Sampling of Technical Information Centers
Each of the following regional and national Centers and their websites are packed with practical information. Each offers not only specific vegetation management information but available grants, research opportunities, identification guides, other useful links and resources to answer your questions. What you need to know is more about their missions and purpose. Here are some of the details.
REGIONAL
CENTER FOR INVASIVE PLANT MANAGEMENT (CIPM)
www.weedcenter.org
"Working toward desired plant communities"
The CIPM promotes the ecological management of invasive plants in the West through education, by facilitating collaboration among researchers, educators, and land managers, and by funding research projects and weed management areas. Their goal is to advance the ecological management of invasive plants by serving as an information clearinghouse, providing examples of ecological management, and delivering implementation tools and products to land managers. CIPM is a committed, action-oriented clearinghouse. The Center is guided by a private-public sector Steering Committee as well as a Science Advisory Council of experts.
In 2005, the Center developed The Invasive Plant Resource Guide, a Big Book for a Big Problem. If you could only have one book on your shelf about weeds, this would be the one! Do not be surprised when you see your copy of the Big Book, for it is stuffed with 3" of the big picture, resources at risk, tools of the trade, how-tos, and more! It is heavy with applicable information you can begin using immediately! It is gathered in a sturdy three-ring binder and ready to go to work for you! Whether you have questions about the threat to western waters, soil conservation, fire as a tool, best management practices, or how to work with communities, this book covers that ground and more.
MIDWEST INVASIVE PLANT NETWORK (MIPN)
http://mipn.org
Addressing the problem of non-native invasive plants and their threat to the Midwest economy, environment, and human health by providing leadership, facilitating information development exchange, and coordinating regional efforts.
The MIPN, a newer center serving the Midwest region (including Ohio and Ontario), was initiated in 2002 and also is guided by a private-public sector Board of Directors. Its Advisory Council is made up of University experts, federal agencies, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and The Nature Conservancy. The Center continues their Network approach to connect information with people who can use it. Their website provides grant information and website links for more information. At this point in time, they are focusing on early detection and rapid response, education, prevention, research and management issues in their growing efforts and their expanding partnerships. This Center is also a committed, go-to staff, ready for action.
National
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY (TNC)
http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/
The Global Invasive Species Initiative is The Nature Conservancy's response to abating the damage caused to native biodiversity by the human-facilitated introduction of non-native, harmful invasive species.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has become an international conservation organization.
Here in the United States they manage thousands of acres. Their decades of experience in land management have been captured in an electronic handbook, Weed Control Methods Handbook: Tools and Techniques for Use in Natural Areas. Do not let the title deter you from opening this book as soon as possible. It applies to all land managers. The handbook is loaded with all the methods of vegetation management, including herbicide properties. This 2001 handbook should make it to your reference shelf as soon as possible.
The Nature Conservancy website posts many other needed resources. Here you can find photographs of invasive plants and other invasive species. You can peek at the global weed list for a glimpse of potential invaders. Remote sensing is a relatively new tool in our war on weeds and is highlighted on this site. Perhaps the key to success for roadside vegetation managers is mapping or inventorying rights-of-way vegetation to improve management planning. The Nature Conservancy's mapping and data-sharing system, Weed Information Management System (WIMS) is explained. Technical and training opportunities for the WIMS system could be possible through your States TNC office.
PLANT CONSERVATION ALLIANCE (PCA)
www.nps.gov/plants/
To protect native plants by ensuring that native plant populations and their communities are maintained, enhanced, and restored.
The PCA began in 1994 to promote on-the-ground conservation with targeted public outreach to protect and restore native plants. The PCA is a consortium of ten federal agencies and more than 220 non-federal cooperators representing various disciplines like: biologists, horticulturists, resource management consultants, scientists, concerned citizens, gardeners, and non-profit organizations with an interest in native plants. Work groups within PCA include Restoration, Pollinator, Medicinal Plant, Public Outreach and Alien Plant groups. To protect native plants, we all quickly learned that we had to prevent and control the invasion of aliens or nonnative plants.
Weeds Gone Wild is a respected, web-based project of the Plant Conservation Alliance. This site provides information for the general public, land managers, researchers, and others on the serious threat and impacts of invasive plants to native flora, fauna, and ecosystems of the United States. The fact sheets for each invasive plant provide plant descriptions, range, distribution and habitat in the United States, with related links to more information. This is truly a first stop when learning about a new weed in your neighborhood. Fact sheets are available for invasive herbs, vines, shrubs, trees, and aquatics. More resources and benefits can be found on the website.
NATIONAL INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL (NISC)
www.Invasivespecies.gov
The National Invasive Species Council is an inter-Departmental council that helps to coordinate and ensure complementary, cost-efficient and effective Federal activities regarding invasive species. The Council was established February 3, 1999 by Executive Order 13112. Council members include three co-chairs: the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Interior with the secretaries of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury, Transportation, Health and Human Services with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In January of 2001, the Council released the well known National Invasive Species Management Plan. The Council is guides by an Invasive Species Advisory Committee, established to advise the federal government on the issue of invasive species.
The NISC website provides the national direction of the invasive species issue. For in depth references, use the new website, managed by the National Agricultural Library: www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov, a gateway to Federal and State invasive species activities and programs with more information about impacts of invasive species, government response, and links to related information.
