Thank you to our June OISC Meeting Attendees!

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We are wrapping up our statewide Council meeting that took place in Hermiston, OR on June 20 & 21. There was a wide range of invasive species topics covered during the 2-day event. In case you were unable to join us, here are some of the important topics discussed during the Council meeting:

Day 1- Information Forum

Mark Sytsma, Oregon Lake Watch Update

  • Program goal: early detection

  • Description of various aquatic invasive species sampling methods

  • Time and money requirements to run volunteer program

  • List of common aquatic invasive species: plants & animals

  • Limitations to program: equipment costs and time requirements

Rick Boatner, AIS Boat Inspection Updates  | PDF

  • Goal of inspection program: protect state's waters & educate those about aquatic invasive species

  • Last year: conducted almost 17,000 inspections

  • 2 new watercraft inspection stations proposed in Burns & Umatilla

J.D. McComas, Feral Swine Elimination Efforts

  • Feral swine in US: reported in 35 states- population estimated at 6 million

  • National Feral Swine Damage Management Program: $20 million appropriated by congress to USDA APHIS

  • Issues caused by feral swine: damage to agriculture and natural resources, risk of diseases

  • Oregon's feral swine action plan: 3 eradication areas in the state

Working Lunch, Local Issues of Concern | Photo of Notes

Pete Baki, Sage Grouse & Impacts of Invasive Species | Link to ODFW Sage Grouse webpage

  • Greater Sage Grouse: broadly distributed, landscape species – requires large populations in groups in multiple habitat types

  • Sage brush ecosystems: one of the most imperiled in the US- primary threat is invasive annual grasses and the resulting increased fire frequency and intensity

  • Oregon Sage Grouse mitigation program: science-based, transparent, defensible

  • Calculating "functional acres" as a planning tool: can measure changes over time

Tim Bailey, Controlling Yellow Perch Using Tiger Muskies

  • Tiger Muskies: sterile hybrid

  • Determined a low-risk biocontrol

  • Implementation plan: release 1,100 - 25,000 fry/fingerlings- evaluate after 5 years

  • Approach has been successful in western reservoirs- no evident cases on unintended consequences

 

Following the Information Forum, several attendees took an impromptu field trip out to a nearby location that has been invaded by garlic mustard and other invasive weeds. Pictured: Michelle Delepine, Council member & Theodore Orr, Umatilla …

Following the Information Forum, several attendees took an impromptu field trip out to a nearby location that has been invaded by garlic mustard and other invasive weeds. Pictured: Michelle Delepine, Council member & Theodore Orr, Umatilla Co. Weed Supervisor. Photo Credit: Wyatt Williams, Council member.

 

Day 2- Council Meeting Highlights

Strategic Plan & Action Plan Overview

The statewide strategic plan and statewide action plan for invasive species set forth long-term and short-term strategies for invasive species control. The recommendations in the plan are the robust and feasible products of 15 months of collaborative planning among Council members, the Council's Advisory Group, stakeholders, and other entities engaged in invasive species issues. These plans are organized around the following five Objectives:

I. Prevention
II. Early Detection & Rapid Response
III. Control & Management
IV. Education & Outreach
V. Coordination & Leadership

If you are interested in participating in the network to support the actions laid out in the plan, check out the Strategic Plan and Action Plan documents for more information.

Council Member Presentation: Kathy Leopold: Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB)

Photo Credit: Jalene Littlejohn, OISC Coordinator

Photo Credit: Jalene Littlejohn, OISC Coordinator

  • OWEB 101: OWEB is a state agency that helps Oregonians to protect and restore healthy watersheds. Measure 76 gave 15% of lottery revenue to split between PP&R and OWEB. OWEB is led by 17 member oversight board. OWEB has many grant types- not trying for a “one size fits all” approach.

  • OWEB’s Connection to Invasive Species: OWEB funds a lot of weed grants and watershed restoration efforts, which resists invasive weed establishment.

  • Examples of Small Grants that OWEB has funded: instream projects, upland projects, juniper cutting, in-valley manure management, agricultural water projects, and culvert replacements.

Emergency Account Project Updates

Wyatt Williams: Sudden Oak Death
Early detection of the EU1 lineage has made it possible for rapid response and Oregon Department of Forestry is hoping for eradication. It is important to focus on conserving diversity of tanoak.

Tim Butler: Japanese Beetle
EDRR project in Beaverton, OR has been successful so far. Only a couple of holdouts out of 2,388 households. See annual report from ODA (link to PDF).

2015-2016 OISC Report Card Grades

After an engaged discussion and evaluation of Oregon’s invasive species efforts over the last two years, Council members voted on a grade for the state. Stay tuned for the published 2015-2017 report card soon!

Top Invaders

The popular OISC publication “100 Worst List” will be updated soon with a fresh look at the top list of species we need to prevent from taking hold in the state, and the top regional priority management species that should be contained (and hopefully eradicated). This effort will include removing “100” from the title, creating regional lists and developing an online searchable tool that will serve as a resource for and information hub. This topic will be discussed again at the September meeting.

 

Here’s to another successful Council Meeting! We hope to see you at our next meeting in September.

 

*Note: The views and opinions expressed in the attached file(s) or link(s) above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oregon Invasive Species Council. Please contact the author directly if you have any questions regarding the content.