News
California Invasive Plant Council 20th Annual Symposium Posted: July 21, 2011 Cal-IPC is hosting their 20th annual symposium at the Granlibakken Resort in Tahoe City, CA October 5-7th.
The theme of this year's Symposium is Invasive Plants and Ecological Change. We have invited speakers to address the myriad types of human-influenced changes to the natural environment that impact invasive plant management, including changes in soils, fire, nitrogen deposition, and, of course, climate change. Registration and further details can be found here.
California Invasive Plant Council Releases Cost Survey Results for Invasive Plant Management Posted: March 19, 2009 Cal-IPC recently conducted a survey of 84 agencies and organizations to
estimate total direct costs for control, monitoring, mapping, and outreach statewide. The final total came to $82 million. See the flyer summarizing the details here.
California Invasive Species Council Announced At World Ag Expo Posted: February 12, 2009 California officials today announced a coordinated effort to prevent and control harmful invasive species infestations throughout the state.
The California Invasive Species Council will assist in minimizing the negative effects of non-native species on the state’s agriculture, lands, natural resources, and waterways in rural and urban environments. “The Invasive Species Council will protect California’s consumers and our environment from destructive pests, plants and diseases that also threaten our food supply,” said Secretary A.G. Kawamura of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, chairman of the council. “Coordinating California’s resources will maximize our opportunities to protect against harmful non-native species that will destroy our forests, scenic wildlands and waterways,” said Secretary Chrisman. The council will appoint a California Invasive Species Advisory Committee (CISAC) tasked with making recommendations to prioritize an invasive species rapid response plan. The committee will take input from local government, tribal governments and federal agencies, as well as environmental organizations, academic and science institutions, affected industry sectors and impacted landowners. For more information on invasive species please visit the CDFA website. (Details)
Burbank Students From Clark Magnet High Undergo Weed Mapping Project Posted: January 15, 2009 Plant invaders were the target Sunday for Yeva
Mirzakhanyan, who was roaming the trails of Stough Canyon armed with a hand-held satellite mapping system and a list of species. The 16-year-old junior at Clark Magnet High School is part of a team of students who have been using global-positioning-system coordinates to mark the locations of invasive plants — species that are not native to the region and hurt local ecosystems, her teacher, Dominique Evans-Bye, said. (Full article here...)
Los Angeles County WMA New Website Now Online Posted: November 17, 2008 With support from the LA County Agricultural
Commissioner's Office, the LA County Weed Management Area has recently developed a new website with up-to-date project and resource information. The website can be found at www.lacountywma.org. Please sign up on the WMA e-list to be notified of upcoming meetings, events, and funding opportunities.
NPS Develops Brochure for Terracina Spurge Awareness in the Coastal Areas of Los Angeles County Posted: July 27, 2008 The National Parks Service recently finished an outreach brochure to educate local residents about the growing Euphorbia terracina problem in the coastal areas of Los Angeles (and now Ventura) County. The Watershed Council assisted NPS and Palos Verdes Peninsula Land
Conservancy with the brochure layout and design. Approximately 5000 brochures will be mailed to residents living in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) of the Santa Monica Mountains. Another 5000 brochures will be distributed by NPS at events and the NPS Visitor Center in Thousand Oaks. The WeedWatch program also has a small amount on hand to distrubute to agencies and organizations for outreach events. (See our outreach page for details). Funding for this outreach program was provided through the State WMA program.
City of Oceanside Bans Three Weeds Posted: April 18, 2008 (from North County Times, Craig Tenbroeck) A City Council majority April 18th outlawed three invasive plants: arundo, tamarisk and pampas grass ---- in an effort to reduce the risk of fire and flood.
Mayor Jim Wood, Councilwoman Esther Sanchez and Councilman Rocky Chavez voted for the ban, which allows Oceanside to direct property owners to remove the problem plants. If those orders aren't followed, the city can do the work and send the property owners the bill, a city report states. (Full article here...)
Gardening and Environmental Groups Try To Weed Out Invasive Plants Posted: April 10, 2008 (from Los Angeles Times, Emily Green) WEED. We need only one syllable to differentiate friend from foe
in our gardens. Yet the word seems inadequate for a new generation of weeds -- plants that we find beautiful or delicious when we cultivate them but that have escaped into the wild to potentially catastrophic effect. No single source tells the story of the shifting definition quite so methodically as "Weeds of California and Other Western States." When UC Davis weed scientist Joseph M. DiTomaso published the two volumes in 2007, they included more than 700 specimens, just about every plant that has stung, inconvenienced or merely displeased people this side of the Rockies. There in the 1,800-plus-page rogues' gallery, many of our classiest nursery salads and ornamentals have rap sheets. Nasturtiums, weeds? Ice plant? A weed? (Full article here...)
NPS Develops Commercials for Euphorbia terracina Awareness in Santa Monica Mountains Posted: October 10, 2007 The National Parks Service recently finished a series of humorous educational videos
about the growing Euphorbia terracina problem in the Santa Monica Mountains. These short ads will be aired on local cable channels within the Los Angeles region. Funding for this outreach program was provided through the State WMA program. One of the ads can now be seen on YouTube.
Non-Native Plants May Be Banned By Council Posted: July 20, 2007 (from San Diego Union-Tribune)
ENCINITAS – Think that pampas grass adds flair to your yard? It might, but
City Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan wants to ban it and other non-native plants from all new developments in Encinitas to save the city's wildlife habitats. Invasive plants push out native species and deprive wildlife of their food and nesting places, she said. Some are fire hazards, and others are water hogs, said Councilwoman Teresa Barth, Houlihan's environmentalist ally on the council. "There is no prohibition against planting this stuff,” Houlihan said. “There are such attractive alternatives to invasive plants.” See full article here.
LA County WMA Awarded CDFA Funding Posted: December 29, 2006 As part of the Los Angeles County WMA, The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, the Santa Catalina Island
Conservancy, and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area were recently awarded funding through a two-year grant from CDFA. Proposed work from the WMA will include: a) eradicating Euphorbia terracina at three locations (within Solstice Canyon and along the Palos Verdes Peninsula), b) produce an educational campaign (brochures, posters, and a TV commercial) focusing on identification of E. terracina, its negative impacts, and effective control measures, and c) completely eradicate all known populations of yellow star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis), Veldt grass (Ehrharta calycina), saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima), and periwinkle (Vinca major) from Conservancy property (42,000 acres) on Catalina Island. New Study Shows the Economic Benefits of Preventing Invasive Species Posted: December 20, 2006 WASHINGTON – A new study shows that screening for potentially harmful foreign plant species before they are imported is more economically beneficial than fighting them after they take root in new areas. Read the full article here.