Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

For Release: IMMEDIATE

Contact: Maureen Wren

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

STATE CREATES NEW INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL

Council to Implement Measures That Will Combat Threats to Native Species

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis and New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced the creation of a new council charged with implementing specific initiatives to protect native species and prevent the spread of invasive plants and animals. The New York Invasive Species Council, recently signed into law by Governor Eliot Spitzer, will coordinate statewide efforts to control invasive species.

Invasive species are non-native plants and animals that push native species to extinction. Through direct predation and competition for nutrients, these resilient invaders disrupt food webs, alter physical habitats and come to dominate and fundamentally degrade ecosystems. Once introduced, invasive species reproduce and grow in numbers, thus exacerbating their influence on ecosystems over time. Common invasive species found in New York State include zebra mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil, purple loosestrife, giant hogweed and black swallowwort. Other recent new or expanded species discoveries include didymo, the Asian longhorned beetle, and the sirex woodwasp

Invasive species pose an ever-growing risk to the health and diversity of our native ecosystems, Commissioner Grannis said. “The establishment of the Invasive Species Council will continue the work begun by the Task Force and will ensure that the recommendations developed with our many partners will be implemented. The Council and its Advisory Committee will enhance our ability to fight this growing threat to New York’s biodiversity, food supply, recreation, commerce and industry.

Commissioner Hooker said, “For years now, we have actively sought to detect and contain exotic invasive species as they pose a significant threat to the viability of our farms, not to mention our environment. Early discovery and detection is key to eradicating these pests, and I look forward to working with the entire Council, exploring the invasive species issue, identifying the most serious pests to New York and providing guidance for effective control and management.

Invasive species can travel through natural means, via weather patterns, tides and water currents, or be carried by migratory animals. However, invasive species are very often introduced into new ecosystems through human activity- intentional and accidental. Invasive introductions may be the result of the deliberate import of exotic plants or animals for such purposes as aquaculture, landscaping, or aquariums. Accidental introductions of aquatic and terrestrial invasive species result from a myriad of human activity, including contaminated shipping freight, ballast water taken up by ships at sea and released in port, recreational boating, and firewood transported by campers and hikers.

Invasive species have been judged second only to habitat loss as a threat to biodiversity. Invasive species have caused many problems in the past, are causing problems now, and will continue to pose heightened threats to our future. In the Great Lakes alone, new studies have shown that invasive species are found at a rate of one every 28 weeks - 185 invaders, so far, and counting. A wide variety of species are problematic for many sectors of our world: ecosystems, including all natural systems and managed forests; food supply, including not only agriculture but also harvested wildlife, fish and shellfish; built environments, including landscaping, infrastructure, industry, and gardens; and pets. Invasive species have implications, too, for recreation and for human health.

Invasive species also dramatically impact agriculture and the ability to move plants and plant products in domestic and foreign commerce. Federal and state quarantines enacted to arrest the spread of invasive pests cost agricultural producers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in lost revenues and increased costs associated with compliance to regulations. In recent years, the following invasive pests have been detected in New York: Plum Pox Virus of peaches, plums and nectarines; the European Cranefly, a pest of turf and pasture lands; and the Swede Midge, a pest of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

Environmental Conservation Committee Chairmen Senator Carl Marcellino and Assemblyman Bob Sweeny were legislative sponsors of the bill creating the Council.

Senator Marcellino, said, “The Invasive Species Council will bring together the right minds to implement a statewide approach to this serious threat to our land and water ecosystems. The Council will allow New York to further protect the state’s natural resources and will reinforce and strengthen the state’s ongoing efforts to prevent invasive, non-native species from harming our environment, our economy and our communities.

Assemblyman Sweeney said, “Invasive species pose a significant threat to ecosystems throughout New York State, and cost the State, local governments and businesses millions of dollars each year. Unfortunately, there is currently little coordination of effort to control invasive species either at the federal or State level. This new law is a step toward ensuring effective and coordinated state efforts to manage and control invasive species. The Council will also help identify future policy measures which will prevent the spread and further introduction of invasive species into New York’s environment and economy.

The Council will: assess the nature, scope and magnitude of the impacts caused by invasive species in the state; identify actions already taken to prevent, detect, respond rapidly to and control invasive species; recommend ways to restore native species and habitat conditions in impacted ecosystems; conduct research and develop technologies to prevent new introductions; promote public education; develop an invasive species management plan; provide input on funding priorities and grant applications; and hold a biennial invasive species summit.

Troy Weldy, Director of Ecological Management for The Nature Conservancy, said, “The passage of this invasive species legislation is a great step forward in managing New York’s existing invasive species and protecting us from future biological invasions. The formation of the Invasive Species Council and Advisory Committee will bring partners together to share information and learn how to best combat these nuisance species.

The Council will be co-chaired by the Commissioners of DEC and Agriculture and Markets.

Council membership will include the Commissioners of Transportation, Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and Education; the Secretary of State; the Chairperson of the New York State Thruway Authority; the Director of the New York State Canal Corporation; and the Chairperson of the Adirondack Park Agency.

The Council will work closely with an Advisory Committee made up of representatives of: New York biodiversity research institute, New York State’s land grant university, New York Sea Grant, a statewide organization formed to address invasive species, a statewide land conservation organization, a statewide agricultural organization, a nursery business, a boating organization, the Darrin Freshwater Institute, the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Natural Heritage Program, a New York State forestry school, a lake association, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and a statewide local government organization.

Are you heading into schools to engage students in gardening programs? Connect with more than their science curriculum with these great books.

The winning titles were selected from the
commutative committee reviews. And the winners are:

A Seed is Sleepy
by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long (Chronicle Books)

Once Around the Sun
by Bobbi Katz and illustrated by LeUyen Pham (Harcourt)

Josias, Hold the Book
by Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren and illustrated by Nicole Tadgell (Boyds
Mills Press)

Please feel free to share with colleagues, teachers and others that are
a part of the youth gardening movement about this year’s winners. More
info is at: www.jmgkids.us/bookawards and a press release regarding the
winners is at: http://ahs.org/press_room/07/070723.htm

This story is about an earthworks project of Cornell students in the Art of Horticulture class. They teamed up with our youth development and gardening expert Marcia Eames-Sheavly and our turf expert Frank Rossi.

Read the full story about the online Cornell Chronicle.

With more than 75,000 deer killed by motorists on New York roads each year, the problem of what to do with road kill is a big headache — and expense — for highway officials.

Now, Cornell scientists, teaming up with the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), are testing a promising and effective new method of disposal: composting.

Using a simple composting technique, the Cornell Waste Management Institute (CWMI) discovered it takes about a year to turn deer carcasses into compost that can be used for landscaping purposes along the very roadsides that were the animals’ death sites. The cost of composting a deer: less than $25 a carcass.

Read the full article in the Cornell Chronicle Online:

With car-deer collisions on the rise, how to get rid of road kill? Cornell spearheads a $25 solution — composting

Jessica Damiano a writer for newsday is blogging about her experiences as a trainee in the Nassau County CCE Master Gardener Volunteer program.

Check out her blog here.

Taking a Class, Joining a Tribe

By ANNE RAVER

WHEN I signed up for a master gardening class last fall, I knew I would fill some of the gaps in my self-education as a gardener, but I didn’t know that I would find such an eclectic family of like-minded souls.

From the New York Times September 13, 2007

The full article

Have you see these resources posted on the Landscape Horticulture’s Program Work Team website?

· Alternative Pest Management Fact Sheet Series.

· Woody Plant Database.

· Weed of the Month Fact Sheets

· Deciduous Woody Groundcovers.

· Groundcover site (perennials, fescues, and other grasses).

· Trees in the Urban Landscape: Site assessment, Design, and Installation.

· Research vs. testimonials - a brief description of the importance of replicated research for evaluating claims of product efficacy

The website is here.

This Extension Aide II position in Cornell’s Garden-based Learning Program is half time and will focus on a Fine Arts and Gardening Project.
It is Req # 07516
If you have people that are interested, please have them go to “Jobs at Cornell” to apply.
http://www.ohr.cornell.edu/jobs/

This story about Cornell students teaming up with our youth development and gardening expert Marcia Eames-Sheavly and NYS communities is the spotlight story on the CCE home page

Read the full story about the adventures of these students.

This is the August edition of Food Citizen column

Written for the Albany Times Union by Jennifer Wilkins a Food and Society Policy Fellow at Cornell University.