Fri Jul 25 2008 - 17:05:29 PDT

Contents
1. Emerald ash borer in Virginia (Eastern states, USA)
2. "Don't move firewood" web site launched (Global, Planet Earth)
3. You'll laugh, you'll cry: the emerald ash borer revealed (Global, Planet Earth)
4. Eastern N. America Invasives Learning Network Workshop (Eastern & Midwest States, USA)
5. WIMS Training Opportunities (Midwest & Eastern States, USA)
6. Nursery collaborations? (Vermont, USA)
7. Are you a WIMS User? Let us know about your WIMS usage! (Global, Planet Earth)
8. Impacts of invasives on salmonids (NW states, USA)
9. Phragwrites (Global, Planet Earth)

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1. Emerald ash borer in Virginia (Eastern states, USA)
From: Faith Campbell (fcampbell(at)tnc.org)
 
The beetle emerald ash borer has been found near Herndon in Fairfax County;
a second suspected outbreak in Newington (same county) is still under study.
[Fairfax County is in northern Virginia - a suburb of Washington DC.]
Judging by the site and in my opinion only--these outbreaks do not appear to
be related to the outbreak in Prince George's County, Maryland which
resulted from an illegal shipment of nursery stock in 2003. Maryland has
worked really hard to eradicate that outbreak.
 
I hereby authorize everyone to use whatever bad language s/he chooses/knows.
 
More about emerald ash borer in the Gallery of Pests:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/products/gallery/agrpl1.html

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2. "Don't move firewood" web site launched (Global, Planet Earth)
From: Leigh Greenwood (lgreenwood(at)ucdavis.edu)
 
Moving firewood is a leading cause of the spread of invasive forest pests
inside the US. It is also one of the most preventable causes. To help spread
the word on this important issue several organizations that participate in
the Continental Dialogue on Invasive Forest Insects and Diseases (including
TNC) have created the Don't Move Firewood website. The site,
http://www.dontmovefirewood.org, has fun videos, a blog, a firewood
calculator, and even a MySpace page! Come down to the site, watch a video,
and learn how you can help prevent the loss of our native trees.

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3. You'll laugh, you'll cry: the emerald ash borer revealed (Global, Planet Earth)
From: Barry Rice (bamrice(at)ucdavis.edu)
 
Run, do not walk, to your closest web browser and take a look at this
fabulous short video, which is something of a "behind the scenes" portrayal
of what went into making the other videos on the "Don't move firewood" web
site: http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/behind-the-bug.html
 
Guaranteed to have your LOLing, ROTFLing, etc.

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4. Eastern N. America Invasives Learning Network Workshop (Eastern & Midwest States, USA)
From: Mandy Tu (imtu(at)tnc.org)
 
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!! "Workshop on Invasive Species Prevention and
Management: Spotlight on Salty Species" will be October 7-9th, 2008 in
Silver Beach, Eastern Shore of Virginia.
 
TNC's Eastern North America Invasives Learning Network is focused on
building strategic learning and implementation for invasive species threat
abatement at multiple scales through a peer-learning network of
practitioners and partners. While this 2008 workshop will highlight coastal
and estuarine habitats, the strategies and approaches we use will be
applicable to all sites and habitat types.
 
New participants and TNC project sites are welcome!
Cost: The workshop is free to all participants. Some meals will also be
provided. Participants have to pay their own travel, lodging, and some meal
costs.
Registration, travel and other meeting information are now posted at:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/networks.html
For more information contact Mandy Tu (imtu(at)tnc.org or 503-802-8150)

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5. WIMS Training Opportunities (Midwest & Eastern States, USA)
From: Mandy Tu (imtu(at)tnc.org)
 
There will be two upcoming in-person training sessions to learn how to use
TNC's Weeds Information Management System (WIMS). WIMS is an Access
database application that works to keep track of weed locations, patch size
and status and any management treatments, and can also be used for mapping
in the field. The two training sessions are:
 
- August 13 (Weds) at the TNC's Nickel Preserve in Oklahoma.
- October 10 (Fri) at the Silver Beach YMCA in Virginia (immediately
following the Eastern Invasives Learning Network workshop)
 
There is no cost for the training other than those incurred for travel. If
interested, please contact Chris Walls for the Oklahoma training
(cwalls(at)tnc.org or 918-456-7601) or Mandy Tu for the Virginia training
(imtu(at)tnc.org or 503-802-8150). For more information on WIMS see:
http://tncinvasives.ucdavis.edu/wims.html

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6. Nursery collaborations? (Vermont, USA)
From: Sharon Plumb (splumb(at)tnc.org)
 
Have any groups worked with nurseries, regarding voluntary compliance,
around not selling invasive plants that are still legal to sell?
 
Have any groups done any type of collaboration with nursery associations? We
are looking into the options of doing some cause marketing. We are attending
the annual meeting of the Vermont Nursery and Landscapers Association
meeting in mid-August. I'd like to go in to that meeting with a toolkit of
ways that we could work collaboratively to get the Big Three (barberry,
Norway maple, and burning bush) onto the quarantine list. One idea is to
have voluntary nursery compliance and provide some type of
certification/promotion for those nurseries. The other is to do some cause
marketing, for example coming up with some public education opportunities
around planting for benefitting wildlife. We could work with the nursery
association to come up with some kind of label that go on wildlife friendly
plants. Has anyone tried any of these types of venues?

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7. Are you a WIMS User? Let us know about your WIMS usage! (Global, Planet Earth)
From: Mandy Tu (imtu(at)tnc.org)
 
Do you use WIMS (TNC's Weeds Information Management System), or have you
used WIMS in the past? If so, please help us justify the time and resources
we spend to make WIMS available to everyone. Please answer the following
questions and send your reply to either imtu(at)tnc.org or wims(at)tnc.org.
 
a. If you are a past user of WIMS but are no longer using it, please send me
a 1-2 sentence reply of why not;
 
If you are still using WIMS, please also let me know the following:
 
b. Your name, affiliation and contact information;
c. If you are only using the WIMS Desktop interface or with a handheld unit;
d. How many acres (or hectares) you manage; and
e. If you would like to be added to an electronic WIMS Newsletter digest,
which should only clutter your inbox with an email message when new updates
are released or other WIMS-related information (not more than 4 emails per
year!).

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8. Impacts of invasives on salmonids (NW states, USA)
From: Amy Ferriter (aferriter(at)agri.idaho.gov)
 
The Independent Scientific Advisory Board (associated with the NW Power and
Conservation Council) just issued its report on "Non-Native Species Impacts
on Native Salmonids in the Columbia River Basin". The report is on-line at
http://www.nwppc.org/library/isab/isab2008-4.htm
 
Of particular interest is the primary recommendation that "the NW Power and
Conservation Council and Fish and Wildlife agencies in the Basin elevate the
issue of non-native species effects to a priority equivalent to that of
habitat loss and degradation, climate change, and human population growth
and development"

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9. Phragwrites (Global)
From: Barry Rice (bamrice(at)ucdavis.edu)
 
Encouraging an economic interest in an invasive species rarely (if ever) has
contributed to its control, and in fact usually is counterproductive since
it produces an economic reason for the infestation to be maintained.
However, for some reason I don't think that weed-pens are ever likely to
have much impact on the economics of Phragmites invasions... Surely we will
see these being given away as door prizes at invasive species conferences in
the near future.
http://www.phragwrites.com/