Survey about Invasive Species in a Changing Climate

If you are interested and/or have experience in invasive species management and climate change adaptation, please take 10-15 minutes to participate in a survey about invasive species in a changing climate. This survey will help shape the strategic agenda and action plan for the newly formed Northwest Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (NW RISCC) Network.

The NW RISCC Network is a partnership of several regional agencies and organizations dedicated to helping practitioners address the nexus of climate change and invasive species, including plants, animals, and pathogens. The objective of NW RISCC Network and of the survey is to help practitioners within federal, tribal, state, and local agencies and conservation organizations integrate climate change science and adaptation with invasive species prevention, early detection, control, monitoring, and research activities.

As mentioned above, the NW RISCC Network is seeking input from individuals with an interest and/or experience in invasive species management and climate change adaptation. This includes scientists, resource managers, conservation practitioners, field crew personnel, fire managers, agency leads, agricultural specialists, and more. If you would like to participate, please complete the survey by November 25, 2020. Your responses will be summarized (without names) and shared with respondents. You are also encouraged to forward the survey to others who may be interested in participating.

Click here to take the Climate Change and Invasive Species in the Northwest survey.

Submit Your Comments: Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance

The information below was pulled from The Federal Register: Vessel Incidental Discharge National Standards of Performance.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comment on a proposed rule under the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) that would establish national standards of performance for marine pollution control devices for discharges incidental to the normal operation of primarily non-military and non-recreational vessels 79 feet in length and above into the waters of the United States or the waters of the contiguous zone. The VIDA specifically includes aquatic nuisance species (ANS) in the category of nonconventional pollutants to be regulated through the application of best available technology and best practicable technology. ANS may be incidentally discharged or released from a vessel's operations through a variety of vessel systems and equipment, including but not limited to ballast water, sediment from ballast tanks, vessel hulls and appendages, seawater piping, chain lockers, and anchor chains. ANS pose severe threats to aquatic ecosystems, including outcompeting native species, damaging habitat, changing food webs, and altering the chemical and physical aquatic environment. Furthermore, ANS can have profound and wide-ranging socioeconomic impacts, such as damage to recreational and commercial fisheries, infrastructure, and water-based recreation and tourism. Once established, it is extremely challenging and costly to remove ANS and remediate the impacts. It has become even more critical to control discharges of ANS from vessel systems and equipment with the increase in ship traffic due to globalization and increased trade.

Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before November 25, 2020. Submit your comments to the public docket for this proposed rule, identified by Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0482, at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. All submissions received must include the Docket ID No. for this rulemaking. Comments received may be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. 

For more information on how to submit a comment, please visit: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/10/26/2020-22385/vessel-incidental-discharge-national-standards-of-performance.

American Bullfrog - Invasive Predator

American bullfrog, adult - Photo by Russ Ottens; University of Georgia

Native to the eastern United States, the American bullfrog (Rana catesbeianus; formerly known as Rana catesbeiana) is a highly invasive species in the western U.S., Asia, Europe, and South America. A female bullfrog can lay up to 20,000 eggs at one time, compared to native frogs, which only lay 2,000 to 5,000 eggs. Bullfrogs will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, including their own young. They also aid in the spread of Ranavirus that is infecting native frogs internationally, as well as the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) which threatens native amphibians worldwide.

To see the current distribution of the American bullfrog in the United States, check out the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database Point Map for the American Bullfrog.

Identification

• Egg masses: Black on top and white underneath. They start as a round, basketball-size mass that flattens over time.

• Tadpoles: Dark green with black dots, have orange or bronze eyes and opaque yellow underbellies. Up to 6 inches long.

• Juveniles: Green to brown with small black spots, orange or bronze eyes, and a fold of skin from the eye around the eardrum.

• Adults: 7-8 inches, with large, exposed eardrums the size of their eyes. Green, tan, or dark brown with dark spots and gold eyes.

In order to distinguish the American bullfrog from native frogs, be sure to look up the physical characteristics of our native species (Pacific treefrog, red-legged frog, Columbia spotted frog, Oregon spotted frog, Cascade frog, and others). A good place to start is on the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Frogs and Toads webpage.

What should you do if you think you’ve seen an American Bullfrog?

Positively identify and eradicate bullfrogs when found in the wild. One of the most important aspects of control is to kill adult females as early in the spring as possible (when they first emerge from hibernation) to prevent the large number of eggs that they disperse. It is advised to destroy eggs when they are discovered which are easily identifiable by their large size.

In Oregon, Washington, and California, bullfrogs are classified as a controlled species and people are allowed to trap and kill bullfrogs found in these states without obtaining a permit.

Oregon: Report sightings online or call our hotline: 1-866-468-2337

Washington: Report sightings online

Additional Resources:

• Invasive Species Video - Bullfrogs (Statesman Journal) 

• Don’t Let it Loose OISC campaign page

• Fishing for Bullfrogs OISC News Channel post featuring a video from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

• Invasive Species Factsheet - Bullfrog from Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife

• Aquatic Invasions! A Menace to the West - American Bullfrog Species at a Glance from Oregon Sea Grant

• Stop the Invasion - Bullfrog Factsheet from Washington Invasive Species Council

• American Bullfrogs as Invasive Species: A Review of the Introduction, Subsequent Problems, Management Options, and Future Directions (Snow & Witmer 2010)

The information above was compiled from the USDA National Invasive Species Information Center webpage on bullfrogs, the Washington Invasive Species Council bullfrog webpage, and the Aquatic Invasions! A Menace to the West - American Bullfrog Species at a Glance from Oregon Sea Grant.

Upcoming 2020 OISC Meetings & Milestones

Below is a list of upcoming OISC meetings and milestones. You can find these and other important dates on the OISC Events page. Detailed information on OISC Business Meetings is posted on the OISC Meetings page as it becomes available.

• September 9 (1-4 pm): OISC Virtual Business Meeting - draft agenda available here.

• September 14: Deadline for 2021 OISC member nominations! https://www.oregoninvasivespeciescouncil.org/nominations

• OISC Strategic Plan Working Group Session focused on key topics. The intent of these working sessions is to review strategies & document actions that have occurred 2017-2020. Proposed dates are below:

  • Sept 16 (10a-12p): Forests & Watersheds

  • Sept 18 (10a-12p): Aquatics & Animals

  • October 14 (10a -12p): Agriculture 

• Week of September 21 (scheduling in progress): Ex-Officio voting members review nominations and appoint 2021 members

• September 23 (1-3pm): OISC Communications & Education Committees Joint Meeting 

• September 23-25: Oregon Legislative Days

• Week of September 28: Expected announcement of 2021 membership & 2021 officer (Chair & Vice-Chair) nomination period begins

• December 9 (1-4 pm): OISC Virtual Business Meeting - agenda and conference details coming soon. 

If you would like to participate in any of the Committee or Working Group meetings mentioned above, please email the Coordinator (coordinator@oregoninvasivespeciescouncil.org).

Western Forester Invasive Species-Themed Issue

The Western Forester invasive species-themed issue (April-June 2020) is now available! Click here to view/download.

Issue highlights include:

• Looking to the Past and Future When Managing Invasives

• Alaska’s Chokecherry Trees: From Ornamental to Invasive

• The Cooperative Agriculture Pest Survey: Collaborative Nationwide Monitoring

• A Proactive Approach to Manage False Brome

• Thwarting Invasives in the Pacific Northwest: Success Stories from the Field

• Herbicides are Part of the Forest Manager’s Toolkit

• The Latest News on Invasives in the Pacific Northwest

• Invasives on the Horizon

The Western Forester is a publication prepared approximately quarterly for members of the Society of American Foresters and non-industrial private forest landowners in the Pacific NW (AK, WA, ID, western MT, OR, northern CA).