Invasives in the News

By Lisa Eckelbecker

Telegram & Gazette Staff

LINDEN, New Jersey – Jeffrey A. Tandul’s friends like to joke that he’s a “dead tree savant,” able to spot dying trees from blocks away, but on a gray June day he’s more focused on the living.

Mr. Tandul, chairman of the Shade Tree Commission in this...

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The spread of invasive plants will be nipped in the bud thanks to a $2.25 million investment from the provincial government.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced that millions of dollars in funding will be distributed over the next three year in order to help reduce the spread of invasive species in British Columbia.

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If you plan on stacking up some firewood for camping and the backyard fire pit, or simply stocking up before the winter, don’t plan on buying any non-local logs.

You can blame the Asian Longhorned Beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer for a ban on out-of-state firewood and a prohibition on the transport of wood from the neighboring states of Massachusetts and Connecticut across borders...

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"OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- The idea of "all-you-can eat" is a notion eight goats in Ottawa County will enjoy to the fullest this summer as year two of the county's initiative to rid parks of invasive plants gets underway.

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Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has released a guidebook on preparing for the disturbances to our forests caused by climate change, including invasive plants.

News article:

"Vermont leads the nation in promoting climate-smart natural resource management strategies. This first ever state-developed guidebook presents land managers with a menu of strategies to adjust to climate...

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In communities across Vermont trees are marked with orange ribbons and tags exhorting everyone to “Protect This Tree, leave firewood at home”.

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Last year we reported that spiny water flea, an invasive zooplankton, was confirmed in Lake Champlain. Analysis of all samples from August through October has now revealed the remarkable speed at which this nasty crustacean can colonize a waterbody.

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People all over town are asking, what is happening to our trees?

Oak, maple and fruit tree leaves are disappearing. Nowhere is this more noticeable than along the access road from the Jamestown Bridge.

According to Jim Rugh, chairman of the town tree committee, the culprit is a small green worm, the larvae of the winter moth.

“They are those dirty gray moths you see...

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By Joshua E. Brown

A tiny fly from the Pacific Northwest may provide new hope for towering hemlock forests dying along the East Coast.

Deep-green hemlock forests stretch from Georgia to southern Canada. Or at least they used to. Over the last few decades, the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect, has killed millions of these trees as it spreads north and south...

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PORTSMOUTH — It's invasive, insidious and, come to find out, delicious. Fallopia japonica, better known as Japanese knotweed, is a fast-growing, hard-to-kill perennial, that reaches the height of corn stalks, resembles bamboo and has been known to grow through asphalt and floorboards. It can be found in the Great Bay Natural Wildlife Refuge, lining Seacoast riverbanks and...

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DURHAM, New Hampshire — A destructive beetle that targets ash trees — known as the emerald ash borer — may have met its match.

Entomologists believe a wasp may be more effective monitoring the spread of the beetle than standard traps.

Morgan Dube, a graduate student in biological sciences and entomologist with the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets...

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By Vermont Fish and Wildlife

Spring has finally arrived in Vermont, and gardeners and landscapers are eagerly breaking out their shovels in anticipation of the year’s spring plantings.

Beyond the beauty new gardens provide, landscapers can make a big difference for wildlife with the plants they choose, according to Vermont Fish & Wildlife biologist Jon Kart.

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Smelling good is just part of what some beetles must do to find a mate. They have to exude the proper perfume at the right time of day and right season of the year, a UA-led team found.

A longhorned beetle’s sexy scent might make a female perk up her antennae. But when the males of several species all smell the same, a female cannot choose by cologne alone.

For these...

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As the Memorial Day holiday weekend kicks off the summer camping season, New Hampshire authorities are reminding people it's illegal to bring untreated firewood into the state without a written agreement from them. 

It's also illegal to transport hardwood firewood outside of Rockingham, Merrimack and Hillsborough counties to prevent the spread of emerald ash borer, a...

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By Brian Nearing

Albany

The state's new system to confront the invasive emerald ash borer, which relies on quarantine zones drawn around forests known to be infested, is unique among the 25 states in the eastern U.S. where the ash-devouring pest is found.

As a consequence of no longer lining up with federal control rules, the U.S....

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