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Updated 4/8/11. Recent additions are at the bottom of each week's post. Register Your Invasive Plant Volunteer Group! (Mid-Atlantic Region) Do you have a volunteer-based invasive plant management program in the mid-Atlantic region? If so, please register it! If you oversee a group of volunteers who conduct invasive plant removals in DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, or WV, please take a minute to add your group to the Invasive Plant Volunteers Directory. To register, click here to complete a short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/InvasivePlantVolunteers Why bother? Because understanding the number and distribution of volunteer groups in our area will help to: Recognize the significance of volunteer efforts in restoring invaded lands, Identify areas in need of volunteer assistance, Help connect interested volunteers with a suitable group, Build a stronger network of invasive plant workers in the region, Build support for potential funding of volunteer-based programs. The directory will ...

Updated 3/31/11 Connecticut DEP Reports Didymo Discovered in the West Branch Farmington River First Confirmation of this Invasive Species in Connecticut The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that the highly invasive freshwater alga, Didymosphenia geminata, known as “didymo”, has been discovered in the West Branch Farmington River, a very popular trout stream in northwestern Connecticut. The presence of didymo was first confirmed in the northeastern United States in 2007, and has since spread to other popular trout streams in a number of Northeastern states (New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia). This is the first report of didymo in Connecticut. DEP first learned of the possible presence of didymo in the West Branch Farmington River from several anglers on March 18th. One of these anglers also provided an initial sample to DEP. Following initial review by DEP staff, samples were sent to the Vermont D...

Updated 1/28/10 -------------------------------------------------------- National park battling infestation of hogs The Associated Press KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- National park biologists are trying to come to grips with a hog infestation in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 2009, the park's hog team removed 620 wild hogs, the third highest since the hog control program started in the late 1950s. Biologists say the hog population spiked last year because of a bountiful mast crop that enabled the sows to produce more than one litter. Park biologist Bill Stiver told the Knoxville News-Sentinel the introduction of wild, semi-domesticated hogs into the park has made hog control even more difficult. "The speculation is that hunters are illegally releasing feral pigs that eventually make their way inside the park," Stiver said. "It's a major problem not just here, but all over North America." He said numerous hogs killed this year had spotted markings and curl...

Updated November 6. The latest news is at the bottom of the post. --------------------------------------------------------- More than $1 Million for projects to improve the health of Long Island Sound Funds awarded to control perennial pepperweed (Waterford, Conn. – Oct. 29, 2009) – Gathering together on the shores of Long Island Sound, top federal and state environmental officials announced 33 grants to state and local government and community groups under the Long Island Sound Futures Fund. The $1,011,878 will be leveraged by $1.92 million contributed by the recipients, providing a total of nearly $2.94 million for on-the-ground conservation in Connecticut and New York. [...] This year’s grant program funded 21 large grants (grants greater than $10,000) totaling $943,755. Five grants were awarded for water quality; four for habitat restoration; one for watershed planning; one for invasive species control; seven for education; and three for stewardship projects. [...] The grants incl...

Updated June 14 -------------------------------------------------------- N.Y. setting traps for invasive beetles Dave Henderson, Ithaca Journal New York is targeting another potential invasive species, a tree-eating beetle named the Emerald Ash Borer. The Department of Environmental Conservation will be deploying the purple prism traps in treelines throughout the state in an attempt to trap the beetles. There will also be a concentration in areas adjacent to neighboring states and Canadian provinces that have already detected this potentially devastating invasive species. The main route that enables this insect, as well as other invasive species, to spread is from moving firewood from one place to another. That is why in 2008, New York adopted regulations that ban untreated firewood from entering the state and restricts intrastate movement of untreated firewood to no more than a 50-mile radius from its source ( http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28722.html ). New York has more than 900 mill...