Updated USDA Regulations Effective June 27 Will Help Stem the Tide of Harmful Non-Native Plants & Pests

Photo of whitetop / hoary cress, Lepidium draba, which is listed as invasive in the state of Idaho as well as WA, OR, CA, AZ, CO, WY and MT.

“Arlington, Va., June 15, 2011. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized changes to regulations governing international trade in plants used in gardening and landscape design, which will go into effect on June 27, 2011. The Nature Conservancy has encouraged the USDA to revise these antiquated regulations to improve the ongoing efforts by the Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prevent potentially invasive plants and pests from entering the country. As was recently discussed in a controversial article in the June 9th edition of Nature magazine, the threat of invasive species is easily – and wrongly – confused as the incrimination of all non-native species. In fact, the regulations finalized by USDA-APHIS have put in place new systems that allow imported materials to be judged by their invasiveness potential, not simply by their non-native status.”

Continue reading about these updated USDA regulations on PRNewswire.

Yellow Finch Enjoying Western Coneflower

A male, yellow finch caught snacking on the Western Coneflower, Rudbeckia occidentalis, outside CSR’s main office in Kimberly, ID. Notice how the birds seem to eat the mature seeds starting from the bottom up!

Restoration with Native Seed

This field is progressing nicely in its native restoration. Conservation Seeding and Restoration Inc seeded a native grass mix and has conducted chemical applications to control annual weeds such as blue mustard and kochia. While there are still plenty of cheatgrass, the Great Basin Wildrye is established and will continue to spread over time as it produces more of its own seed.

Restoration takes patience and work but the rewards are well worth the effort.

CSR Community Garden

CSR folks are enjoying the first year of our in-house community garden!

2011 INPS Photo Contest, Deadline Drawing Near.

Have you submitted your photos for the INPS 2011 Idaho Native Plant photo contest? …The deadline is drawing near…

Idaho Native Plant Society is requesting that INPS members submit photographs of plants native to Idaho to use in an INPS calendar and/or in documents which promote native plants and habitats and bring greater public awareness of the special flora of Idaho.

Who may submit photos?: INPS members or their immediate family members are eligible to submit photos – A maximum of 5 photos per individual please.  (entry form)

What is the deadline date?: Photos will only be accepted until 7/31/2011 in order to give the contest committee time to judge the photos and the calendar committee to produce a 2012 calendar.

Snowberry clearwing, Hemaris diffinis

Snowberry clearwing, Hemaris diffinis (Boisduval, 1836)

Family: Sphingidae
Subfamily: Macroglossinae

Identification: Adults are quite variable in appearance; Bumblebee mimic. The thorax is golden or olive-golden in color, abdomen is black dorsally with 1-2 segments just prior to terminal end being yellow to various extent, while black ventrally. H. diffinis is the only eastern species to exhibit blue abdominal tufts on the first black segment in some freshly emerged specimens. Wings mostly clear with reddish brown terminal borders and dark scaling along veins. While wing maculation is too variable to be 100% diagnostic, diffinis typically has very thin terminal borders and the discal cell is elongate and without scales. However, diffinis can always be distinguished from gracilis and thysbe by two diagnostic characteristics: 1) the black band that crosses the eye and travels down the lateral side of the thorax; 2) diffinis always has black legs.

Life History: Adults fly swiftly during the day. Caterpillars pupate in cocoons spun in leaf litter on the ground.

Wing Span: 1 1/4 – 2 inches (3.2 – 5 cm).

Caterpillar Hosts: Snowberry (Symphoricarpos), honeysuckle (Lonicera), dogbane (Apocynum), and dwarf bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera).

Adult Food: Nectar from flowers including lantana, dwarf bush honeysuckle, snowberry, orange hawkweed, thistles, lilac, and Canada violet.

Habitat:A wide variety of open habitats, streamsides, fields, gardens, and suburbs.

Range: Northwest Territories and British Columbia south to southern California and Baja California Norte; east through most of the United States to Maine and Florida.

Source: Butterflies and Moths of North America

The Nature Conservancy’s 6th Annual Photo Contest

(Photo from Jonathan Hey, 2010 finalist)

The Nature Conservancy invites you to enter your stunning nature photos to their 6th annual digital photography competition.

“We’re looking for beautiful nature photography representing the diversity of life on Earth. Your own original digital images of our lands, waters, plants, animals and people in nature are all eligible for the competition. View past winners!

The winner’s image will be featured on The Nature Conservancy’s website, nature.org, and printed in the 2013 Nature Conservancy calendar — reaching nearly 2 million households worldwide.

How to Enter

To enter one or more images, upload your photo(s) to the Conservancy’s Flickr™ group and tag them with PhotoContest-TNC11 … it’s that easy. Not familiar with Flickr™? Find out more about this easy way to enter.

Or, if you prefer, you can submit your photos using your Facebook log-in or complete our online form and email each photo, one at a time.

The Fine Print

The contest is open to all participants age 18 and older regardless of residence or citizenship, so long as the laws of their jurisdiction allow participation. Photo submissions must be uploaded by 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on September 12, 2011. Please review the full rules before entering. And good luck!”

The Nature Conservancy

SOLV in Oregon

Learn more about what SOLV is doing to combat invasive non-native plants.

“We are Oregonians volunteering to improve the environment and build a legacy of stewardship.” -SOLV.org

Cheatgrass is Extremely Flammable!

(photo)

Dry cheatgrass, nature’s kindling…

Dry cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), is one of the most easily ignitable substances on Idaho’s rangelands. It is the kindling that fuels many of our wildfires. Once ignited, cheatgrass fires travel very fast…faster than you can run!

Don’t start a cheatgrass fire…

Cheatgrass fires have been started by catalytic converters on cars, cigarette butts, welding activities, lawn mowers, bottle rockets and ricocheting bullets. If you are working or playing in cheatgrass country, be extremely careful! Always have water and a shovel near by. Do not park your car over dry cheatgrass. Properly dispose of cigarettes and matches.

Don’t let cheatgrass burn your home…

If cheatgrass is present near your home, remove it from at least the first 30 feet extending from your house and other buildings. Use a lawn mower with a mulching blade or cut it with a weed eater, rake it up, and remove it. Make sure there’s a connected garden hose with a spray nozzle in case there’s an accidental fire start.

What does cheatgrass look like?

Cheatgrass is an annual grass native to Eurasia. It can be several inches to more than 18 inches tall.  Typically, it has a nodding seed head that resembles a  shepherd’s crook. There is often a tinge of red or purple in the leaves. It is bright green in the early spring. However, it quickly dries out and turns reddish brown, and eventually straw color as the summer progresses. The seeds are notorious for getting stuck in socks and dogs’ ears. During drought years, there may be very little cheatgrass produced. During above average rainfall years, however, it grows tall and is abundant.  (original publication: Cheatgrass is Flammable)

 

 

CSR Biology Monitoring

CSR Biology Team conducting a 100m line and 3m transect before heading out to conduct well pad surveying. Learn more about monitoring on this past CSR blog post: Inside the CSR Biology Monitoring