Emeral ash borer confirmed in Quebec
OTTAWA, June 26, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in the Montérégie region of Quebec.
EABdoes not spread quickly on its own. In fact, it is most commonly spread when people move materials which it has infested. Moving these materials even just a few kilometres away can spread the emerald ash borer to new areas.
We all have a responsibility to protect Canada’s forests and area residents can play a key part in helping to control the spread of EAB by not moving firewood, logs, branches, nursery stock, chips or other ash wood.
The Government of Canada is working hard with provinces and municipalities to limit the spread of the emerald ash borer and safeguard our valuable forests.
CFIA will be carrying out increased surveying of trees in the area to determine the extent of the infestation and affected property owners will be notified. Regulatory measures to control this pest will be taken based on information obtained through the surveys. CFIA continues to work with its partners and stakeholders toward the goal of slowing the spread of this destructive pest.
Additional information is available on the CFIA web site at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/ or by calling 1-866-463-6017.
For more information, contact:
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media Relations: 613-228-6682
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Northern snakehead fish found in creek in Orange County, NY
In late May 2008, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Fisheries staff responded to a report by a local fisherman of an invasive species in Catlin Creek near Ridgebury Lake in the Town of Waywayanda, Orange County. Subsequently, DEC conducted an investigation and verified the presence of the Northern Snakehead (Channa argus), a species native to Asia.
While the Northern Snakehead is not a threat to human health or safety, it is an aggressive predator that has the potential to prey on and compete with native fishes throughout New York State.
DEC has taken immediate action to contain its spread by erecting fish barriers in Catlin Creek. In addition, DEC has determined that swift action to eradicate this species is essential to protect native fish populations and prevent any possible expansion of Northern Snakeheads beyond the headwaters of Catlin Creek.
To ensure complete removal of this invasive species, the Department proposes to treat the infested waters of Ridgebury Lake and Catlin Creek above the County Route 6crossing, including DEC mapped Wetland MD-26, with the aquatic pesticide Prenfish. Prenfish is a specially formulated product developed for eradication of fish from lakes, ponds, streams and reservoirs and has been used for many decades to restore aquatic ecosystems throughout the United States. The active ingredient, Rotenone, is an extract from several different tropical plants and breaks down rapidly after application with no lasting toxicity. The proposed application will be undertaken by DEC staff trained and certified as aquatic pesticide applicators.
DEC sent letters to all riparian (waterfront) landowners and those with user rights notifying them of the possible use of this aquatic pesticide. DEC is also holding a public meeting Tuesday, July 8 from 7:00 - 9:30 P.M. at the Waywayanda Town Hall, 80 Ridgebury Hill Road, Slate Hill, NY to present information about the Northern Snakehead fish, discuss alternatives to stop the spread of this invasive species and take public comments.
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Unlikely Heroes: Goats Rescue N.Y. Bog Turtles
By John Nielsen, NPR, All Things Considered
The last of New York's wild bog turtles live in swamps that have long been sunny, mucky places full of low green plants and waist-deep mud pits. But an invading foreign weed threatens to transform the swamps and wipe out the turtle population.
The old-fashioned way to save endangered species such as the bog turtle was to build a fence around them to keep people and farm animals away. That method has been turned upside down in New York's Hudson River Valley, where domestic goats and cows are instead trotting to the rescue of the turtles and their murky swamp home.
The mud pits that fill the region's swamps are actually a mess of hidden streams that the bog turtles use like freeways, says Jason Tesauro, who works for the Environmental Defense Fund.
"This is the female we always find at this site," he says, pulling a turtle out of a mud puddle. The small adult bog turtle rests in the palm of Tesauro's hand. It is mild-mannered, he observes, as the head re-emerges from the 3-inch shell.
"That's as big as they get," says Tesauro. "You can see she has an orange neck patch. That's sort of diagnostic. And she's old. You can tell from the smoothness of her back. That's from the abrasives in the soil."
It's likely that bog turtles live for more than 80 years in sunny swamps like this one, he says.
But a giant foreign weed has invaded many of these swamps and threatens that bright future. Known as phragmites, or the common reed, it grows quickly into dense thickets that steal the sunlight and dry out the soil.
"It seems to be moving at a good 10 feet a year," says Tesauro, who has worked in the swamps for five years.
Mowing is not a solution because the weeds grow back quickly. However, Tesauro says he rarely sees phragmites in a well-grazed pasture.
Which helps explain why John Addrizzo, the owner of a company called New York State Meat Goat Associates, has a tractor-trailer full of goats parked on the far side of the thicket.
Goats to the Rescue
Addrizzo drove the trailer up from New York City. As he opens the trailer's doors, the goats bound out, straight into the foreign phragmites patch. The goats will eat all of the plants they can find in the swamp — Addrizzo calls it browse — and then find more, he says.
"Goats prefer browse to anything else," he says. "So what happens is that they'll eat all the browse and when that happens they'll start to girdle the trees. They bite around the edge, and it just kills them."
Addrizzo says the thought of using goats to save endangered turtles used to seem ridiculous to him. Then the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is working in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, started paying him to do it. Now it seems like a crazy plan that just might work.
"It's a unique project," he says. "Plus they fertilize the area, so there's a little give and take."
The native plants devoured by the goats tend to bounce back in a hurry, says Tesauro. But the big phragmites thickets cannot survive the constant grazing.
"They will knock down all the standing biomass within a season," he says. "If you were to come back here two months from now, we could stand here and see the back line of that fence — and we can't see any of it now."
The Turtles Return
A neighboring swamp several miles up the road is a model for the environmental effect that goats or other livestock can have. A year ago, the area was one big, dried-out weed patch, says Tesauro. Now, after a herd of hungry livestock devoured the phragmites, it's a sunny swamp again.
The rare bog turtles are returning and laying eggs on dried-out dirt mounds, he says.
"The turtles actually said this is a pretty nice nesting habitat," he says. "We're doing good here for sure."
This neighboring swamp was actually cleared by local dairy cattle and not goats shipped in from New York City, says Tesauro. He hopes to continue to use cattle to devour phragmites after the federal funds that pay for the goats run out in a few years. However, he says that plan depends on the small farmers who own the cattle remaining on their farms — an uncertain future, as more and more of them sell their farms to wealthy people from New York City. Story
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Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Week of June 22
Officials Unsure What Is Causing Absence Of Weeds
By Patrick Fanelli pfanelli@post-journal.com
Nobody knows why, but there is something conspicuously absent from the waters of Chautauqua Lake, New York.
Drive past places like Burtis Bay, and the red tint and still water that is normally a symptom of the lake’s Eurasian milfoil epidemic are gone. So, too, are the weed clippings that clog up the shoreline.
For the past few years, the invasive weeds were in full bloom by this time of the year. While one can’t say for sure what is hindering weed growth all over Chautauqua Lake, county lake officials only hope it stays this way into the busy summer season.
‘‘The weeds, I’m guessing, are probably two weeks behind, and that’s a good thing,’’ said Bill Evans, Chautauqua Lake Management Commission chairman. ‘‘So something is going on. As a matter of fact, we’ve been having quite a bit of discussions about it.’’
While Evans jokes about how tempting it is to credit the efforts of the variety of lake organizations that comprise the CLMC, he believes Mother Nature deserves the credit.‘‘Mother Nature has certainly been good to us so far,’’ said Evans, who owns a lakeside home on Summit Street in Lakewood. ‘‘It’s not hard to see. (The weeds) are not nearly as high as they should be as we approach the end of June.’’
In recent years, relatively warm winters resulted in an ice cover that was unusually thin and broke an abnormally high number of times, allowing a greater amount of sunshine into the water — and this was sometimes blamed for the explosive growth in 2006 and 2007. While no one can say for sure whether this really was one of the causes, an inadequate ice cover wasn’t a factor this past winter.
‘‘That deterred the weeds somewhat, but then when it got warm in April, I got nervous,’’ said Karen Rine, who heads the Chautauqua Lake Partnership, a group that advocates for the spraying of herbicides in certain parts of the lake to hinder weed growth.
For the most part, though, the weeds still haven’t grown to the surface of the water. ‘‘I really don’t know why, because the conditions were optimum in the spring — but there was an awful lot of wave action on the lake. That’s my take,’’ said Mrs. Rine, who lives along the shore of Burtis Bay in Celoron.
While the region may have enjoyed some pleasant days this past spring, temperatures across the board were lower than normal, says Evans — a factor that may also have contributed to the slow weed growth.In addition, Robert Johnson — who manages Cornell University’s Research Ponds Facility and studies Chautauqua Lake’s weed infestation — is exploring the possibility that weed-eating insects are slowing down the weed growth, according to CLMC officials. Article
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Invasion of alien snails: what to do about them
MyrtleBeachOnline.com
The gummy-looking, droplet- like clusters of pink eggs that clung to the bank of the pond appeared harmless enough, but S.C. nature officials are worried the snails that hatch from those eggs could pose a health risk and cause widespread ecologi cal damage.
The island apple snail has been found for the first time in South Carolina in about a dozen ponds in the Laurel Woods subdivision and the Heron Point Golf Club off S.C. 707.
Now, offi cials are trying to eradicate them before they spread to the Waccamaw River, which would make containment efforts much harder.
"Ideally, they would be exterminated," said David Knott, a marine biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. "If it's feasible, and we can do it without causing environmental damage, that's what we'd like to do.''
The snail could eat just about all the plants in a pond, and displace and even feed on native snail populations, Knott said.
The snail also carries a parasite that could cause fatal menin gitis and can transfer to people if it is handled without gloves, although Knott said he was unaware of a case in the U.S.
The island apple snail, indi genous to South America, is one of several apple snail species. Of greater concern to biologists is the channeled apple snail, which can devour rice and taro crops and is the 73rd worst invasive species in the world, according to the Global Invasive Species Database.
The channeled apple snail has been found in Arizona, California, Hawaii and maybe Alabama, according to a DNR press release.
The island apple snail as been introduced in Texas, Florida and Georgia, the press release said.
The island apple snail cannot survive for long in water below 50 degrees, but it can burrow into the ground if the temperatures drop. Overall, South Carolina appears to be just warm enough for the snails, Knott said.
To get rid of the snail, the DNR is spraying copper sulfate, a federally approved pesticide, in the infested ponds. The blue, granular substance will also kill algae but should not have any other detrimental effects.
Michael Hook, a field supervisor with the DNR's aquatic nuisance species program, said he sprays about 10 feet from the edge of the pond, where most of the snails live. The DNR plans to treat the infested ponds once a month throughout the summer, he said.
SC Dept. of Natural Resources. (803) 734-9100 Article
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By Patrick Fanelli pfanelli@post-journal.com
Nobody knows why, but there is something conspicuously absent from the waters of Chautauqua Lake, New York.
Drive past places like Burtis Bay, and the red tint and still water that is normally a symptom of the lake’s Eurasian milfoil epidemic are gone. So, too, are the weed clippings that clog up the shoreline.
For the past few years, the invasive weeds were in full bloom by this time of the year. While one can’t say for sure what is hindering weed growth all over Chautauqua Lake, county lake officials only hope it stays this way into the busy summer season.
‘‘The weeds, I’m guessing, are probably two weeks behind, and that’s a good thing,’’ said Bill Evans, Chautauqua Lake Management Commission chairman. ‘‘So something is going on. As a matter of fact, we’ve been having quite a bit of discussions about it.’’
While Evans jokes about how tempting it is to credit the efforts of the variety of lake organizations that comprise the CLMC, he believes Mother Nature deserves the credit.‘‘Mother Nature has certainly been good to us so far,’’ said Evans, who owns a lakeside home on Summit Street in Lakewood. ‘‘It’s not hard to see. (The weeds) are not nearly as high as they should be as we approach the end of June.’’
In recent years, relatively warm winters resulted in an ice cover that was unusually thin and broke an abnormally high number of times, allowing a greater amount of sunshine into the water — and this was sometimes blamed for the explosive growth in 2006 and 2007. While no one can say for sure whether this really was one of the causes, an inadequate ice cover wasn’t a factor this past winter.
‘‘That deterred the weeds somewhat, but then when it got warm in April, I got nervous,’’ said Karen Rine, who heads the Chautauqua Lake Partnership, a group that advocates for the spraying of herbicides in certain parts of the lake to hinder weed growth.
For the most part, though, the weeds still haven’t grown to the surface of the water. ‘‘I really don’t know why, because the conditions were optimum in the spring — but there was an awful lot of wave action on the lake. That’s my take,’’ said Mrs. Rine, who lives along the shore of Burtis Bay in Celoron.
While the region may have enjoyed some pleasant days this past spring, temperatures across the board were lower than normal, says Evans — a factor that may also have contributed to the slow weed growth.In addition, Robert Johnson — who manages Cornell University’s Research Ponds Facility and studies Chautauqua Lake’s weed infestation — is exploring the possibility that weed-eating insects are slowing down the weed growth, according to CLMC officials. Article
----------------------------------------------------------
Invasion of alien snails: what to do about them
MyrtleBeachOnline.com
The gummy-looking, droplet- like clusters of pink eggs that clung to the bank of the pond appeared harmless enough, but S.C. nature officials are worried the snails that hatch from those eggs could pose a health risk and cause widespread ecologi cal damage.
The island apple snail has been found for the first time in South Carolina in about a dozen ponds in the Laurel Woods subdivision and the Heron Point Golf Club off S.C. 707.
Now, offi cials are trying to eradicate them before they spread to the Waccamaw River, which would make containment efforts much harder.
"Ideally, they would be exterminated," said David Knott, a marine biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. "If it's feasible, and we can do it without causing environmental damage, that's what we'd like to do.''
The snail could eat just about all the plants in a pond, and displace and even feed on native snail populations, Knott said.
The snail also carries a parasite that could cause fatal menin gitis and can transfer to people if it is handled without gloves, although Knott said he was unaware of a case in the U.S.
The island apple snail, indi genous to South America, is one of several apple snail species. Of greater concern to biologists is the channeled apple snail, which can devour rice and taro crops and is the 73rd worst invasive species in the world, according to the Global Invasive Species Database.
The channeled apple snail has been found in Arizona, California, Hawaii and maybe Alabama, according to a DNR press release.
The island apple snail as been introduced in Texas, Florida and Georgia, the press release said.
The island apple snail cannot survive for long in water below 50 degrees, but it can burrow into the ground if the temperatures drop. Overall, South Carolina appears to be just warm enough for the snails, Knott said.
To get rid of the snail, the DNR is spraying copper sulfate, a federally approved pesticide, in the infested ponds. The blue, granular substance will also kill algae but should not have any other detrimental effects.
Michael Hook, a field supervisor with the DNR's aquatic nuisance species program, said he sprays about 10 feet from the edge of the pond, where most of the snails live. The DNR plans to treat the infested ponds once a month throughout the summer, he said.
SC Dept. of Natural Resources. (803) 734-9100 Article
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Monday, June 16, 2008
Week of June 15
Let the pepperweed war begin
By Joel Brown, Boston Globe Correspondent
NEWBURY, MA - The bikers and drivers passing by on Plum Island Turnpike, the fishermen on the riverbank, even the boaters eyed us curiously. Probably the pilots taking off from Plum Island Airport looked down and wondered what we were doing. On a sunny, scorchingly hot Saturday afternoon in June, we clambered around the muddy edges of the salt marsh yanking weeds.
But not just any weeds.
Perennial pepperweed - Lepidium latifolium to the scientists - is the latest invasive species to threaten the health of the Great Marsh. Our group of fewer than a dozen was an early scouting party in what's expected to be a summer-long battle against the pest. The war will likely go on for years.
"We're worried about pepperweed because it's such a strong invader," said Sarah Janson, who, as pepperweed coordinator at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, should know. "It replaces the native plants, trying to turn the marsh into a monoculture, a single field of pepperweed."
Already a major problem in Western states, the tenacious plant has begun to spread rapidly in Eastern Massachusetts and edge into New Hampshire. "The more we look, the more we find," Janson said.
"What might make pepperweed a little different," Jennifer Forman Orth, one of the authors of a key 2006 study of pepperweed, said by phone, "is that its spread is relatively new to our state, and that means we have a great chance to succeed in dealing with it."
Pepperweed likely arrived in California as a hitchhiker in a shipment of beet seeds from the Mediterranean in the early 20th century. No one knows how it arrived in New England, but the first reports came from Peabody in the 1920s.
Pepperweed remained relatively contained in a few spots in Eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut for decades before "exploding" in recent years, a progression typical of invasive plants, said Forman Orth, who is plant pest survey coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
"I have been to Yakima, Wash., and stood in a solid two acres of pepperweed," Forman Orth said. "We don't want to see it that bad here." Pepperweed spreads not only by seed but also via rhizomes - underground stems that make it particularly important to pull up as much of the plant as possible.
You can't just discard it, either, because even a small segment of stem tends to sprout new plants where it falls. At the refuge, a driveway is now used for drying pulled-up pepperweed plants until they're no longer viable.
Unlike many native species, pepperweed doesn't mind salt, so it's especially suited to the marsh. Its seeds can even survive long immersion in salt water, so the tides can spread them.
Once rooted, Forman Orth said, the plant acts as "a salt pump," bringing it to the upper soil from below, making life even more difficult for its neighbors.
The Plum Island team's efforts involve either spraying a mild herbicide on pepperweed or uprooting it. Janson said the idea that pulling "could even be effective" came from the study by Forman Orth and her colleagues, which showed that in a few years it was possible to greatly reduce or even eradicate the plant in one spot.
Pepperweed is making inroads on New Hampshire's coast as well. "Early detection, rapid response," said Kevin Lucey, restoration coordinator for the N.H. Coastal Program, who came along to learn from Janson's efforts. "We're looking at the same model of community support" to locate and remove pepperweed in the Granite State, he said.
Janson has several pulls scheduled in the coming weeks. To participate, contact her at 978-465-5753, ext. 203 . In New Hampshire, call Lucey at 603-559-0026. Full Article
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Eurasian milfoil to be pulled from Skaneateles Lake
Skaneatales, New York (WSYR-TV) - We all know what a pain it is to pull weeds from our yards. But can you imagine weeding a lake? A local non-profit has taken on this seemingly impossible task in an effort to eradicate a weed called Eurasian milfoil from Skaneateles Lake.
The weed first made its appearance in the 70s and it slowly began to multiply. Today, patches of milfoil cover between 15 and 20 acres of the lake.
Left alone, milfoil basically grows like a weed.
Larry Rothenberg, who is heading cleanup efforts on the lake, says the lake could eventually be filled with it if it’s not pulled out.
It's bad for boaters, swimmers and the lake's ecosystem. The only way to get it out is by hand.
Divers pull the weeds and feed them through a vacuum to the boat's deck, where a pipe spits the milfoil out into onion bags.
Luckily the group says it has caught the problem before it really gets out of hand. They hope to have everything under control by next summer.
Weeding the lake is a dangerous job that only paid professionals can take part in. But you can help the cause by donating money.
To find out how to donate to help cleanup efforts, visit the Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Eradication Project’s website: Website Full Article
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Connecticut lakes to be surveyed
Lebanon, Conn. — Lake Williams has been chosen among 30 lakes and ponds to be surveyed this summer by the Invasive Aquatic Plant Program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, announced Friends of Lake Williams Inc. this week. The surveys, which focus primarily on invasive plants, have been completed for 130 lakes or ponds, according to the Department of Environmental Protection Web site. The research will allow CAES to track the spread of invasive plants and to record the arrival of new ones. Article
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The spring/summer newsletter of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) is now available online at this link.
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By Joel Brown, Boston Globe Correspondent
NEWBURY, MA - The bikers and drivers passing by on Plum Island Turnpike, the fishermen on the riverbank, even the boaters eyed us curiously. Probably the pilots taking off from Plum Island Airport looked down and wondered what we were doing. On a sunny, scorchingly hot Saturday afternoon in June, we clambered around the muddy edges of the salt marsh yanking weeds.
But not just any weeds.
Perennial pepperweed - Lepidium latifolium to the scientists - is the latest invasive species to threaten the health of the Great Marsh. Our group of fewer than a dozen was an early scouting party in what's expected to be a summer-long battle against the pest. The war will likely go on for years.
"We're worried about pepperweed because it's such a strong invader," said Sarah Janson, who, as pepperweed coordinator at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, should know. "It replaces the native plants, trying to turn the marsh into a monoculture, a single field of pepperweed."
Already a major problem in Western states, the tenacious plant has begun to spread rapidly in Eastern Massachusetts and edge into New Hampshire. "The more we look, the more we find," Janson said.
"What might make pepperweed a little different," Jennifer Forman Orth, one of the authors of a key 2006 study of pepperweed, said by phone, "is that its spread is relatively new to our state, and that means we have a great chance to succeed in dealing with it."
Pepperweed likely arrived in California as a hitchhiker in a shipment of beet seeds from the Mediterranean in the early 20th century. No one knows how it arrived in New England, but the first reports came from Peabody in the 1920s.
Pepperweed remained relatively contained in a few spots in Eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut for decades before "exploding" in recent years, a progression typical of invasive plants, said Forman Orth, who is plant pest survey coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.
"I have been to Yakima, Wash., and stood in a solid two acres of pepperweed," Forman Orth said. "We don't want to see it that bad here." Pepperweed spreads not only by seed but also via rhizomes - underground stems that make it particularly important to pull up as much of the plant as possible.
You can't just discard it, either, because even a small segment of stem tends to sprout new plants where it falls. At the refuge, a driveway is now used for drying pulled-up pepperweed plants until they're no longer viable.
Unlike many native species, pepperweed doesn't mind salt, so it's especially suited to the marsh. Its seeds can even survive long immersion in salt water, so the tides can spread them.
Once rooted, Forman Orth said, the plant acts as "a salt pump," bringing it to the upper soil from below, making life even more difficult for its neighbors.
The Plum Island team's efforts involve either spraying a mild herbicide on pepperweed or uprooting it. Janson said the idea that pulling "could even be effective" came from the study by Forman Orth and her colleagues, which showed that in a few years it was possible to greatly reduce or even eradicate the plant in one spot.
Pepperweed is making inroads on New Hampshire's coast as well. "Early detection, rapid response," said Kevin Lucey, restoration coordinator for the N.H. Coastal Program, who came along to learn from Janson's efforts. "We're looking at the same model of community support" to locate and remove pepperweed in the Granite State, he said.
Janson has several pulls scheduled in the coming weeks. To participate, contact her at 978-465-5753, ext. 203 . In New Hampshire, call Lucey at 603-559-0026. Full Article
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Eurasian milfoil to be pulled from Skaneateles Lake
Skaneatales, New York (WSYR-TV) - We all know what a pain it is to pull weeds from our yards. But can you imagine weeding a lake? A local non-profit has taken on this seemingly impossible task in an effort to eradicate a weed called Eurasian milfoil from Skaneateles Lake.
The weed first made its appearance in the 70s and it slowly began to multiply. Today, patches of milfoil cover between 15 and 20 acres of the lake.
Left alone, milfoil basically grows like a weed.
Larry Rothenberg, who is heading cleanup efforts on the lake, says the lake could eventually be filled with it if it’s not pulled out.
It's bad for boaters, swimmers and the lake's ecosystem. The only way to get it out is by hand.
Divers pull the weeds and feed them through a vacuum to the boat's deck, where a pipe spits the milfoil out into onion bags.
Luckily the group says it has caught the problem before it really gets out of hand. They hope to have everything under control by next summer.
Weeding the lake is a dangerous job that only paid professionals can take part in. But you can help the cause by donating money.
To find out how to donate to help cleanup efforts, visit the Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Eradication Project’s website: Website Full Article
--------------------------------------------------------
Connecticut lakes to be surveyed
Lebanon, Conn. — Lake Williams has been chosen among 30 lakes and ponds to be surveyed this summer by the Invasive Aquatic Plant Program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, announced Friends of Lake Williams Inc. this week. The surveys, which focus primarily on invasive plants, have been completed for 130 lakes or ponds, according to the Department of Environmental Protection Web site. The research will allow CAES to track the spread of invasive plants and to record the arrival of new ones. Article
---------------------------------------------------------
The spring/summer newsletter of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) is now available online at this link.
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Thursday, June 12, 2008
Week of June 8
Foxes are latest threat to sea turtle population, nesting shorebirds
By Gareth McGrath Staff Writer, StarNewsOnline.com
Fort Fisher, North Carolina - Kneeling next to a wire-mesh box turned upside down, Jeff Owen pushed back the sand to show the box's sides extending into the beach and the flaps protruding several feet.
Installed over the top of a buried sea turtle nest, the exclusion device looked like a pretty good deterrent.
But Owen, superintendent for the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, just shook his head when asked how effective the cages are in keeping the local red foxes out of the nests.
"They pick up things real fast," Owen said. "It didn't take them long to figure this stuff out."
Officials up and down the coast are struggling with what to do about foxes that have developed a hankering for sea turtle eggs.
Adding to their concern is the precipitous decline in the nesting population of the northern loggerhead, the predominant sea turtle found in North Carolina waters.
Last year North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida all saw loggerhead nesting numbers more than 30 percent lower than those in 2006. Smaller declines also had been observed in previous years.
That's prompted several environmental groups to petition the federal government to declare the northern population of the loggerhead a separate species and give it "endangered" status under the Endangered Species Act.
But sea turtles aren't the only creatures feeling the fox's bite.
Last year, not a single shorebird nested successfully on Masonboro Island, where half the turtle nests were raided. "We're assuming most of that impact came from foxes," said Hope Sutton, southern sites manager for the N.C. Division of Coastal Management.
The drop in turtle and nesting shorebird numbers comes just as the coast's fox population is increasing, apparently fueled by its ability to feel perfectly at home among humans.
Because the red fox is a non-native species, brought to coastal North Carolina by British settlers centuries ago as a game animal, eradication of nuisance animals is supported by some officials and environmentalists as a reasonable solution.
But that support hasn't carried over into the general public - yet. A proposal by Caswell Beach to use lethal means, probably sharpshooters, to control its fox problem prompted a strong reaction from residents. Full Article
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Beach in New Hampshire stays open during milfoil treatment
By Terry Date, staff writer, Eagle-Tribune
WINDHAM — Residents can swim at the town beach next week while Cobbetts Pond undergoes milfoil treatment.
The town's recreation director announced at the selectmen's meeting Monday there would be no swimming in the entire 2-mile-long pond for seven days.
But yesterday, Recreation Director Cheryl Haas announced swimming would be allowed at the town beach, which is a good distance from the treatment area.
The confusion stemmed from incomplete information she received about a state law that restricts swimming for seven days in ponds and lakes that have been treated for milfoil with the herbicide Navigate.
Upon further research, the town learned the seven-day prohibition against swimming applies only to treatment areas. At Cobbetts, that is a 49-acre section at the north end of the pond and a 2.7-acre area in the middle of the pond — as well as 200-foot areas extended from those sections, said Amy Smagula, exotic species program coordinator for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
Smagula said the town beach is well outside the treatment area and the state has no problem with the beach being open for swimming during treatment. Full Article
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Restoring nature’s oasis in Norwalk, Connecticut
By Marcia Powell, NorwalkPlus.com
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Norwalk Seaport Association partner to restore natural biological habitat in the Norwalk islands
Due to heavy recreational use, habitat degradation by nonnative invasive plant species and unchecked animal populations, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has identified the Norwalk Islands and their habitats as one of the 13 most imperiled natural communities in Connecticut.
Now, thanks to a long-term partnership between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Norwalk Seaport Association, efforts to restore the natural habitat in the Norwalk Islands are underway. The Seaport Association, which owns and maintains Sheffield Island Lighthouse, is a recognized Friends organization of the National Wildlife Refuge System, in particular, the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in the Norwalk Islands.
The ongoing Habitat Restoration and Conservation Project will encompass the 51-acre refuge on Sheffield Island and the 68-acre refuge on Chimon Island. In October of 2007, a Fish & Wildlife Service team visited Sheffield Island to begin identifying and mapping the location of specific invasive plants and determine a strategy for habitat restoration and conservation.
Among the invasive species that have been targeted on Sheffield Island are mile-a-minute, perennial pepperweed, garlic mustard, Japanese barberry, Asiatic bittersweet and phragmites. Full Article
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Invasive Water Lettuce Harms Bay Grasses And May Impede Boating in Maryland
ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds water gardeners and aquarium owners to properly dispose of aquatic plants to prevent spread of invasive species like water lettuce that harm bay grasses and may impede boating. DNR biologists first identified invasive water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) in Maryland last summer during a routine survey of Mattawoman Creek, a large Potomac River tributary in Charles County.
A native of South America, water lettuce is an aquatic weed that floats on the surface of slow-moving rivers, lakes and ponds. Unmistakable in appearance with light green leaves grouped in rosette like an open head of lettuce, the commonly used household aquatic plant floats on the surface of the water alone or in dense mats. Water lettuce produces seeds and spreads rapidly; growing into thick mats of vegetation that block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses and using dissolved oxygen in the water that fish need to survive. Once established, water lettuce becomes impenetrable to boats, swimmers and waterfowl. Full Article
By Gareth McGrath Staff Writer, StarNewsOnline.com
Fort Fisher, North Carolina - Kneeling next to a wire-mesh box turned upside down, Jeff Owen pushed back the sand to show the box's sides extending into the beach and the flaps protruding several feet.
Installed over the top of a buried sea turtle nest, the exclusion device looked like a pretty good deterrent.
But Owen, superintendent for the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, just shook his head when asked how effective the cages are in keeping the local red foxes out of the nests.
"They pick up things real fast," Owen said. "It didn't take them long to figure this stuff out."
Officials up and down the coast are struggling with what to do about foxes that have developed a hankering for sea turtle eggs.
Adding to their concern is the precipitous decline in the nesting population of the northern loggerhead, the predominant sea turtle found in North Carolina waters.
Last year North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida all saw loggerhead nesting numbers more than 30 percent lower than those in 2006. Smaller declines also had been observed in previous years.
That's prompted several environmental groups to petition the federal government to declare the northern population of the loggerhead a separate species and give it "endangered" status under the Endangered Species Act.
But sea turtles aren't the only creatures feeling the fox's bite.
Last year, not a single shorebird nested successfully on Masonboro Island, where half the turtle nests were raided. "We're assuming most of that impact came from foxes," said Hope Sutton, southern sites manager for the N.C. Division of Coastal Management.
The drop in turtle and nesting shorebird numbers comes just as the coast's fox population is increasing, apparently fueled by its ability to feel perfectly at home among humans.
Because the red fox is a non-native species, brought to coastal North Carolina by British settlers centuries ago as a game animal, eradication of nuisance animals is supported by some officials and environmentalists as a reasonable solution.
But that support hasn't carried over into the general public - yet. A proposal by Caswell Beach to use lethal means, probably sharpshooters, to control its fox problem prompted a strong reaction from residents. Full Article
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Beach in New Hampshire stays open during milfoil treatment
By Terry Date, staff writer, Eagle-Tribune
WINDHAM — Residents can swim at the town beach next week while Cobbetts Pond undergoes milfoil treatment.
The town's recreation director announced at the selectmen's meeting Monday there would be no swimming in the entire 2-mile-long pond for seven days.
But yesterday, Recreation Director Cheryl Haas announced swimming would be allowed at the town beach, which is a good distance from the treatment area.
The confusion stemmed from incomplete information she received about a state law that restricts swimming for seven days in ponds and lakes that have been treated for milfoil with the herbicide Navigate.
Upon further research, the town learned the seven-day prohibition against swimming applies only to treatment areas. At Cobbetts, that is a 49-acre section at the north end of the pond and a 2.7-acre area in the middle of the pond — as well as 200-foot areas extended from those sections, said Amy Smagula, exotic species program coordinator for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
Smagula said the town beach is well outside the treatment area and the state has no problem with the beach being open for swimming during treatment. Full Article
----------------------------------------------------------
Restoring nature’s oasis in Norwalk, Connecticut
By Marcia Powell, NorwalkPlus.com
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Norwalk Seaport Association partner to restore natural biological habitat in the Norwalk islands
Due to heavy recreational use, habitat degradation by nonnative invasive plant species and unchecked animal populations, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has identified the Norwalk Islands and their habitats as one of the 13 most imperiled natural communities in Connecticut.
Now, thanks to a long-term partnership between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Norwalk Seaport Association, efforts to restore the natural habitat in the Norwalk Islands are underway. The Seaport Association, which owns and maintains Sheffield Island Lighthouse, is a recognized Friends organization of the National Wildlife Refuge System, in particular, the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in the Norwalk Islands.
The ongoing Habitat Restoration and Conservation Project will encompass the 51-acre refuge on Sheffield Island and the 68-acre refuge on Chimon Island. In October of 2007, a Fish & Wildlife Service team visited Sheffield Island to begin identifying and mapping the location of specific invasive plants and determine a strategy for habitat restoration and conservation.
Among the invasive species that have been targeted on Sheffield Island are mile-a-minute, perennial pepperweed, garlic mustard, Japanese barberry, Asiatic bittersweet and phragmites. Full Article
---------------------------------------------------------
Invasive Water Lettuce Harms Bay Grasses And May Impede Boating in Maryland
ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds water gardeners and aquarium owners to properly dispose of aquatic plants to prevent spread of invasive species like water lettuce that harm bay grasses and may impede boating. DNR biologists first identified invasive water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) in Maryland last summer during a routine survey of Mattawoman Creek, a large Potomac River tributary in Charles County.
A native of South America, water lettuce is an aquatic weed that floats on the surface of slow-moving rivers, lakes and ponds. Unmistakable in appearance with light green leaves grouped in rosette like an open head of lettuce, the commonly used household aquatic plant floats on the surface of the water alone or in dense mats. Water lettuce produces seeds and spreads rapidly; growing into thick mats of vegetation that block sunlight from reaching underwater grasses and using dissolved oxygen in the water that fish need to survive. Once established, water lettuce becomes impenetrable to boats, swimmers and waterfowl. Full Article
Monday, June 2, 2008
Week of June 1, 2008
Customized boats are a new weapon in the war on aquatic invaders
By DAVID BROOKS, Nashua Telegraph Staff
Nashua, New Hampshire - One of the reasons aquatic weeds are so hard to fight is that that by the time you see them, it's too late.
Right now, for example, most local ponds and rivers invested with milfoil, fanwort and water chestnut – the worst invasive aquatic weeds around here – look pretty good. The plants, which can overwinter in the mud under as much as 12 to 15 feet of water, are still sending sprouts upward. When they break the surface, they'll create the leaves and flowers that choke off light and oxygen below, but by the time it gets noticeable, they'll already have bulked out for the season.
So the idea is to tackle the plants when they're still submerged. But how can you find them?
"We have 800 water bodies, and nobody has the ability to see under the surface. That's a pretty severe restriction," said Ed Neister, a physicist who has been involved with the fight against invasives on Suncook Lake for years. Under contract with the state, Neister is building two "underwater survey vehicles" – boats (one 16-footer and one 18-footer) that have special cameras and lights underwater and Global Positional Satellites and computerized mapping software onboard.
The cameras see what's living on the lakebed, the boat operator marks it on a map – and voila, you've found targets for divers or herbicide.
"You mark the map, download it, make a DVD, supply it to lake associations and towns and say, 'That's where your milfoil is. You guys work with your treatment company to make sure the treatment happens in these areas,' " Neister said.
Neister became convinced of the need for such accurate mapping after past herbicide applications in Suncook Lake. Searches by divers, including some pulled by boats, indicated that all plants were gone, but milfoil returned with a vengeance two years later.
"We weren't sure whether we had missed these plants or whether they just popped up in spring of 2007," Neister said. "It came down to the realization: We've got to improve our ability to scan lakes, before and after treatment, so we don't miss plants. This makes it easy and almost fun to do."
"People thought they could throw herbicide in the lake and that would kill it – that's far from the truth, we've found with Suncook Lake. You have to find where the plants are, treat where the plants are, then go back and look to make sure you got them."
Neister knows creating good underwater lighting is tougher than it seems. He did underwater work for the Navy and has long experience using lasers to illuminate deep-sea pictures. The hardest part with this project is reducing the light-scattering effect of material floating in turbid New Hampshire lakes. The lights will be on movable "arms" descending from the bow to ensure their angle and distance from the camera. He expects to have at least one boat in the water this summer for testing, and if all goes well, weed-fighting groups should be lining up to reserve its use next year.
"If we don't attack it, it's going to take us out – we're going to lose our waterways, we're going to use our lakes," he said. "Suncook River was so bad last year that if the plants could support you, you could walk across it." Article
---------------------------------------------------------
Corps may battle weeds in Black Lake, New York
By Corey Fram & Marc Heller, Watertown Daily Times
MORRISTOWN, NY — Anglers, businesses and elected officials wrestling with dense weeds on Black Lake have landed a big backer.
U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., called Thursday on the Army Corps of Engineers to visit Black Lake and develop a plan to eradicate Eurasian milfoil, a dense invasive weed making navigation difficult.
"This plague of invasive weeds in Black Lake is devastating to boaters, anglers, homeowners and our tourism industry across St. Lawrence County, and it must be destroyed before further damage is done," Mr. Schumer said in a prepared statement.
"The summer season just kicked off and we must do everything we can to encourage fishing and boating in our lakes and rivers. The Army Corps, which has the resources and expertise, needs to investigate and eliminate these invasive weeds in Black Lake before it's too late."
The senator's intervention comes a week after the Black Lake Invasive Weeds Committee agreed to hire a New Jersey environmental consultant to develop a management plan that will be forwarded to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The state has set aside $5 million to deal with invasive species.
The study is expected to be submitted by late June. The town of Oswegatchie is fronting the money and the committee is looking for funds to cover the approximately $6,500 cost, Mr. Nichols said.
Control has proven elusive. Traditional methods, often repeated every year, can cost up to $2,000 an acre and take native plants with them, according to the University of Minnesota. That's bad because healthy native plant populations can prevent milfoil's spread.
Researchers are studying biological controls, including weevils that eat Eurasian milfoil. Some experiments have worked well but others have not, the University of Minnesota reported. The property association at Sylvia Lake, also in St. Lawrence County, has succeeded in controlling it through "hand harvest," but the spread there was not as extensive as in Black Lake. Article
----------------------------------------------------------
Pulling perennial pepperweed in Massachusetts
By Jennifer Forman Orth, Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project
On Saturday June 7th, from 1-4pm, the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge will host an information and training session on the identification and control of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium). The training will be in Newburyport, MA at PRNWF Headquarters (6 Plum Island Turnpike).
The first hour will be spent indoors learning about pepperweed and control techniques, then participants are invited to gain hands-on experience by pulling Pepperweed at a site along the Plum Island Turnpike.
This meeting is open to the public with no obligation to volunteer.
Perennial pepperweed is an invasive plant that occurs in wetland habitats along coastal areas of Massachusetts, including salt marshes, and is also found along roadsides. In the western part of the USA, it is a major agricultural weed. It can be spread through soil or water movement, or as a contaminant in hay bales.
Throughout the summer, Parker River NWR and the Massachusetts Audubon society will be leading pepperweed pulls at sites throughout Essex County. The goal is to control or eradicate pepperweed before it becomes as pervasive as other wetland invasives, like phragmites or purple loosestrife. If you are interested in volunteering for this project but cannot make the June 7th training session, you can contact Sarah Janson (sarah_janson@fws.gov). Article
----------------------------------------------------------
Help Protect Adirondack Waters from Invasive Species
Get on-board with the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program's 7th annual aquatic invasive plant training and learn aquatic plant identification tips and survey techniques.
The training is free, but space is limited. Select a training location that best suits you. Please RSVP to Hilary Oles at holes @ tnc.org (delete spaces) by June 13.
All sessions are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
June 20, Darrin Fresh Water Institute, Bolton Landing;
June 24, Harrietstown Town Hall, Saranac Lake;
June 26, Old Forge Fire Hall, Old Forge
Volunteers are asked to conduct an annual survey on an Adirondack lake of their choice. To-date, 307 aquatic enthusiasts have spent over 3,000 hours surveying 205 Adirondack waterways. From the Fulton Chain to Lake Champlain - volunteer efforts are making a difference!
Are you a returning volunteer? Feel free to join us for a half day or full day refresher course. Or pass this along and invite someone new!
See you on the water~
Thank you!
Hilary Oles
Coordinator
Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program
The Nature Conservancy - Adirondack Chapter
---------------------------------------------------------
Emamectin benzoate pesticide now registered for use in treating ash trees for emerald ash borer (EAB)
Emamectin benzoate is the name of a new insecticide that can be used to protect valuable landscape ash trees from EAB in Michigan. A special 24(c) registration request for this product has been approved in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia. These are the only states that have permission to use the product in ash trees to control EAB at this time. The product will be sold as Tree-äge™ (pronounced "triage") and should be available for use this spring. Article
-----------------------------------------------------------
NY bans shipping firewood in effort to stop harmful insects
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Conservation officials have banned hauling, importing or selling untreated firewood in New York in an effort to stop the spread of tree-killing insects. The Department of Environmental Conservation said Wednesday the emergency regulations are effective immediately for 90 days. They prohibit importing out-of-state firewood unless treated to eliminate invasive insect species, fungi and pathogens. Transporting any untreated firewood within the state is limited to less than 50 miles.
The Sirex woodwasp, native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, kills pines and sometimes other conifers by introducing a toxic mucus and fungus when the female lays her eggs through the bark and into the sapwood. It has been found in 28 counties in the state, DEC spokesman Yancey Roy said.
The Emerald Ash Borer, native to China, has destroyed an estimated 20 million ash trees nationally since the beetle was noticed in Michigan five years ago and has been found as far east as Pennsylvania.
The Asian Longhorned Beetle, which appeared in the New York metropolitan area in 1996, has larvae that bore into trees and feed on healthy wood until emerging as adult beetles to eat twigs and leaves. Some 17 species of hardwoods are vulnerable, including four varieties of maples, elm, birch, poplar, willow, ash and sycamore. It has been found in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Nassau County. Article
By DAVID BROOKS, Nashua Telegraph Staff
Nashua, New Hampshire - One of the reasons aquatic weeds are so hard to fight is that that by the time you see them, it's too late.
Right now, for example, most local ponds and rivers invested with milfoil, fanwort and water chestnut – the worst invasive aquatic weeds around here – look pretty good. The plants, which can overwinter in the mud under as much as 12 to 15 feet of water, are still sending sprouts upward. When they break the surface, they'll create the leaves and flowers that choke off light and oxygen below, but by the time it gets noticeable, they'll already have bulked out for the season.
So the idea is to tackle the plants when they're still submerged. But how can you find them?
"We have 800 water bodies, and nobody has the ability to see under the surface. That's a pretty severe restriction," said Ed Neister, a physicist who has been involved with the fight against invasives on Suncook Lake for years. Under contract with the state, Neister is building two "underwater survey vehicles" – boats (one 16-footer and one 18-footer) that have special cameras and lights underwater and Global Positional Satellites and computerized mapping software onboard.
The cameras see what's living on the lakebed, the boat operator marks it on a map – and voila, you've found targets for divers or herbicide.
"You mark the map, download it, make a DVD, supply it to lake associations and towns and say, 'That's where your milfoil is. You guys work with your treatment company to make sure the treatment happens in these areas,' " Neister said.
Neister became convinced of the need for such accurate mapping after past herbicide applications in Suncook Lake. Searches by divers, including some pulled by boats, indicated that all plants were gone, but milfoil returned with a vengeance two years later.
"We weren't sure whether we had missed these plants or whether they just popped up in spring of 2007," Neister said. "It came down to the realization: We've got to improve our ability to scan lakes, before and after treatment, so we don't miss plants. This makes it easy and almost fun to do."
"People thought they could throw herbicide in the lake and that would kill it – that's far from the truth, we've found with Suncook Lake. You have to find where the plants are, treat where the plants are, then go back and look to make sure you got them."
Neister knows creating good underwater lighting is tougher than it seems. He did underwater work for the Navy and has long experience using lasers to illuminate deep-sea pictures. The hardest part with this project is reducing the light-scattering effect of material floating in turbid New Hampshire lakes. The lights will be on movable "arms" descending from the bow to ensure their angle and distance from the camera. He expects to have at least one boat in the water this summer for testing, and if all goes well, weed-fighting groups should be lining up to reserve its use next year.
"If we don't attack it, it's going to take us out – we're going to lose our waterways, we're going to use our lakes," he said. "Suncook River was so bad last year that if the plants could support you, you could walk across it." Article
---------------------------------------------------------
Corps may battle weeds in Black Lake, New York
By Corey Fram & Marc Heller, Watertown Daily Times
MORRISTOWN, NY — Anglers, businesses and elected officials wrestling with dense weeds on Black Lake have landed a big backer.
U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., called Thursday on the Army Corps of Engineers to visit Black Lake and develop a plan to eradicate Eurasian milfoil, a dense invasive weed making navigation difficult.
"This plague of invasive weeds in Black Lake is devastating to boaters, anglers, homeowners and our tourism industry across St. Lawrence County, and it must be destroyed before further damage is done," Mr. Schumer said in a prepared statement.
"The summer season just kicked off and we must do everything we can to encourage fishing and boating in our lakes and rivers. The Army Corps, which has the resources and expertise, needs to investigate and eliminate these invasive weeds in Black Lake before it's too late."
The senator's intervention comes a week after the Black Lake Invasive Weeds Committee agreed to hire a New Jersey environmental consultant to develop a management plan that will be forwarded to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The state has set aside $5 million to deal with invasive species.
The study is expected to be submitted by late June. The town of Oswegatchie is fronting the money and the committee is looking for funds to cover the approximately $6,500 cost, Mr. Nichols said.
Control has proven elusive. Traditional methods, often repeated every year, can cost up to $2,000 an acre and take native plants with them, according to the University of Minnesota. That's bad because healthy native plant populations can prevent milfoil's spread.
Researchers are studying biological controls, including weevils that eat Eurasian milfoil. Some experiments have worked well but others have not, the University of Minnesota reported. The property association at Sylvia Lake, also in St. Lawrence County, has succeeded in controlling it through "hand harvest," but the spread there was not as extensive as in Black Lake. Article
----------------------------------------------------------
Pulling perennial pepperweed in Massachusetts
By Jennifer Forman Orth, Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project
On Saturday June 7th, from 1-4pm, the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge will host an information and training session on the identification and control of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium). The training will be in Newburyport, MA at PRNWF Headquarters (6 Plum Island Turnpike).
The first hour will be spent indoors learning about pepperweed and control techniques, then participants are invited to gain hands-on experience by pulling Pepperweed at a site along the Plum Island Turnpike.
This meeting is open to the public with no obligation to volunteer.
Perennial pepperweed is an invasive plant that occurs in wetland habitats along coastal areas of Massachusetts, including salt marshes, and is also found along roadsides. In the western part of the USA, it is a major agricultural weed. It can be spread through soil or water movement, or as a contaminant in hay bales.
Throughout the summer, Parker River NWR and the Massachusetts Audubon society will be leading pepperweed pulls at sites throughout Essex County. The goal is to control or eradicate pepperweed before it becomes as pervasive as other wetland invasives, like phragmites or purple loosestrife. If you are interested in volunteering for this project but cannot make the June 7th training session, you can contact Sarah Janson (sarah_janson@fws.gov). Article
----------------------------------------------------------
Help Protect Adirondack Waters from Invasive Species
Get on-board with the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program's 7th annual aquatic invasive plant training and learn aquatic plant identification tips and survey techniques.
The training is free, but space is limited. Select a training location that best suits you. Please RSVP to Hilary Oles at holes @ tnc.org (delete spaces) by June 13.
All sessions are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
June 20, Darrin Fresh Water Institute, Bolton Landing;
June 24, Harrietstown Town Hall, Saranac Lake;
June 26, Old Forge Fire Hall, Old Forge
Volunteers are asked to conduct an annual survey on an Adirondack lake of their choice. To-date, 307 aquatic enthusiasts have spent over 3,000 hours surveying 205 Adirondack waterways. From the Fulton Chain to Lake Champlain - volunteer efforts are making a difference!
Are you a returning volunteer? Feel free to join us for a half day or full day refresher course. Or pass this along and invite someone new!
See you on the water~
Thank you!
Hilary Oles
Coordinator
Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program
The Nature Conservancy - Adirondack Chapter
---------------------------------------------------------
Emamectin benzoate pesticide now registered for use in treating ash trees for emerald ash borer (EAB)
Emamectin benzoate is the name of a new insecticide that can be used to protect valuable landscape ash trees from EAB in Michigan. A special 24(c) registration request for this product has been approved in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia. These are the only states that have permission to use the product in ash trees to control EAB at this time. The product will be sold as Tree-äge™ (pronounced "triage") and should be available for use this spring. Article
-----------------------------------------------------------
NY bans shipping firewood in effort to stop harmful insects
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Conservation officials have banned hauling, importing or selling untreated firewood in New York in an effort to stop the spread of tree-killing insects. The Department of Environmental Conservation said Wednesday the emergency regulations are effective immediately for 90 days. They prohibit importing out-of-state firewood unless treated to eliminate invasive insect species, fungi and pathogens. Transporting any untreated firewood within the state is limited to less than 50 miles.
The Sirex woodwasp, native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, kills pines and sometimes other conifers by introducing a toxic mucus and fungus when the female lays her eggs through the bark and into the sapwood. It has been found in 28 counties in the state, DEC spokesman Yancey Roy said.
The Emerald Ash Borer, native to China, has destroyed an estimated 20 million ash trees nationally since the beetle was noticed in Michigan five years ago and has been found as far east as Pennsylvania.
The Asian Longhorned Beetle, which appeared in the New York metropolitan area in 1996, has larvae that bore into trees and feed on healthy wood until emerging as adult beetles to eat twigs and leaves. Some 17 species of hardwoods are vulnerable, including four varieties of maples, elm, birch, poplar, willow, ash and sycamore. It has been found in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Nassau County. Article
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