Attacking the Invaders!

Park staff member Kristyn Loving and volunteers Carol Miltimore and Crow Vecchio are featured as "weed warriors" in a post by the Washington Native Plant Society. Read the details about their battle with the dreaded invader, Tussilago farfara. Swift action saves the day!

 

EDRR Invasive Weed Recognition Training Sessions

Are you interested in learning more about invasive plants in the area? The PNW Invasive Plant Council is holding two training sessions in early May. Many of our Volunteers have attended these sessions in past years.

Training Locations and Dates for 2013:

• Sunday, May 5th; 1pm - 3:30pm at NorthwestTrek Wildlife Park in Eatonville, WA

11610 Trek Drive East, Eatonville, WA; Specific location of training will be sent to participants who sign up for the trainings. General location information about Northwest Trek can be found at http://www.nwtrek.org/

• Monday, May 6th, 2013; 1pm – 3:30pm at LOTT Clean Water Alliance Center in Olympia, WA

500 Adams Street NE, Olympia, WA; Specific location of training will be sent to participants who sign up for the trainings. General location information can be found at http://www.lottcleanwater.org/directions.htm

***Capacity is limited so if you would like to attend one of the trainings, please RSVP to Julie Combs at pnw.ipc.org@gmail.com (or call 615-812-5295) to reserve your place.

Invasive Species Volunteer Training Schedule!

July 2012 EDRR Invasive Species (Citizen Science) Volunteer Training Schedule

·       Seattle: Wednesday, July 18th; 6:00-830pm

·       Seattle: Saturday, July 21st; 9:30am-12am (with optional field training from 1-2:30pm)

·       Olympia Wednesday, July 25th; Session A 1:00pm-3:30pm

·       Olympia: Wednesday, July 25th; Session B  6:00pm-8:30pm

·       Yakima: Saturday, July 28th; 9:30-12am (potential optional field training from 1-2:30pm) 

We will train volunteers to identify 25-30 EDRR plants, collect and report data to the PNW IPC who will then alert local land managers so they can act to remove these invaders. We will use a Powerpoint presentation, herbarium specimens, live material and informational handouts in the trainings. In Seattle and possibly Yakima we will add a field component for those interested in getting hands on experience using the data sheets (e.g., estimating population size of plants encountered, area surveyed etc.) Once volunteers are trained they will conduct surveys within the four target areas listed below. Volunteers will help locate newly established populations and report the data back to the PNW-IPC. The PNW-IPC will then distribute data to county noxious weed controllers and other state and federal land managers that will be able to use the information to remove EDRR invaders before they have a chance to spread and cause serious ecological damage and deplete economic resources.

Exact locations of trainings will be posted on our website ( http://www.pnw-ipc.org ) soon. In addition, location information will be e-mailed directly to volunteers who sign up for one of the trainings. If you would like to attend an EDRR training session please e-mail Julie Combs ( pnw.ipc.org@gmail.com ) with the subject line "Yakima Training" ,"Seattle Training" or "Yakima Training". We want to get a general idea of how many people will be attending each training session so we can reserve space commensurate with the number of people attending.

We are targeting four different CWMA (Cooperative Weed Management Areas) in eight WA Counties for this pilot program:

·       Nisqually River Watershed– Pierce, Thurston, Lewis

·       Chehalis River, Southwestern WA – Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason

·       HWY 12- SR 410 – Lewis, Pierce, Yakima, Kittitas

·       Southcentral WA– Kittitas,Yakima, Klickitat

The PNW Invasive Plant Council is working in partnership with the Washington Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and other state and local conservations groups to develop and pilot a Citizen Science EDRR program in Washington State with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. What makes this conservation project unique is that we are focusing on eradicating plants currently in low abundance in target areas. We are excited about this effort and and hope that you can participate as a Citizen Scientist!  

For more information contact:

Julie K. Combs, PhD
PNW Invasive Plant Council
EDRR Citizen Science Program Coordinator

(615) 812-5295

pnw.ipc.org@gmail.com
U of W
Box 354115
Seattle, WA 98195 www.pnw-ipc.org

Spring-Summer 2012 - Early Detection Rapid Response (EDRR) Invasive Plant Project

This is a great opportunity to volunteer with a conservation effort at Mount Rainier National Park! The contact person is Julie Combs. You can find her email address at the bottom of the announcement.

The PNW Invasive Plant Council is working in partnership with the Washington Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and many other state and local conservations groups to develop a Citizen Science EDRR program in Washington State with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. We are recruiting volunteers in the next three to four weeks to participate in the EDRR project.

What makes this conservation project unique is that we are focusing on eradicating plants currently in low abundance in target areas. The goal is to find these newly established populations and remove them before they have a chance to spread and cause serious ecological and economic damage.

Volunteers will be asked search for a suite of invasive plants while they explore and enjoy the outdoors camping, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking etc. and report plants if they encounter them. Volunteers will also have the opportunity to have a more directed search assignment, concentrating on certain “red-flag” areas. We are piloting our surveys in four different Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMA); Nisqually, Yakima, and Chehalis River Watersheds and HWY 12 –SR 410, which includes areas in and around Mt. Rainier National Park.

We will conduct volunteer trainings in mid-July to train volunteers to identify plants, collect and report data to the IPC who will then alert local weed managers so they can act to remove these invaders. If you are interested in participating as a Citizen Scientist to help detect newly established invasive species please e-mail Julie Combs ( pnw.ipc.org@gmail.com ) for more information or to sign up for one of the trainings. We will announce training dates and locations based on volunteer response.