Draft 2 Only - Please Comment: (Orange= Comments added during IPOG work session)
Stop the Spread: Invasive Species Tool Kit for Public Works Crews in NH Communities
Project Proposal
Mar 11, 2011
Purpose: To reduce the spread of invasive plants through providing town department of public works’ crews with further information on identification and best management practices when encountering invasive plants along roadsides and public properties
Project Goal: In partnership with NH’s key players on invasive species education, develop a hands-on, easy-to-use Tool Kit targeted for town public works/highway crews that includes both existing and new materials on the identification and best management practices for the most common invasive plants found along NH road sides.
Potential Partners:
· NH Department of Transportation ~ NHDOT Christine Perron, Senior Environmental Manager, Bureau of Environment, 7 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03302 Ph: (603) 271-3717 Fax: (603) 271-7199
· Coastal Watershed Invasive Plant Partnership ~ (CWIPP) Kevin Lucey Chair, New Hampshire Coastal Program, Dept. of Environmental Services, 222 International Drive, Suite 175, Pease Tradeport, Portsmouth, NH 03801 (603) 559-0026,
· Invasive Plant Outreach Group ~ IPOG Spencer C. Brookes II, Natural Resources Volunteer Project Leader, 56 Burns Hill Road, Wilton, NH 03086, 603-654-6771 H, 603-493-0546 C,
· UNH Cooperative Extension ~ Mary Tebo Davis, Community Forestry Educator 200 Bedford Street, Manchester, NH 03101phone 603-629-9494 x140 fax-629-9998,
· NH Department Agriculture ~ Douglas Cygan, Invasive Species Coordinator/Entomologist II, NH Dept. of Agriculture, (603) 271-3488,
· UNH Technology Transfer Center ~ UNH –T2 33 Academic Way, Durham NH 03824. (T2C)
· NH Division of Forests and Lands ~ AJ Dupere, Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth, NH
Potential Resource Providers & Promoters (Please add contacts with email & phone #s)
· Great Bay Estuary ~ Rachel Stevens
· Local Conservation
· Natural Resource Conservation Service ~ Brook Smart (NRCS)
· NH Audubon
· NH Conservation Assn. ~ Carol Andrews
· NH Fish and Game Dept.
· NH Landowners Association
· NH Timberland Owners Assn
· Public Service Company of NH
· U.S. Fish and Wildlife ~ Jim Oehler, Charlie Bridges
· US Forest Service ~ Florence Peterson (USFS)
· Other Utilities
Partner Contributions:
· Expert technical review
· PR, publicity ~ Fish & Game, UNH Cooperative, SPNHF,
· Distribution ~ UNH T2
· Resource materials
· Add others
Target Audiences
· City/town public works crews (primary audience)
· Independent Contractors
· Landscapers –
· Foresters
· Arborists
· NH Parks
· NH Division Forests and Lands
· Add others
Initial Ideas for Tool Kit and its Contents:
Existing Materials (See IPOG Resources): ~ (need a library of such materials.)
- NH Dept. of Ag. Guide to NH Invasive Species
- Early Detection and Distribution Maps (EDDmaps)
~ Center for Invasive Species & Ecosystem Health
- CWIPP’s practitioner’s guide to invasive species control
- IPOG’s Disposal Fact Sheet
- Others?
New Materials to be” Developed or Updated:
- Cover letter/and Kit Instructions
- “Glove compartment handbook” for highway crews for to be kept in vehicles *(an updated version of NH DOT’s manual: Best Management Practices for Roadside Invasive Plants, Christine Perron would like to update this and make it more useful for crews in the field)
a) May be similar to the USFS laminated cards but includes BMPs
o What activities to do and not do and when.
o Washing the tires, boots as well as the truck.
o Educational tools for BMPs.
o Disturbed lands concerns.
o Controlling Propagation
o Plant eradication methods.
o Specific to each of the species
o Neat Roadsides
b) Should be easy to add to or change and update
c) Focus on most abundant species (see current manual, may add autumn olive or others)
d) May list BMPs seasonally: Roadside work seasons ~ Layout as an outline using this list
e) Other consideration:
a. taxonomy
b. Vehicle observation and practices
c. Washing equipment
d. Recognizing increased cost for practices vs. savings for control?
e. BMP seasonal….
i. Don’t Mow
ii. Cut now
iii. Chemical?
iv.
o Plowing
o Mowing ~ Why?
o Ditch cleaning ~ Why?
o Re-grading ~ Why?
o BMPs
f) May list by type of propagation (spreading patterns)
o Seeds
o Vegetative ~ small segments of plant
o Vegetative ~ root regeneration
o Spreading roots, rhizoids, hair roots
o Controlling propagation
g) May list by Plant Seasons (showing plants appearance in different seasons
o Blooming
o Pre-bloom
o New spring growth
o Fall
o Seed Season
o Dormant plants ~ winter
- Poster to posted in town highway departments: used as highly visual “outreach or marketing tool” to get the attention of those who look at it. (Need to decide what the message should be some ideas include that ties into the tool kit:
a) A catchy title: (Do your part help…. Stop the Spread, Controlling the Unwanted Preventing the Take-over, Weed Warriors (used by other state volunteer programs)
b) Instead of focus on plants, may be the focus is on activity such as mowing or disposal
c) Plants are different. There isn’t one way to “Stop the Spread.”
d) Specific seasonal focus. What to do each season with each plant.
e) Have companion fact sheets that will be available for detailed information.
- Further Information
a) Websites
b) Trainings offered through T-2 and others in conjunction with the tool kit
c) References…. See IPOG Resources Document
d) Why care about this?
e) Other??
Funding Needs:
- Consultant to develop new materials with graphic design expertise
- Packaging and Distribution
- Public relations
Possible Funders:
· Anna and Raymond Tuttle Environmental Horticulture Fund
· IPM grant through NH Dept. of Agriculture
· Others
Next Steps:
· Review and refine this draft with IPOG sub-committee
· Seek partners support
· Seek input from people in the field ~ road agents etc.
· Refine project ideas with a timeline, include presentations, marketing and distribution and long-term follow up considerations
· Define budget and initial grant needs
· Define on-going funding needs
· Seek funding
· Others
Later steps: (from drafts of notes)
· Compile and review existing materials and references
· Hire consultant
· Define how materials are to be distributed Get out the word initiatives for this project
· Presentation at meeting at State, County, Town levels
· Display for conferences & trainings
*Include current invasive listed in DOT Manual with potential additions from the lists below:
1. Top Ten Widespread Invasive Plants (by number of positive counties)
Center for Invasive Species & Ecosystem Health http://www.eddmaps.org/tools/statereport.cfm?id=us_nh
1. Japanese barberry - 10/10 (100%)
2. Canada thistle - 10/10 (100%)
3. ground ivy - 10/10 (100%)
4. purple loosestrife - 10/10 (100%)
5. common mullein - 10/10 (100%)
6. cypress spurge - 10/10 (100%)
7. Japanese knotweed - 10/10 (100%)
8. common St. Johnswort - 10/10 (100%)
9. orange hawkweed - 10/10 (100%)
10. sulfur cinquefoil - 10/10 (100%)
2. Invasive Upland Plant Species (Agr 3800)
http://www.nh.gov/agric/divisions/plant_industry/documents/invasive-species.pdf
Common Name Scientific Name:
Norway Maple Acer platanoides
Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima
Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata
Japanese Barberry Berberis thunbergii
European Barberry Berberis vulgaris
Oriental Bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus
Spotted Knapweed Centaurea biebersteinii
Black Swallow-Wort Cynanchum nigrum
Pale Swallow-Wort Cynanchum rosicum
Autumn Olive Elaeagnus umbellata
Burning Bush Euonymus alatus
Giant Hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum
Dame’s Rocket Hesperis matronalis
Perennial Pepperweed Lepidium latifolium
Blunt-Leaved Privet Ligustrum obtusifolium
Showy Bush Honeysuckle Lonicera x bella
Japanese Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica
Morrow’s Honeysuckle Lonicera morrowii
Tatarian Honeysuckle Lonicera tatarica
Japanese Stilt-grass Microstegium vimineum
Japanese Knotweed Polygonum cuspidatum
Mile-a-Minute Vine Polygonum perfoliatum
Bohemian Knotweed Reynoutria japonica
Common Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica
Glossy Buckthorn Rhamnus frangula
Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora