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Renewed concerns over invasive beetle in Vermont and New Hampshire Summer brings renewed concerns about the Asian longhorned beetle. The invasive pest has an appetite for maple trees, and has devastated entire forests in Massachusetts. So far, Vermont and New Hampshire have escaped the invasion. But the concern is that the bugs will be transported here in firewood carried by campers. As a precaution, New Hampshire next month will ban out-of-state firewood at federal and state-owned campgrounds. From WCAX News. Link -------------------------------------------------------- Madison High School students control invasives at Wildlife Refuge MADISON, NJ -- It was almost lunchtime on the Madison High School Day of Service and Mark DeBiasse, History Department Chairperson and Service Learning Coordinator, said that his cell phone had not rung once yet to report a problem from any of the more than 40 work sites he was supervising. Sawing, drilling, measuring, mulching, planting, drawing, painti...

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid 2009 Volunteer Monitoring Summary for Ithaca, New York Cornell Plantations, in partnership with the Cornell Department of Natural Resources, Finger Lakes Land Trust, Finger Lakes Native Plant Society, Cayuga Trails Club, and numerous volunteers, recently completed a monitoring campaign to detect new hemlock woolly adelgid populations in the Ithaca area. The hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) causes nearly 100 percent mortality in the local, native eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). This invasive species has decimated hemlock populations across the eastern United States. Over 120 volunteers attended three seminars where they were trained to identify and report new infestations. With the support of the newly trained volunteers, conservation partners, and 28 adjoining private property owners, Plantations’ Natural Areas Program coordinated volunteer surveys in nine surrounding hemlock forest natural areas in proximity to previously known hemlock woolly adelgid ...

U.S. wildlife trade poorly regulated, threatening human health and ecosystems, study finds ScienceDaily (May 11, 2009) — Wildlife imports into the United States are fragmented and insufficiently coordinated, failing to accurately list more than four in five species entering the country, a team of scientists has found. The effect, the scientists write in the journal Science , May 1, is that a range of diseases is introduced into the United States, potentially decimating species, devastating ecosystems and threatening food supply chains and human health. The research by Brown University, Wildlife Trust, Pacific Lutheran University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Global Invasive Species Programme comes as Congress begins deliberating the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (HR 669), which would tighten regulations on wildlife imports. At a hearing last week before the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, ...

Updated May 8 --------------------------------------------------------- H.R. 669: Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act H.R. 669 was introduced in January 2009 by Madeleine Bordallo (U.S. Delegate, Guam). The purpose of the bill is to prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species' or human health, and for other purposes. A subcomittee hearing was held on Apr 23. You can watch a video of the hearing here. The bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations establishing a process for assessing the risk of all nonnative wildlife species proposed for importation into the United States, other than those included in a list of approved species issued under the Act. The bill would establish prohibitions on: (1) importation or transportation between states of nonnative species that are not included in the list of approved species; (2) permit violations; and (3)...