Invasive Species - What's New on NISIC's Site

The Invasive Species Data Mobilization Campaign of the Western Governors’ Association seeks to encourage national, state, and local land managers, private landowners, and non-governmental organizations to enter previously unavailable data into new or existing invasive species data management platforms using recommendations developed by WGA and invasive species data experts.

High-quality information is an essential weapon in the fight against invasive species in the West. Land managers, conservation groups, industry, and private landowners need accurate, current regional invasive species occurrence data. Technological barriers and standardization issues, however, often prevent wide sharing of useful invasive species occurrence data.

See also:

• LISTEN: Out West podcast highlights the importance and complexities of data collection for invasive species (Jun 4, 2021)
• LISTEN: Learn the importance of invasive species data to conservation districts in Our West podcast (Feb 17, 2021)

Love them or hate them, there's no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology examines this non-native species from the inside out. What exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded from just 80 birds released in New York City's Central Park in 1890, peaking at an estimated 200 million breeding adults spread all across North America? The study appears in the journal Molecular Ecology - "Environmental correlates of genetic variation in the invasive European starling in North America."

A draft integrated letter report and programmatic environmental assessment has been developed to determine the economic and environmental impacts of federal participation in state-managed watercraft inspection programs along the Upper Missouri River Basin in Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska. Public comments on the draft EA were accepted until March 2, 2021.

The existing watercraft inspection programs are managed collaboratively by the states of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, where watercraft transported along highways are inspected for the presence of aquatic invasive species and decontaminated when detected. If approved, federal participation in the program would be cost-shared (50 percent) with each of the states, and would employ a regional strategy to identify locations that would provide the greatest likelihood of preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species to reservoirs operated and maintained by the Corps in the Upper Missouri River Basin.

Online Interface Encourages the Public to Assist in Surveying for and Reporting Spotted Lanternfly

The New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) and Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (Parks) today announced an innovative effort to combat the spread of Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in New York State. A new online interface will allow volunteer members of the public to assist in surveying for SLF and tracking associated data. The program encourages broader surveying for SLF and increased public awareness of this invasive pest, following confirmed finds of SLF in New York State this past fall.

The new initiative, which launched this week, invites volunteers to sign up to survey a specific area, or grid, of land on iMapInvasives. This online, GIS-based data management system is used to assist citizen scientists and natural resource professionals to protect against the threat of invasive species. Volunteers will also enter data from their survey work into iMapInvasives. More information about the program, including upcoming webinars, can be found at https://www.nyimapinvasives.org/slf.

See also: New York Spotted Lanternfly Public Report

The Washington Invasive Species Council approved an updated statewide strategy to prevent invading plants and animals from taking hold in the state’s forests, waters and farms.

The strategy calls for a broad range of actions focusing on preventing new species from establishing here, educating the public and rapidly deploying when species are found to prevent their spread. The 5-year strategy (2020-2025) is available at Washington Invasive Species Council - Reports.

Anglers and hunters and other boaters who use the state's waterways are being reminded by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Fisheries Division of a new regulation that took effect Jan 1, 2021, requiring all boat drain plugs to be removed before and during trailering of vessels to and from access facilities on lakes, rivers and streams. A similar boat plug regulation was already in place in 21 other states to help stop the spread of aquatic nuisance species, and the new AGFC rule was part of an extensive list of regulations recommended by the Fisheries Division and approved by the Commission in 2020, to take effect beginning Jan. 1. Aquatic nuisance species such as silver carp, giant salvinia, zebra mussels and others continue to spread across waterbodies in Arkansas, and the AGFC has as its mission a responsibility to put mechanisms in place to slow the spread.

Pursuant to the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9), the Department of the Interior (Interior) has released the final Interior-wide invasive species strategic plan. The Act became law on March 12, 2019. Title VII Section 7001 of the Act directs relevant Secretaries to take actions concerning invasive species. This includes the development of a strategic plan (Plan) in coordination with affected eligible States, political subdivisions of eligible States, in consultation with federally recognized Indian tribes, and in accordance with the priorities of Governors of eligible States.

The Plan sets out a vision for effectively managing invasive species through collaborative conservation to protect our nation’s environment and natural and cultural resources; economy and infrastructure; and public health. It both reflects ongoing work by Interior and its partners and leverages opportunities to respond to emerging issues.  This Plan will guide Interior’s work on invasive species in the next five years.

The Michigan departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture and Rural Development today announced the addition of beech leaf disease to the state's invasive species watch list. Invasive species on the watch list have been identified as posing an immediate or potential threat to Michigan's economy, environment or human health. These species either have never been confirmed in the wild in Michigan or have a limited known distribution. Beech leaf disease is associated with the microscopic worm Litylenchus crenatae, a nematode that enters and spends the winter in leaf buds, causing damage to leaf tissue on American beech and European and Asian beech species. Infestations result in darkened, thick tissue bands between leaf veins, creating a striped effect on the leaves, leaf distortion and bud mortality. Trees weakened by leaf damage become susceptible to other diseases and can die within six years. Beech leaf disease has not been found in Michigan. The disease was first discovered in Ohio in 2012. Since then, it has been identified in seven eastern states and Ontario.

The Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) has issued an emergency quarantine order to protect against the introduction and spread of the emerald ash borer (EAB), a destructive wood-boring beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in North America. The order was motivated by the removal of federal domestic quarantine regulations by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS). "It is important that we remain vigilant and do everything in our power to make sure that the emerald ash borer doesn’t find a way into Montana," said MDA Director Mike Foster. "This quarantine order protects the green ash woodland resources in eastern Montana that provide habitat for many wildlife species as well as economic benefits to livestock producers and rural communities."

Montana’s emergency quarantine order restricts EAB from entering the state in any form, as well as the movement of live ash trees, parts of ash trees capable of harboring live EAB, and any other articles determined potentially hazardous. MDA will accept public comment regarding the quarantine order until February 26, 2021.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is excited to announce the 7th annual Lionfish Removal and Awareness Festival May 15 and 16 at AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar and HarborWalk Village in Destin. Come out and celebrate the fight against invasive lionfish with the FWC and Destin–Fort Walton Beach. Activities will include fillet demonstrations; family-friendly games and activities; art, diving and conservation booths; and the world’s largest lionfish spearfishing tournament, the Emerald Coast Open. Learn more by visiting FWCReefRangers.com. The 2021 Lionfish Challenge removal incentive program will begin May 21 and continue through Labor Day, Sept. 6. More details on how to get rewarded for your harvest coming soon to FWCReefRangers.com.