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Updated 1/30 Bird culling fallout alarms central NJ community By VICTOR EPSTEIN, Associated Press Writer FRANKLIN, N.J. - The black carcasses of dead starlings still pepper the snowy roads and lawns of central New Jersey's rural Griggstown community three days after federal officials used a pesticide to kill as many as 5,000 starlings. Many residents were still getting over their shock Monday from the sudden spate of deaths. Some were unaware that the deaths resulted from an intentional culling and that the pesticide used was harmless to people and pets. "It was raining birds," said Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine. "It got people a little anxious." The U.S. Department of Agriculture called local police last week and the Somerset County Health Department to warn them that a culling program was under way, but there was no notice that dead birds could fall from the sky, Levine said. "A lot of us are concerned because it's so odd," said Chris Jiam...

Updated 1/23 Help on way for New England cottontail By DAVID BROOKS Staff Writer, Nashua Telegraph The cutest endangered species in New Hampshire is getting some federal help – which is good, because the New England cottontail needs all the help it can get." This is one of our top priorities," John Kanter, the state's endangered-wildlife program coordinator, said of the elusive bunny. As recently as the 1960s, the New England cottontail was found from the Hudson River through southern Maine and also thrived in New Hampshire. Today, officials know of only 10 places where the species is found at all, mostly in a few flooded areas along the Merrimack River south of Concord and in the Seacoast. The New England cottontail, like many species, has suffered from changes in habitat. It likes brushy land in transition between field and forest, with lots of brambles and low bushes where it can hide and find food. That sort of thicket was common when New Hampshire was filled with far...

Updated 1/17 New York Governor slashes invasive species funding DEC chief defends moves as careful way to trim spending By BRIAN NEARING , staff writer, TimesUnion.com ALBANY — State lawmakers had harsh words Tuesday for Gov. David Paterson's plan to cut $50 million from an environmental fund and slash support in areas like a zoos, solar energy, waterfront revitalization and a breast cancer registry. Programs to fight invasive species would drop from $5 million to $1.5 million. "These changes shock and disappoint me," said Assemblyman Robert Sweeney of Suffolk County, chairman of the Assembly's Environmental Conservation Committee, during a legislative hearing on the environmental aspects of Paterson's proposed $121.1 billion budget. "This is offensive to anyone who cares about these issues." At the hearing, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis defended the governor's proposal as a "careful and calculated decision on where cuts could be accommodated....

Happy New Year! --------------------------------------------------------- From The Nature Conservancy: This is to inform you of an exciting new development which should assist getting the best control and management information on invasive species in natural areas! Many of you may already know that TNC houses an extensive (but dated) library of management documents for mostly plant invaders on our website. We have now uploaded most of these documents into a “wiki” format, so that the latest and greatest management information (from YOU!) can be easily entered and updated. Need the latest info on Phrag or Typha management? What has and has not worked? Check out what we have already entered, and please add your experiences and make your additions here! http://invasipedia.ucdavis.edu/doku.php/main_page ----------------------------------------------------------