If you were investing in invasive plants then you’d put a “strong buy” recommendation on Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). This is a species that is already present in Rhode Island at a number of localities and that is proving difficult to combat. So to get all the latest information on a plant we’re probably going to be getting to know well, we’re super lucky that the the presentations from a Japanese stiltgrass conference, hosted by Illinois-based River to River Cooperative Weed Management Area, are available on line. Check them out at:
Stiltgrass Conference

Wondering what the latest is on white nose syndrome, the phenomenon that is devastating the population of cave roosting bats around the U.S.? Here’s a link to the USFWS’s White Nose Syndrome site.

USFWS announced last week $1.6 million in new awards to researchers studying white nose syndrome. Funded research includes studies of disease detection, transmission, and origin.

The Autumn 2010 issue of RI DEM’s Wild Rhode Island magazine is new available, in electronic form, from their website–Click HERE.

There’s a terrific article on Nicrophorus americanus, the American burying beetle, as well as one on one of our most delicious fish, striper, Morone saxatilis.

The Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project made the following announcement on September 21, 2010. For our Rhode Island audience, learn to ID ALB and its damage to trees and keep a sharp lookout.

Comprehensive ID tools from Mass. DCR
DEM Fact Sheet

Report anything suspicious to the Rhode Island Tree Council at albfreeri@gmail.com, to RI DEM using their invasive sighting reporting tool: https://www.ri.gov/DEM/caps or to RINHS at invasives@rinhs.org.

***********************
STATE AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS EXPAND ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE REGULATED AREA
NEAR WORCESTER

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today
announced the expansion of the Asian longhorned beetle regulated area in Worcester County
after the discovery of additional trees infested with the beetle in the towns of Boylston and
Holden.

The current central Massachusetts regulated area has been expanded by 18 square miles,
creating a federal and state quarantine zone for the area that is now 94 square miles.
Inspectors working on the Massachusetts ALB cooperative eradication program found
additional infested trees in the town of Boylston and the town of Holden last month, forcing
expansion of the regulated area boundary. Eradication program activities include inspection of
every host tree within the regulated area to evaluate ALB presence. In Worcester County,
ground survey crews and tree climbers are continuing their inspections within the city of
Worcester and the towns of Holden, West Boylston, Boylston, and Shrewsbury.

The Forest Health Works Project is requesting proposals for free invasive plant control projects in communities across Rhode Island.  Approximately five sites will be selected state-wide. Land trusts, towns, watershed groups, etc. are eligible to apply. For further information, download an application or email FHWP_RFP at rinhs dot org 
 
Application Due Date: Friday, Sept. 3rd

Mark your calendars!
 
Forest Health Works Project (FHWP) Open House
When:       Monday, August 23rd, 7 – 8:30pm
Where:      W. Alton Jones Campus -  Environmental Education Center, West Greenwich, RI

This is a community event where you can meet our high school summer crew, enjoy coffee & dessert, and learn about the current and future Forest Health Works Projects! The FHWP is a project of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, in partnership between state and local organizations, to help improve the health & sustainability of Rhode Island’s forests by inventorying and restoring up to 50,000 acres of priority forestland for invasive plants. 
 
We welcome the opportunity to meet members of the community and showcase our work. We hope to see you there!
 
For more information, please contact us at 401-874-5800  
 
Directions to the W. Alton Jones Campus Environmental Education Center

A periodic reassessment of invasive species in the marine environment in New England has revealed…nothing new. That’s good given the list of potentially disastrous introductions that could occur (think Caulerpa taxifolia, mitten crab, or rapa whelk). RINHS was involved in the previous assessment, in 2001, and has been following the current assessment from a distance through its partners, NBEP and RI Aquatic Invasive Species Working Group. Species lists from both assessments will be included in RINHS’s BORIIS database. Get the full story here:

link to story on seacoastonline.com

Okay, we get this question from time to time: why don’t we encourage people to develop a palate for invasive species as a way to control them? The usual answer is that encouraging human uses of invasive species encourages people to move them around, either intentionally, to create new populations for exploitation, or accidentally, because they’re bringing them along to cook later and they escape.

But here’s an interesting example from today’s news: Officials from NOAA are encouraging the development of a market for lionfish meat and a fishery to supply it as a way to control explosive population growth of a highly destructive invasive species.

Story at MSNBC

I’d like to know how they taste dredged through a thick beer batter and fried and served on a pile of french fries and a generous slosh of vinegar.

Volunteers are needed to pull water chestnut from Chapman Pond, Westerly, this Saturday, July 17, from 9 to Noon. Westerly Land Trust and RINHS are organizing a morning sortie to combat the invasive pond weed water chestnut in Chapman Pond. The infestation in Westerly, the third detected in Rhode Island, was found in 2009. It is growing extensively around the northeast corner of the pond. In fall 2009 a similar effort removed over 1,600 pounds of weed. Volunteers with canoes or boats suitable to the shallow, weed choked waters are welcome, but boat-less volunteers are also very welcome. They can sign on as a deck hand in someone else’s boat or help land the catch and put it into the roll-off. Bring life jackets, sun screen and sun hats, drinking water, and gloves that can get wet. Meet at the boat ramp at the north west corner of the pond, off of Rt 91 on the road to the Westerly town dump/transfer station.

View Chapman Pond, Westerly in a larger map

We received this urgent message at the office this morning. For more information on ALB follow the links below or see the other RINHS articles at:
http://www.rinhs.org/category/invasives/

Anyone who’s been to Worcester in the last 12 months knows this is potentially very big news, news that will likely come with a multi-million dollar price tag and change the face of Boston for a century. We will post more information at it is available.

***BREAKING NEWS***

—–Original Message—–
From: Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Project [mailto:pestalert@massnrc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 11:51 AM
To: Ellis, Donna
Subject: Asian longhorned beetle found in Boston

This weekend a small infestation of Asian longhorned beetle was found in Jamaica Plain (Boston). The site is at Faulkner Hospital, just across from the Arnold Arboretum. Six infested maple trees were found so far, in close proximity to each other, and have already been removed by USDA/DCR. Surveys will continue this week to determine the extent of the infestation.

It is extremely important that we get the word out ASAP to everyone in the Boston, Brookline and Newton area to be on the lookout for:

1) Adult Asian longhorned beetles (shiny black beetles with white spots and long, banded antennae)

2) ALB exit holes (dime-sized, perfectly round holes, especially in maple, but also in birch, elm, horse chestnut, willow and other hardwood trees.but not oak)

3) ALB egg-laying sites (divots in the bark ranging in size from 1/4 to 3/4 inches across – fresh pits often have oozing, foaming sap)

Anyone seeing anything suspicious should report it immediately at http://massnrc.org/pests/albreport.aspx or call toll-free: 1-866-702-9938. Take photos if you can.

If you are with an environmental group or other organization that needs outreach materials, the Mass. Dept. of Agricultural Resources will provide you with ID cards, fact sheets, etc., for free. MDAR can also provide public speakers for ALB training sessions. Contact jennifer.forman-orth@state.ma.us or call 617-626-1735 for more info.

Spread the word, not the beetle! Get all the latest ALB news at: http://massnrc.org/pests/alb