Invasive Plants- Identification, Early Detection and Reporting

IDENTIFICATION, EARLY DETECTION, AND REPORTING OF INVASIVE PLANTS WORKSHOP ?Hosted by: Marc Eylar, Kittitas Co. Noxious Weed Board and Helen Lau USFS Botanist. About the Program The PNW Invasive Plant Council (PNW IPC) is a non-profit conservation organization (http://www.pnw-ipc.org/) working in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, Washington Dept. of Agriculture (WSDA), county noxious weed boards, and other state and local groups on a Citizen Science EDRR (Early Detection Rapid Response) program. With funding from the NFF, NFWF, WSDA and others we are gearing up for our fifth year to search for priority and newly emerging invasive plants in our National Forests, Parks and beyond. Our mission is to recruit new volunteers and inspire our current volunteer base to search for invasive plant populations. We have specific focal areas in National Forests and Parks, and DNR Natural Areas Preserves but there is a great need to document emerging invasive populations on all public lands. If you are hiking, boating, kayaking, horseback riding or working on public lands and are interested in participating in our program and/or interested in learning more about invasive plants and the problems they cause you are invited to attend. PNW ICP?s Citizen Science Invasive Plant EDRR Volunteer Training Our mission is to train citizens to identify a suite of invasive plants and to take basic data on their location and population numbers so we can inform land managers of their presence which will help lead to their eradication before they spread. We will train volunteers to identify target invasive plants in a 2.5 hour training which includes a PowerPoint presentation and examination of herbarium specimens and live material. Volunteers who sign up for the program will receive a training booklet to help ID species in the field along with survey forms and instruction on how to fill out the survey form. Trainings are intended to equip volunteers with the knowledge necessary to conduct invasive plant surveys on the land volunteers love to recreate in. We hope that each volunteer who signs up will conduct at least 1 to 2 surveys over the field season. Your efforts will directly support the maintenance of healthy ecosystems.