The Star-Ledger
They are cunning and ferocious, but the mysterious feral pigs of New Jersey were no match for the state's top predators: hunters.
State wildlife officials report that 56 of the bristly-coated swine -- more than half the estimated population -- were killed in December and January in the first New Jersey feral pig hunt in the wilds of Gloucester County.
The hunt was the second phase of a long-term plan by the state to wipe out the free-ranging hogs known worldwide as the ecological menace Sus scrofa.
"We still don't know how big the population is, but we hope the hunters got most of them," said Lawrence Herrighty of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, adding, "We are going to attempt to continue shooting and trapping the pigs ourselves." Link
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NYSDEC rep to discuss invasive fish species
The strange and predatory Northern snakehead fish, whose discovery last year in the lower Hudson Valley alarmed environment watchers and anglers, will be the topic of an illustrated lecture by fisheries expert Michael Flaherty on Thursday at the State University College at Oneonta.
"Northern Snakehead Eradication: Sacrifice for the Common Good," will be presented at 4:30 p.m. in Room 211 Science I on the SUNY Oneonta campus. The public is welcome to this free program by the regional fisheries manager for the state Department of Environmental Conservation's Region 3. [Date not provided]
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MA towns to decide on Laurel Lake weed control policy
By Trevor Jones, Berkshire Eagle Staff
LEE, MA — A decision on the use of herbicides for the next three years in Laurel Lake will have to wait until April.
A joint hearing of the Lee and Lenox conservation commissions for a three-phased invasive-weed management plan by the Laurel Lake Preservation Association was continued Monday night, as commission members sought further information on the group's long-term plans and the environmental impact of the herbicide they are seeking to use.
The group's proposal calls for the use of the herbicide Diquat to reduce heavy patches of invasive aquatic plants, continued hand-pulling of weeds and a drawdown of the lake in winter months to freeze and kill weeds along the shore.
The group, which is a private nonprofit organization of local residents and users of the lake, has used hand-pulling to deal with the new species in recent years, but said the time and cost incurred by that technique are unsustainable for the organization.
The need to use herbicides, according to Preservation Association representatives, is the massive increase of Eurasian milfoil, an invasive species that has doubled in acreage since 2002, covering more than 60 acres of the 170-acre lake.
"All we have talked about is the short-term, and we haven't put it in the bigger context of how we solve the problem," said Timothy Flanagan, of the Lenox Conservation Commission.
Flanagan said he would like to see what the group plans to do beyond using the chemical for three years, and to look at the causes of the milfoil, including runoff from roads, farms and septic systems.
Members of each commission said they would like to see the preservation group present a master plan that follows the Department of Environmental Preservation watershed maintenance program.
A number of citizens in attendance raised concerns over the use the herbicides in the lake. Some said they had concerns about the impact to some of the lake's invertebrates, while others said they have swam there for years and don't want to see "poison" in the water.
Marc Bellaud, who presented the proposal on behalf of the preservation group, said the chemical has been approved by both the state and federal environmental agencies, and is used widely across the country in lakes and rivers.
"It's probably used in dozens — if not hundreds — of water bodies each year," said Bellaud.
Bellaud noted that in the lakes his agency works with, the herbicide has decreased the level of invasive species each year, while not impacting the native ones.
The hearing will resume at the Lenox Town Hall on April 2.
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St. Petersburg College has massive weeding job
SEMINOLE, FL — Officials at St. Petersburg College knew they'd have to clear out a few invasive plants when they decided to build a wildlife habitat and environmental center on the Seminole campus.
But "a few" has turned out to be an extensive clearing that has passers-by and neighbors turning their heads and wondering if the wetlands are being demolished to make way for a dormitory or some other college building.
"That is not demolition," said Jim Olliver, provost of the Seminole campus. "We're removing the exotic invasives. … This is an enhancement to the site."
The college called in experts from Pinellas County to identify the bad plants and to help obtain a $167,836 grant from the Florida Bureau of Invasive Plant Management to pay for the clearing.
Debbie Chayet, a grants specialist from the county's culture, education and leisure department, agreed that the 63- to 65-acre site does appear to be decimated.
"The area's got a lot of invasives in it, unfortunately," Chayet said. "It may look like a lot's been done but we've been very careful to make sure only the invasive species have been hit."
Chayet said 28 invasive plant species were found on the property, including Brazilian peppers, chinaberry trees and Chinese tallow. "It was a pretty diverse amount of invasives," she said.
But farther back, she said, "some really nice native vegetation" can be found, including oak trees and orchids. Those are the kind of plants the college and county want to encourage. They're hoping that the clearing, which should last through the next few months, will do that by removing the shady canopy that's choking out sun-loving native species.
The prospect for success seems good. Chayet said that in some cleared areas, native plants like maples and elderberries are already sprouting.
The return of the native plants is expected to take about a year, said Jon White, an SPC engineer who's working on the project. For now the land will lie fallow while nature takes its course. Once the entire project is complete, White said, there will be an environmental center and boardwalk that can be used for classes and opened to the public as a nature walk and educational center.
Link
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Delaware teachers participate in biotechnology weekend workshop
From UDaily, www.udel.edu
Fifteen Delaware public school teachers met at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and the University of Delaware's Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes Feb. 20-22 for a “biotechnology weekend.”
Sponsored by Delaware's National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) outreach program and the DuPont Office of Education, the three-day workshop was offered to middle and high school teachers (grades 6-12).
Harsh Bais, an EPSCoR-funded assistant professor in the University of Delaware's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, whose lab is based at DBI, spoke to the teachers about his research group's work on invasive plant species [such as Phragmites australis] and the molecular biology of those species. Link
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National Forests in N.C. approves non-native invasive species control
From the Citizen-Times.com
ASHEVILLE – Forest Supervisor Marisue Hilliard, has approved a strategy to control non-native invasive plants on the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests.
Native plants can be overrun by invading non-native plants. It is this group of plants land managers are attempting to control with the approval of this project.
The project will annually treat up to 1,100 acres of non-native invasive plants using a variety of methods. Manual or mechanical methods may include the use of shovels, loppers and saws.
Where appropriate, herbicides will be directly applied to target plants using spot treatment methods. Areas to be targeted will include legally designated rare species, rare plant communities, and/or areas including unique habitats.
“It is estimated there are over 25,000 infested acres across the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests” said Gary Kauffman, forest botanist.
The decision to implement this project provides managers with the flexibility to quickly respond to non-native plant infestations that pose a direct threat to the Forest’s native ecosystems.
Some of the species of particular concern on the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests include Oriental bittersweet, princess tree, privet, and Japanese honeysuckle.
For more information regarding the project decision and environmental assessment, visit www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc.
Link
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Battle to control water milfoil on Cazenovia Lake (NY) leads to new fee for boat access
By Alaina Potrikus, The Post-Standard
Cazenovia, NY -- Village leaders have made some changes to last year's Cazenovia Lake boat launch policy in hopes of protecting the lake from invasive species, nearly doubling the price of access by adding an environmental impact fee and promising 100 percent inspection of boats.
The Cazenovia Village Board unanimously passed the amended policy Monday night, adding a $35 environmental impact fee to the $40 cost of the village's base permit for nonresidents using the public launch at Lakeside Park.
Trustees said the money would be used to cover round-the-clock inspections, with security guards from Morris Protective Services during high traffic hours weekday mornings and weekends, part-time employees during afternoons and volunteer staff in the evenings.
The inspections are part of a recent thrust of intermunicipal cooperation to help limit the impact of Eurasian watermilfoil, a weed whose presence has spread exponentially in recent summers. Town leaders have applied for a state permit to use the pesticide Renovate in sections of the lake this spring, a chemical that has had success in killing milfoil in Saratoga Lake and several of the Finger Lakes.
The eradication process will be paid for with both public and private dollars, and village officials said the increased fee would help keep other invasive species from becoming a problem in the future.
"The entire community is making an enormous investment in the health and quality of the lake," said Trustee Kurt Wheeler, who helped put together the plan for 2009. "It is reasonable that those who come to use the lake contribute as well.
Steve Wowelko, chairman of the Onondaga Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, said $75 seems steep.
"It will preclude the casual person who might come fishing once or twice from coming at all," said Wowelko, whose organization donated $1,000 for ramps at the park last year as a goodwill gesture from sportsmen in neighboring Onondaga County. "The local businesses will be hurt because people won't be coming."
Dan Bishop, director of fisheries for the state Department of Environmental Conservation's regional office, said nearby Otisco Lake has a remote car-top boat launch as well as several privately owned access points that charge $8 to $10 to launch. The state considers that lake to have full public access, and stocks the waters and manages the habitat, Bishop said.
"That's thought of as being a reasonable launch fee," he said. "In the case of Cazenovia Lake, the restrictions are much more severe. (A $75 permit fee) makes it much more prohibitive, much more discriminatory."
Trustee Paul Brooks questioned whether enough permits would be sold to cover the cost of the inspection regime. Last year, the village sold 248 permits at $40 each. The village banked this year's plan on selling 220 permits, with an anonymous lakefront donor covering the $2,200 shortfall.
"In an economic year like this, a doubling of the permit fee could yield 50 percent of what you had last year," Brooks said. "If people only fish here two or three times a year, they might go somewhere else instead."
The park will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. May 2 through Labor Day. In the fall, the launch will be supervised on an as-needed basis, to accommodate people taking their boats off the water.
Trustee Tom Tait said the hours could be altered to match the available funding.
"It's got to be a collaborative effort, and people will pay their part," Tait said. "Eurasian milfoil is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to invasive species." Link
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Weeks of February 15 and February 22, 2009
Updated 2/24
TNC's Global Invasive Species Team closing shop due to budget cuts
From: Barry Rice, TNC
[Reprinted from the GIST listserv]
As a result of budget cutbacks announced last week, The Nature Conservancy's Global Invasive Species Team (GIST) is being disbanded and will close down much of its work over the next few weeks and months.
Ramifications of this closure are the following:
A)The GIST ilistserve will be closing in early March.
B)The GIST web site (http://tncinvasives.org/) will no longer be supported as of March 6: after that date it will merely coast without updates. It may disappear entirely after August.
C)We hope that portions of the site can be relocated to other web sites--see messages 3-5 below if you can support the content.
D)Our new wiki (http://invasipedia.org/) will no longer be monitored or supported, and so will be removed unless another organization offers to house and manage it (see message 5, below).
If you are interested in supporting some of the GIST web site resources on your own web site, please contact me immediately.
Meanwhile, TNC's Forest Health work focused on preventing and containing forest pests and pathogens has several years of secure funding and will continue; see its web site at http://dontmovefirewood.org/.
Bill's comment: I'm stunned! No group of people anywhere on Earth has done more to advance the fight against invasive species. I'm sure that nearly every person in the country who manages invasives has used GIST resources at one time or another, and often many times. Hopefully a foundation or donor will step forward, or new TNC CEO Mark Tercek will wake up and see that this is a HUGE mistake!
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APIPP 2008 Invasive Speciesr Annual Reports Available
The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program's (APIPP) 2008 Annual Report is now available online at http://adkinvasives.com/documents/APIPP2008AnnualReport.pdf , (795KB). Check it out for a snapshot of accomplishments from 2008, including aquatic and terrestrial monitoring and management stats, planning initiatives, species distribution alerts, and more!
In addition, the Adirondack Aquatic Nuisance Species Committee produced its 2008 summary report, which is also available online at http://adkinvasives.com/Aquatic/Resources/documents/2008ANSAnnualReport.pdf . Note that in the future, APIPP will prepare a comprehensive PRISM annual report that integrates the progress of the ANS Committee.
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Avalon, NJ, Prepares Strategy to Tackle Japanese Black Pine on Dunes
AVALON — The viability of borough dunes could be at risk, Environmental Commission Chairman Dr. Brian Reynolds told council at its meeting Feb. 11.
To that end, the borough is preparing strategies to tackle Japanese Black Pine, a non-indigenous species categorized by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service as “mildly invasive.”
Avalon Environmental Commission is working with Joseph Lomax of Lomax Consulting Group in Court House to reduce the pines’ impact on the dunes’ natural maritime forest.
Lomax Consulting Group will prepare and file an application for an Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) 2009 Smart Growth Planning Grant for $18,000, of which the borough will match $9,000.
Lomax was also awarded a professional service contract to develop Forestry Management Plan at a total cost of $4,500. The group will communicate between the borough’s environmental commission and representatives to submit the plans to the NJ Forest Service Community Forestry Program.
The borough will apply its 2009 Green Communities Grant for $3,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) towards the consulting services, leaving a balance of $1,500; Administrator Andrew Bednarek said the services value $17,500.
At a cost of $14,750, the Lomax Group will also prepare a Dune Vegetation Management Plan and design management standards with the Environmental Commission and create a pilot program in a half-beach block area at 74th Street to test which approach works best. Link
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Efforts underway in Arlington County to remove invasive species
Arlington County invasive-plant-removal events have started for 2009. The program is coordinated by Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Volunteers meet monthly at a number of locations to rescue parks from alien plant invaders.
Participants should come dressed for work, wearing long pants and long sleeves and perhaps a hat. Participants also will want to bring along water and, if possible, garden tools. Other tools will be provided.
Removal efforts take place on the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon at Lacey Woods Park; on the third Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Tuckahoe Park; on the second Saturday from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Gulf Branch Nature Center; and on the third Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Long Branch Nature Center. Link
For information, call (703) 228-7636 or e-mail jtruong@vt.ed.
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Funding freeze might negate phragmites removal from Marion Lake, Long Island
By Erin Schultz, Suffolk Times
Just months after the Marion Lake Restoration Committee moved forward with phase one of its pricey phragmites removal project, Lori Luscher got stonewalled by the state.
Ms. Luscher, the founder of MLRC, worked for years to obtain proper permits and a $100,000 matching grant from the Department of Environmental Conservation to remove the phragmites, invasive plants that have been suffocating the five-acre lake for over a decade. The part-time East Marion resident of 30 years also organized fundraisers and has been able to collect over $80,000 to match the DEC.
But last month, DEC representatives told Ms. Luscher that, due to a statewide funding freeze, the restoration committee won't receive a promised partial reimbursement check for $60,000 -- at least not in time for the second phase of the project.
This, Ms. Luscher said, could mean certain death for her beloved inland lake.
"We're doing this in stages," she said. "The timing has to be exactly right, or else the whole project is a waste."
Ms. Luscher said the MLRC was "desperately" relying on the reimbursement to start the second "wicking" phase of the project this spring, in which an environmentally-friendly chemical is hand-applied to each stalk, killing the weed without disturbing any other vegetation. Delaying the second phase, she said, would completely negate the work involved in phase one, and the chances of getting anyone else to donate would be "very unlikely."
"This would set our project back to its initial starting point," she said. "The people who have made donations would feel cheated."
Never one to back down, Ms. Luscher, The Suffolk Times Civic Person of the Year for 2008, has already embarked on an aggressive letter-writing campaign, telling public officials "how bad it would be to be out of money."
Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine has already written to DEC Commissioner Peter Grannis, urging the DEC to unfreeze the $60,000 partial reimbursement that was promised. Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he also intends to weigh in.
Lori Severino, a spokeswoman for the DEC, said the organization has every intention of getting the committee its money -- just not right now.
"The state does intend to meet these obligations," she said. "However, it will take a little bit longer than usual due to the current budget situation. But they're not targeting one particular project."
Ms. Luscher said she understands state's current financial crisis, but this particular project simply cannot be postponed. She said she'd like to explain all this to Commissioner Grannis and Governor David Paterson -- in person.
"I'll take the trip up to Albany if they'll listen," she said. "It would be a huge injustice to the community if we were to lose it all now." Link
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Georgia Aquarium to display invasive lionfish
By Leon Stafford, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Because lionfish, which are native to the South Pacific, have no natural predators in Georgia waters, their population is exploding, researchers said. And their presence is having a negative impact on native species, including small grouper, crustaceans and anything else lionfish can swallow whole.
The aquarium will put more than 40 lionfish in the tank in an attempt to educate visitors about invasive species and discourage the practice of dumping unwanted fish in oceans and streams. The fish will be about 5 inches to 9 inches long. Link
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2009 Aquatic Weed Control Short Course
Aquatic, Upland and Invasive Weed Control; Aquatic Plant Identification May 4-7, 2009
Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Golf Club and Convention Center Coral Springs, Florida
http://www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/aw
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BrooklynParrots.com: A Web Site About the Wild Parrots of Brooklyn
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Arctic char need help to keep swimming
By Bob Mallard, Kennebec Journal
Maine is home to one of the rarest fish in the country. Maine's arctic char, a member of the salmonid family, which includes salmon, trout, char, freshwater whitefish and grayling, is now facing its darkest hour.
Formerly referred to as blueback and Sunapee trout, the arctic char has been called "a grievously imperiled race" and "desperately in need of Endangered Species Act protection" by nationally known angler and writer Ted Williams.
Why? This rare fish faces threats from introduced baitfish, state-sponsored stocking and politics.
Maine's populations of char are the last in the 48 contiguous states. Once abundant in the Rangeley Lakes where they served as the food source for a population of giant brook trout, char were extirpated by the introduction of landlocked salmon, who outcompeted the char for food and preyed on them.
The few populations left in New Hampshire and Vermont succumbed to hybridization with introduced lake trout.
Next to habitat degradation, invasive species introduction -- when live bait is used and released into the water -- is the biggest threat to the fish. The restrictions imposed by the proposed legislation should have been acceptable to even the staunchest supporter of live bait and fish stocking. Link
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Home gardeners can uproot invading plants
StandardSpeaker.com
A fractured leg bone (I slipped on ice and fell) has given me more time to read.
The just-finished roster includes “Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens,” by Dr. Doug Tallamy, chairman of the entomology and wildlife ecology department at the University of Delaware. It’s a pretty quick but concise read and makes suburbanites think twice about the sterile lawns surrounding their homes. Tallamy’s research has shown the important link between native plants and healthy ecosystems.
My wife and I started our native plant gardening soon after we moved to Conyngham. The first things to go were non-native Japanese yew bushes and two very weedy honey locust trees.
Then came the lawn-reduction program (spread tarps or plastic sheets over the turf to remove it without using toxic chemicals!) and the planting of dozens of butterfly, bee and songbird favorites like black-eyed Susan, three milkweed species, elderberry and spicebush shrubs, a couple of pawpaw trees (the host plant for the beautiful zebra swallowtail) and a hackberry tree (another important host plant for butterflies).
Much of what landscapers offer new homeowners today consists of plants that have little to no value to wildlife. And replacing the native forest that stood where a house and lawn now sit has severe detrimental effects on wildlife populations, not the least of which is the replacement of native trees, wildflowers and shrubs with alien and oftentimes invasive species.
Walking around Conyngham has convinced me that the most common tree in town nowadays is the Norway maple. Guess where this species is a native? Norway maples produce thousands of seeds which can quickly mature into dense shady stands, displacing native trees, shrubs and herbs and the wildlife they sustained.
There are many, many other examples highlighting the impact of non-native and invasive species on native plants and animals. Drive slowly over the Susquehanna River bridge between Berwick and Nescopeck around mid-summer and view the riparian areas below now clothed with purple loosestrife. Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery in Lehigh County (the only area nursery we know of that deals only in native plants) says this about purple loosestrife on its Web site: Replaces “native grasses and wetland plants, reducing food supply and habitat for native waterfowl and plants, including some federally listed endangered orchids.”
Another aquatic-habitat invasive we’re familiar with (having lived near some of the waters it now infests, including Lake Champlain), is the Eurasian milfoil.
“Native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, this plant was introduced to the United States around 1940, and has spread throughout much of North America from Florida to Quebec in the east, and California to British Columbia in the west,” notes the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum. “Eurasian milfoil is common in lakes, ponds, and rivers throughout Pennsylvania.”
Like hundreds of other alien plants and critters (the gypsy moth, Asian longhorned beetle, zebra mussel, European starling, English house sparrow, the list goes on and on), the Eurasian milfoil can easily and quickly take over, harming fish populations as well as plants that are supposed to be in a given water body.
Throughout our corner of Pennsylvania the list of exotic, invasive species is endless. Some are sold by nurseries to naive landowners while others arrive in imports or are moved from one pond, lake or stream to another on fishing gear or boats. Near home, the long list includes Bradford pear (another aggressive seeder), autumn olive (there used to be a huge stand of this species near Lake Frances at Nescopeck State Park that formed such dense stands that nothing else could get a toehold), English ivy, Japanese barberry, Japanese honeysuckle, Russian olive, Norway spruce, Japanese knotweed. Link
Read Alan Gregory’s conservation news at wolverines.wordpress.com. He is a former reporter and Outdoors editor for the Standard-Speaker.
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Asian longhorned beetle reemerges on Staten Island
by Staten Island Advance
A tree-killing bug has been detected in 13 maple trees on Staten Island, prompting a federal agency to remove the infested trees this month.
The Asian long-horned beetle was discovered when the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service -- in cooperation with city and state agencies -- surveyed an undeveloped tract of land on Dec. 31 and found the insect in 12 trees, according to Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn). The area, which is owned by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the city Parks Department, is located in Mariners Harbor.
One maple, on an adjoining property, was also found to be infested.
The pesky critter first winged its way to Staten Island in the spring of 2007 when 41 infested trees were found on Prall's Island and three were found on the former GATX industrial site in Bloomfield.
As a result, federal and state pruners cut down and chipped 7,900 trees and chemically treated another 6,400 on the West Shore.
Because of the latest discovery, a quarantine area implemented in 2007 was expanded from a 7.8-square-mile zone on the North and West shores to 10 square miles. Inspectors will survey trees in private and public areas. That will add about 8,200 trees to the 17,900 trees were treated last year. Numerous residential properties lying east of South Avenue and west of Willow Road East will become part of the expanded quarantine area.
"Some of the trees on the [Department of Conservation] property had the perfectly round, 3/8 inch in diameter exit holes that indicate beetles have emerged from the trees in past summers, and all the trees had egg sites indicating beetles have laid eggs," said Christine Markham, director of the national ALB program. "A growth ring analysis determined the infestation is four years old."
The infested trees will be removed this month, before any adult beetles can emerge. In addition, 25 high-risk, exposed host trees located in close proximity to the infested trees.
"The Asian longhorned beetle poses a serious threat to Staten Island," McMahon said. "It kills its host trees within a matter of years and has been found throughout the city. If not controlled, this will quickly become an issue of national importance. I remain confident that the early detection programs instituted by the federal, state and city agencies involved will lead to the swift eradication of this invasive species."
Host trees, or tree species where the beetles thrive, include gray birch, red maple, hackberry, ash, poplar, elm and willow trees. Link
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Biologist opposes Howland fish bypass
Move could bring pike to Piscataquis River
By Diana Bowley, BangorDailyNews.com
DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — A retired and well-respected Moosehead Lake region fishery biologist warned Tuesday the Penobscot River Restoration Trust’s proposal to install a bypass channel around the Howland Dam could have some unintended and “very undesirable” consequences.
Paul Johnson, who is retired from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, told the Piscataquis County commissioners that the proposal could allow northern pike — an invasive, non-native species that preys on soft-grade fish such as salmon, trout and suckers — to invade
about 40 percent of the Piscataquis River drainage. Where pike have been introduced, they have decimated cold-water fishing, he said.
“I feel as a biologist there are significant problems” with this proposal, Johnson said Tuesday. “The threat is real. My concern is this threat has not been widely publicized.” He said there is a public process under way and the public should be aware there is a threat associated with the benefits of the project.
The bypass channel is part of a series of changes planned over time by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust to restore anadromous species to the Penobscot River without sacrificing energy production, according to Johnson. The membership of the trust, a nonprofit organization, includes the Penobscot Indian Nation and several conservation groups, including Maine Audubon and Trout Unlimited. The trust is working in collaboration with state and federal agencies and hydropower company Pennsylvania Power and Light Corp.
Other elements of the trust’s plan to restore Atlantic salmon, river herring and sturgeon, among other sea species, to the Penobscot watershed include removal of the Veazie Dam and the Great Works Dam — the first two dams on the Penobscot River — and improvement of the fish passage at the Milford Dam in Old Town, ac-cording to Johnson.
Johnson said he is troubled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whose duty it is to stop the spread of invasive species, is a signatory of the trust and as such is promoting the opportunity for pike to enter the Piscataquis River.
“The unintended consequences of allowing northern pike to increase their distribution in Maine in the Piscataquis drainage, sanctioned by the state and federal government, and private nongovernmental organizations, is ecologically irresponsible, contrary to public policies and, most importantly, unacceptable,” Johnson said.
Officials of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust declined Tuesday to rebut Johnson’s arguments.
But in an OpEd column in the Bangor Daily News last week, Ray B. Owen Jr. of Orono, a former commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said that “one of the best ways to reduce any negative impacts of these invasive fish is to restore the abundance of native fish in the river through the full implementation of the Penobscot project.”
He said he does not believe that the project “should be jeopardized by the threat of invasive species. Where appropriate, safeguards can be put in place as the risk is further assessed.”
Johnson said the trust did consider alternatives at the Howland Dam but has remained with the fishery bypass.
“There is an alternative. I just think the alternative needs to be heard,” Johnson said. He said he hopes the trust will reassess the project and replace the bypass with a fish lift. The bypass is estimated to cost $5 million compared with $3.5 million for a fish lift.
“You build a dam, you can take it down; you build a fishway, and something changes in the future, you have an alternative course. But if you allow pike into the Piscataquis and they get here, it’s forever,” Johnson said. Link
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Invasive beetles stir worries in Maine
By Julia Bayly, BangorDailyNews.com
MADAWASKA, Maine — Two species of invading beetles are causing some serious concern among federal officials and creating some headaches for St. John Valley residents looking to purchase firewood from Canada.
At a public forum to be held Friday night on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ban on importing firewood, two local legislators hope to shine some light on the issue and why the emerald ash borer and Asian longhorn beetle have forced the ban.
“Around election time in November, I was at Fraser [Paper] and found out how many people in Madawaska get their firewood out of Canada,” said state Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash. “It really astonished me how many people this ban could affect.”
As it stands, all firewood imported from Canada must be heated to 71 degrees Celsius (159 degrees Fahrenheit) before it can enter the United States.
“Many of the smaller firewood operators don’t have the means to do this,” Jackson said. “It would make the cost of buying the wood prohibitive for a lot of people.”
Jackson said many homeowners in Madawaska turned to wood heat over the past year in the wake of rising oil prices.
“This could open up some demand for firewood on the U.S. side,” Jackson said. “But I’m just not sure the supply is there in the Madawaska area.”
At Friday’s forum, slated for 7 p.m. at the Madawaska High School Library, Theriault and Jackson will be joined by representatives of U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and
U.S. 2nd District Rep. Michael Michaud, and officials with the USDA.
“We wanted to get information to those people who have concerns,” Jackson said. “We want to get everyone in the same room, hear what they have to say and go from there.” Link
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Dunkirk Harbor (NY) Commission discusses weed problem
By Joel Cuthbert, ObserverToday.com
With warm weather and the prospect of boats on Lake Erie on the horizon, weed control in the Dunkirk harbor topped discussions of the waterfront.
During a brief Greater Dunkirk Area Harbor Commission meeting Wednesday, members discussed a number of issues relating to problematic weed growth in the harbor as well as plans, and now resources, to address the problem this coming summer.
"Those weeds can be detrimental to boat motors and result in some costly repairs for boaters," Chairman Kurt Warmbrodt said after the meeting.
Earlier this month, $10,000 in occupancy tax money was allocated to the city of Dunkirk for aquatic weed control in the harbor, money which harbor commission members are eager to use to maximize benefits to the Dunkirk harbor. Although members decided to approach the Cassadaga Lake Association in order to use their weed harvester to remedy the problem, they were left to decide when they would need it and what areas they would focus their efforts on since, they all agreed, $10,000 won't go far.
After the meeting, Warmbrodt said they'll mainly be looking at clearing weeds from areas where the boats come up to the docks and Zen Olow said maintaining clear access to the main channel was the biggest priority. Link
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Invasive plants on Long Island talk
Clark Gardens in Albertson will be starting their fabulous Chats on Sunday, March 1st at 1 p.m. This will be on "Invasive Plants on Long Island" by Jane Jackson. Following the presentation and a question and answer period, refreshments will be served. The fee is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. The Garden is located at 193 I.U. Willets Road in Albertson.
Courtesy of the Garden City News online at http://www.gcnews.com/
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UConn efforts help curb spread of invasive plants in state
by Elizabeth Omara-Otunnu, UConn Advance
You see them in the parking lots of retail chain stores and fast food outlets – neat shrubs with glowing scarlet leaves in fall and bright crimson berries in winter.
Burning bush is beautiful but, as many people now know, it’s one of a growing number of invasive plant species that are threatening indigenous ecological systems
In Connecticut, that public awareness owes much to the efforts of UConn’s Les Mehrhoff and Donna Ellis.
“Euonymus – burning bush – is planted everywhere,” says Mehrhoff, director of the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) in the ecology and evolutionary biology department.
“There’s not a McDonald’s or Burger King without them. The plant’s a money maker – it’s easily grown, resists pests, and it’s beautiful.”
The problem is that birds love the fruits, which are high in energy and fats. They fly off and spread the seeds, and now the plant is growing in numerous unmanaged habitats.
Mehrhoff says he became aware of invasives in the 1990s, while working on endangered species.
“I started seeing a lot of habitats being encroached by invasive species,” he says.
In 1997, he and Ellis, a senior extension educator in the plant science department, established an advocacy group to focus on the issue. The Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) began with about 30 members, including faculty from UConn and other colleges, and representatives of The Nature Conservancy, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, municipalities, state and federal agencies, and garden clubs. It now has a listserv of more than 500.
UConn is also represented on a state-mandated council, the Invasive Plants Council, a nine-member group that is currently chaired by Professor Mary Musgrave, head of the plant science department.
“There are a lot of people in the state who care,” says Mehrhoff.
During the past 10 years, Mehrhoff and Ellis have played a leading role working with these two groups to identify invasive plants, and take action to address the problem.
An official list has been compiled of 96 non-native plants considered invasive or potentially invasive in Connecticut, 81 of which are now banned by law from being sold, purchased, transplanted, or cultivated in the state. These include Japanese barberry, Asiatic bittersweet, purple loosestrife, and other, less showy plants, such as garlic mustard and mile-a-minute vine, newly recognized as invasive.
The work is sometimes controversial. Not everyone agrees on all the species that are invasive, Mehrhoff says. In addition to ecological considerations, there are economic issues at stake.
“Some are big money plants for the nursery industry or the aquatic trade,” he says. “Some aquatic species are sold in every pet store.”
One of the primary reasons efforts in Connecticut have succeeded, according to Mehrhoff, has been the involvement of UConn faculty and staff.
“The imprimatur of professionalism and academics that comes from this work being conducted at the University has been key to its success,” he says. Link
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TNC's Global Invasive Species Team closing shop due to budget cuts
From: Barry Rice, TNC
[Reprinted from the GIST listserv]
As a result of budget cutbacks announced last week, The Nature Conservancy's Global Invasive Species Team (GIST) is being disbanded and will close down much of its work over the next few weeks and months.
Ramifications of this closure are the following:
A)The GIST ilistserve will be closing in early March.
B)The GIST web site (http://tncinvasives.org/) will no longer be supported as of March 6: after that date it will merely coast without updates. It may disappear entirely after August.
C)We hope that portions of the site can be relocated to other web sites--see messages 3-5 below if you can support the content.
D)Our new wiki (http://invasipedia.org/) will no longer be monitored or supported, and so will be removed unless another organization offers to house and manage it (see message 5, below).
If you are interested in supporting some of the GIST web site resources on your own web site, please contact me immediately.
Meanwhile, TNC's Forest Health work focused on preventing and containing forest pests and pathogens has several years of secure funding and will continue; see its web site at http://dontmovefirewood.org/.
Bill's comment: I'm stunned! No group of people anywhere on Earth has done more to advance the fight against invasive species. I'm sure that nearly every person in the country who manages invasives has used GIST resources at one time or another, and often many times. Hopefully a foundation or donor will step forward, or new TNC CEO Mark Tercek will wake up and see that this is a HUGE mistake!
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APIPP 2008 Invasive Speciesr Annual Reports Available
The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program's (APIPP) 2008 Annual Report is now available online at http://adkinvasives.com/documents/APIPP2008AnnualReport.pdf , (795KB). Check it out for a snapshot of accomplishments from 2008, including aquatic and terrestrial monitoring and management stats, planning initiatives, species distribution alerts, and more!
In addition, the Adirondack Aquatic Nuisance Species Committee produced its 2008 summary report, which is also available online at http://adkinvasives.com/Aquatic/Resources/documents/2008ANSAnnualReport.pdf . Note that in the future, APIPP will prepare a comprehensive PRISM annual report that integrates the progress of the ANS Committee.
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Avalon, NJ, Prepares Strategy to Tackle Japanese Black Pine on Dunes
AVALON — The viability of borough dunes could be at risk, Environmental Commission Chairman Dr. Brian Reynolds told council at its meeting Feb. 11.
To that end, the borough is preparing strategies to tackle Japanese Black Pine, a non-indigenous species categorized by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service as “mildly invasive.”
Avalon Environmental Commission is working with Joseph Lomax of Lomax Consulting Group in Court House to reduce the pines’ impact on the dunes’ natural maritime forest.
Lomax Consulting Group will prepare and file an application for an Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) 2009 Smart Growth Planning Grant for $18,000, of which the borough will match $9,000.
Lomax was also awarded a professional service contract to develop Forestry Management Plan at a total cost of $4,500. The group will communicate between the borough’s environmental commission and representatives to submit the plans to the NJ Forest Service Community Forestry Program.
The borough will apply its 2009 Green Communities Grant for $3,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) towards the consulting services, leaving a balance of $1,500; Administrator Andrew Bednarek said the services value $17,500.
At a cost of $14,750, the Lomax Group will also prepare a Dune Vegetation Management Plan and design management standards with the Environmental Commission and create a pilot program in a half-beach block area at 74th Street to test which approach works best. Link
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Efforts underway in Arlington County to remove invasive species
Arlington County invasive-plant-removal events have started for 2009. The program is coordinated by Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Volunteers meet monthly at a number of locations to rescue parks from alien plant invaders.
Participants should come dressed for work, wearing long pants and long sleeves and perhaps a hat. Participants also will want to bring along water and, if possible, garden tools. Other tools will be provided.
Removal efforts take place on the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon at Lacey Woods Park; on the third Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Tuckahoe Park; on the second Saturday from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Gulf Branch Nature Center; and on the third Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at Long Branch Nature Center. Link
For information, call (703) 228-7636 or e-mail jtruong@vt.ed.
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Funding freeze might negate phragmites removal from Marion Lake, Long Island
By Erin Schultz, Suffolk Times
Just months after the Marion Lake Restoration Committee moved forward with phase one of its pricey phragmites removal project, Lori Luscher got stonewalled by the state.
Ms. Luscher, the founder of MLRC, worked for years to obtain proper permits and a $100,000 matching grant from the Department of Environmental Conservation to remove the phragmites, invasive plants that have been suffocating the five-acre lake for over a decade. The part-time East Marion resident of 30 years also organized fundraisers and has been able to collect over $80,000 to match the DEC.
But last month, DEC representatives told Ms. Luscher that, due to a statewide funding freeze, the restoration committee won't receive a promised partial reimbursement check for $60,000 -- at least not in time for the second phase of the project.
This, Ms. Luscher said, could mean certain death for her beloved inland lake.
"We're doing this in stages," she said. "The timing has to be exactly right, or else the whole project is a waste."
Ms. Luscher said the MLRC was "desperately" relying on the reimbursement to start the second "wicking" phase of the project this spring, in which an environmentally-friendly chemical is hand-applied to each stalk, killing the weed without disturbing any other vegetation. Delaying the second phase, she said, would completely negate the work involved in phase one, and the chances of getting anyone else to donate would be "very unlikely."
"This would set our project back to its initial starting point," she said. "The people who have made donations would feel cheated."
Never one to back down, Ms. Luscher, The Suffolk Times Civic Person of the Year for 2008, has already embarked on an aggressive letter-writing campaign, telling public officials "how bad it would be to be out of money."
Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine has already written to DEC Commissioner Peter Grannis, urging the DEC to unfreeze the $60,000 partial reimbursement that was promised. Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he also intends to weigh in.
Lori Severino, a spokeswoman for the DEC, said the organization has every intention of getting the committee its money -- just not right now.
"The state does intend to meet these obligations," she said. "However, it will take a little bit longer than usual due to the current budget situation. But they're not targeting one particular project."
Ms. Luscher said she understands state's current financial crisis, but this particular project simply cannot be postponed. She said she'd like to explain all this to Commissioner Grannis and Governor David Paterson -- in person.
"I'll take the trip up to Albany if they'll listen," she said. "It would be a huge injustice to the community if we were to lose it all now." Link
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Georgia Aquarium to display invasive lionfish
By Leon Stafford, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Because lionfish, which are native to the South Pacific, have no natural predators in Georgia waters, their population is exploding, researchers said. And their presence is having a negative impact on native species, including small grouper, crustaceans and anything else lionfish can swallow whole.
The aquarium will put more than 40 lionfish in the tank in an attempt to educate visitors about invasive species and discourage the practice of dumping unwanted fish in oceans and streams. The fish will be about 5 inches to 9 inches long. Link
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2009 Aquatic Weed Control Short Course
Aquatic, Upland and Invasive Weed Control; Aquatic Plant Identification May 4-7, 2009
Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Golf Club and Convention Center Coral Springs, Florida
http://www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/aw
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BrooklynParrots.com: A Web Site About the Wild Parrots of Brooklyn
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Arctic char need help to keep swimming
By Bob Mallard, Kennebec Journal
Maine is home to one of the rarest fish in the country. Maine's arctic char, a member of the salmonid family, which includes salmon, trout, char, freshwater whitefish and grayling, is now facing its darkest hour.
Formerly referred to as blueback and Sunapee trout, the arctic char has been called "a grievously imperiled race" and "desperately in need of Endangered Species Act protection" by nationally known angler and writer Ted Williams.
Why? This rare fish faces threats from introduced baitfish, state-sponsored stocking and politics.
Maine's populations of char are the last in the 48 contiguous states. Once abundant in the Rangeley Lakes where they served as the food source for a population of giant brook trout, char were extirpated by the introduction of landlocked salmon, who outcompeted the char for food and preyed on them.
The few populations left in New Hampshire and Vermont succumbed to hybridization with introduced lake trout.
Next to habitat degradation, invasive species introduction -- when live bait is used and released into the water -- is the biggest threat to the fish. The restrictions imposed by the proposed legislation should have been acceptable to even the staunchest supporter of live bait and fish stocking. Link
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Home gardeners can uproot invading plants
StandardSpeaker.com
A fractured leg bone (I slipped on ice and fell) has given me more time to read.
The just-finished roster includes “Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens,” by Dr. Doug Tallamy, chairman of the entomology and wildlife ecology department at the University of Delaware. It’s a pretty quick but concise read and makes suburbanites think twice about the sterile lawns surrounding their homes. Tallamy’s research has shown the important link between native plants and healthy ecosystems.
My wife and I started our native plant gardening soon after we moved to Conyngham. The first things to go were non-native Japanese yew bushes and two very weedy honey locust trees.
Then came the lawn-reduction program (spread tarps or plastic sheets over the turf to remove it without using toxic chemicals!) and the planting of dozens of butterfly, bee and songbird favorites like black-eyed Susan, three milkweed species, elderberry and spicebush shrubs, a couple of pawpaw trees (the host plant for the beautiful zebra swallowtail) and a hackberry tree (another important host plant for butterflies).
Much of what landscapers offer new homeowners today consists of plants that have little to no value to wildlife. And replacing the native forest that stood where a house and lawn now sit has severe detrimental effects on wildlife populations, not the least of which is the replacement of native trees, wildflowers and shrubs with alien and oftentimes invasive species.
Walking around Conyngham has convinced me that the most common tree in town nowadays is the Norway maple. Guess where this species is a native? Norway maples produce thousands of seeds which can quickly mature into dense shady stands, displacing native trees, shrubs and herbs and the wildlife they sustained.
There are many, many other examples highlighting the impact of non-native and invasive species on native plants and animals. Drive slowly over the Susquehanna River bridge between Berwick and Nescopeck around mid-summer and view the riparian areas below now clothed with purple loosestrife. Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery in Lehigh County (the only area nursery we know of that deals only in native plants) says this about purple loosestrife on its Web site: Replaces “native grasses and wetland plants, reducing food supply and habitat for native waterfowl and plants, including some federally listed endangered orchids.”
Another aquatic-habitat invasive we’re familiar with (having lived near some of the waters it now infests, including Lake Champlain), is the Eurasian milfoil.
“Native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, this plant was introduced to the United States around 1940, and has spread throughout much of North America from Florida to Quebec in the east, and California to British Columbia in the west,” notes the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum. “Eurasian milfoil is common in lakes, ponds, and rivers throughout Pennsylvania.”
Like hundreds of other alien plants and critters (the gypsy moth, Asian longhorned beetle, zebra mussel, European starling, English house sparrow, the list goes on and on), the Eurasian milfoil can easily and quickly take over, harming fish populations as well as plants that are supposed to be in a given water body.
Throughout our corner of Pennsylvania the list of exotic, invasive species is endless. Some are sold by nurseries to naive landowners while others arrive in imports or are moved from one pond, lake or stream to another on fishing gear or boats. Near home, the long list includes Bradford pear (another aggressive seeder), autumn olive (there used to be a huge stand of this species near Lake Frances at Nescopeck State Park that formed such dense stands that nothing else could get a toehold), English ivy, Japanese barberry, Japanese honeysuckle, Russian olive, Norway spruce, Japanese knotweed. Link
Read Alan Gregory’s conservation news at wolverines.wordpress.com. He is a former reporter and Outdoors editor for the Standard-Speaker.
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Asian longhorned beetle reemerges on Staten Island
by Staten Island Advance
A tree-killing bug has been detected in 13 maple trees on Staten Island, prompting a federal agency to remove the infested trees this month.
The Asian long-horned beetle was discovered when the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service -- in cooperation with city and state agencies -- surveyed an undeveloped tract of land on Dec. 31 and found the insect in 12 trees, according to Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn). The area, which is owned by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the city Parks Department, is located in Mariners Harbor.
One maple, on an adjoining property, was also found to be infested.
The pesky critter first winged its way to Staten Island in the spring of 2007 when 41 infested trees were found on Prall's Island and three were found on the former GATX industrial site in Bloomfield.
As a result, federal and state pruners cut down and chipped 7,900 trees and chemically treated another 6,400 on the West Shore.
Because of the latest discovery, a quarantine area implemented in 2007 was expanded from a 7.8-square-mile zone on the North and West shores to 10 square miles. Inspectors will survey trees in private and public areas. That will add about 8,200 trees to the 17,900 trees were treated last year. Numerous residential properties lying east of South Avenue and west of Willow Road East will become part of the expanded quarantine area.
"Some of the trees on the [Department of Conservation] property had the perfectly round, 3/8 inch in diameter exit holes that indicate beetles have emerged from the trees in past summers, and all the trees had egg sites indicating beetles have laid eggs," said Christine Markham, director of the national ALB program. "A growth ring analysis determined the infestation is four years old."
The infested trees will be removed this month, before any adult beetles can emerge. In addition, 25 high-risk, exposed host trees located in close proximity to the infested trees.
"The Asian longhorned beetle poses a serious threat to Staten Island," McMahon said. "It kills its host trees within a matter of years and has been found throughout the city. If not controlled, this will quickly become an issue of national importance. I remain confident that the early detection programs instituted by the federal, state and city agencies involved will lead to the swift eradication of this invasive species."
Host trees, or tree species where the beetles thrive, include gray birch, red maple, hackberry, ash, poplar, elm and willow trees. Link
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Biologist opposes Howland fish bypass
Move could bring pike to Piscataquis River
By Diana Bowley, BangorDailyNews.com
DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — A retired and well-respected Moosehead Lake region fishery biologist warned Tuesday the Penobscot River Restoration Trust’s proposal to install a bypass channel around the Howland Dam could have some unintended and “very undesirable” consequences.
Paul Johnson, who is retired from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, told the Piscataquis County commissioners that the proposal could allow northern pike — an invasive, non-native species that preys on soft-grade fish such as salmon, trout and suckers — to invade
about 40 percent of the Piscataquis River drainage. Where pike have been introduced, they have decimated cold-water fishing, he said.
“I feel as a biologist there are significant problems” with this proposal, Johnson said Tuesday. “The threat is real. My concern is this threat has not been widely publicized.” He said there is a public process under way and the public should be aware there is a threat associated with the benefits of the project.
The bypass channel is part of a series of changes planned over time by the Penobscot River Restoration Trust to restore anadromous species to the Penobscot River without sacrificing energy production, according to Johnson. The membership of the trust, a nonprofit organization, includes the Penobscot Indian Nation and several conservation groups, including Maine Audubon and Trout Unlimited. The trust is working in collaboration with state and federal agencies and hydropower company Pennsylvania Power and Light Corp.
Other elements of the trust’s plan to restore Atlantic salmon, river herring and sturgeon, among other sea species, to the Penobscot watershed include removal of the Veazie Dam and the Great Works Dam — the first two dams on the Penobscot River — and improvement of the fish passage at the Milford Dam in Old Town, ac-cording to Johnson.
Johnson said he is troubled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whose duty it is to stop the spread of invasive species, is a signatory of the trust and as such is promoting the opportunity for pike to enter the Piscataquis River.
“The unintended consequences of allowing northern pike to increase their distribution in Maine in the Piscataquis drainage, sanctioned by the state and federal government, and private nongovernmental organizations, is ecologically irresponsible, contrary to public policies and, most importantly, unacceptable,” Johnson said.
Officials of the Penobscot River Restoration Trust declined Tuesday to rebut Johnson’s arguments.
But in an OpEd column in the Bangor Daily News last week, Ray B. Owen Jr. of Orono, a former commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said that “one of the best ways to reduce any negative impacts of these invasive fish is to restore the abundance of native fish in the river through the full implementation of the Penobscot project.”
He said he does not believe that the project “should be jeopardized by the threat of invasive species. Where appropriate, safeguards can be put in place as the risk is further assessed.”
Johnson said the trust did consider alternatives at the Howland Dam but has remained with the fishery bypass.
“There is an alternative. I just think the alternative needs to be heard,” Johnson said. He said he hopes the trust will reassess the project and replace the bypass with a fish lift. The bypass is estimated to cost $5 million compared with $3.5 million for a fish lift.
“You build a dam, you can take it down; you build a fishway, and something changes in the future, you have an alternative course. But if you allow pike into the Piscataquis and they get here, it’s forever,” Johnson said. Link
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Invasive beetles stir worries in Maine
By Julia Bayly, BangorDailyNews.com
MADAWASKA, Maine — Two species of invading beetles are causing some serious concern among federal officials and creating some headaches for St. John Valley residents looking to purchase firewood from Canada.
At a public forum to be held Friday night on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ban on importing firewood, two local legislators hope to shine some light on the issue and why the emerald ash borer and Asian longhorn beetle have forced the ban.
“Around election time in November, I was at Fraser [Paper] and found out how many people in Madawaska get their firewood out of Canada,” said state Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash. “It really astonished me how many people this ban could affect.”
As it stands, all firewood imported from Canada must be heated to 71 degrees Celsius (159 degrees Fahrenheit) before it can enter the United States.
“Many of the smaller firewood operators don’t have the means to do this,” Jackson said. “It would make the cost of buying the wood prohibitive for a lot of people.”
Jackson said many homeowners in Madawaska turned to wood heat over the past year in the wake of rising oil prices.
“This could open up some demand for firewood on the U.S. side,” Jackson said. “But I’m just not sure the supply is there in the Madawaska area.”
At Friday’s forum, slated for 7 p.m. at the Madawaska High School Library, Theriault and Jackson will be joined by representatives of U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and
U.S. 2nd District Rep. Michael Michaud, and officials with the USDA.
“We wanted to get information to those people who have concerns,” Jackson said. “We want to get everyone in the same room, hear what they have to say and go from there.” Link
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Dunkirk Harbor (NY) Commission discusses weed problem
By Joel Cuthbert, ObserverToday.com
With warm weather and the prospect of boats on Lake Erie on the horizon, weed control in the Dunkirk harbor topped discussions of the waterfront.
During a brief Greater Dunkirk Area Harbor Commission meeting Wednesday, members discussed a number of issues relating to problematic weed growth in the harbor as well as plans, and now resources, to address the problem this coming summer.
"Those weeds can be detrimental to boat motors and result in some costly repairs for boaters," Chairman Kurt Warmbrodt said after the meeting.
Earlier this month, $10,000 in occupancy tax money was allocated to the city of Dunkirk for aquatic weed control in the harbor, money which harbor commission members are eager to use to maximize benefits to the Dunkirk harbor. Although members decided to approach the Cassadaga Lake Association in order to use their weed harvester to remedy the problem, they were left to decide when they would need it and what areas they would focus their efforts on since, they all agreed, $10,000 won't go far.
After the meeting, Warmbrodt said they'll mainly be looking at clearing weeds from areas where the boats come up to the docks and Zen Olow said maintaining clear access to the main channel was the biggest priority. Link
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Invasive plants on Long Island talk
Clark Gardens in Albertson will be starting their fabulous Chats on Sunday, March 1st at 1 p.m. This will be on "Invasive Plants on Long Island" by Jane Jackson. Following the presentation and a question and answer period, refreshments will be served. The fee is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. The Garden is located at 193 I.U. Willets Road in Albertson.
Courtesy of the Garden City News online at http://www.gcnews.com/
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UConn efforts help curb spread of invasive plants in state
by Elizabeth Omara-Otunnu, UConn Advance
You see them in the parking lots of retail chain stores and fast food outlets – neat shrubs with glowing scarlet leaves in fall and bright crimson berries in winter.
Burning bush is beautiful but, as many people now know, it’s one of a growing number of invasive plant species that are threatening indigenous ecological systems
In Connecticut, that public awareness owes much to the efforts of UConn’s Les Mehrhoff and Donna Ellis.
“Euonymus – burning bush – is planted everywhere,” says Mehrhoff, director of the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) in the ecology and evolutionary biology department.
“There’s not a McDonald’s or Burger King without them. The plant’s a money maker – it’s easily grown, resists pests, and it’s beautiful.”
The problem is that birds love the fruits, which are high in energy and fats. They fly off and spread the seeds, and now the plant is growing in numerous unmanaged habitats.
Mehrhoff says he became aware of invasives in the 1990s, while working on endangered species.
“I started seeing a lot of habitats being encroached by invasive species,” he says.
In 1997, he and Ellis, a senior extension educator in the plant science department, established an advocacy group to focus on the issue. The Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) began with about 30 members, including faculty from UConn and other colleges, and representatives of The Nature Conservancy, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, municipalities, state and federal agencies, and garden clubs. It now has a listserv of more than 500.
UConn is also represented on a state-mandated council, the Invasive Plants Council, a nine-member group that is currently chaired by Professor Mary Musgrave, head of the plant science department.
“There are a lot of people in the state who care,” says Mehrhoff.
During the past 10 years, Mehrhoff and Ellis have played a leading role working with these two groups to identify invasive plants, and take action to address the problem.
An official list has been compiled of 96 non-native plants considered invasive or potentially invasive in Connecticut, 81 of which are now banned by law from being sold, purchased, transplanted, or cultivated in the state. These include Japanese barberry, Asiatic bittersweet, purple loosestrife, and other, less showy plants, such as garlic mustard and mile-a-minute vine, newly recognized as invasive.
The work is sometimes controversial. Not everyone agrees on all the species that are invasive, Mehrhoff says. In addition to ecological considerations, there are economic issues at stake.
“Some are big money plants for the nursery industry or the aquatic trade,” he says. “Some aquatic species are sold in every pet store.”
One of the primary reasons efforts in Connecticut have succeeded, according to Mehrhoff, has been the involvement of UConn faculty and staff.
“The imprimatur of professionalism and academics that comes from this work being conducted at the University has been key to its success,” he says. Link
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