In This Issue
- Q - 37 Efforts Underway
- Solid Wood Packaging letter
- "Don't Move Firewood" Web site
- NISC Consensus Letter
- Federal Appropriations Increase Encouraged
- Mayoral Resolution
June Pest Quiz!
What invasive moth can cause lung damage if its shed hairs are inhaled in large quantities?
Answer in the next newsletter...
About the Editor
Leigh Greenwood, editor of the Continental Dialogue newsletter, works as an outreach specialist for The Nature Conservancy. She lives in Missoula, MT and enjoys gardening, skiing, and thinking about how to protect our nation's forests!
As a member of the Continental Dialogue on Non-native Forest Insects and Diseases, you have been subscribed to our new electronic newsletter.
This newsletter will feature upcoming opportunities for you to get involved in workgroup actions, the accomplishments of your fellow Dialogue members, and a few short features for us to get to know each other better. This is your newsletter, so if you ever want to contribute, email the newsletter editor, Leigh (lgreenwood@tnc.org) and she will work to include your update, story, or question in the next edition.
Q - 37 Efforts Underway
Members
of the
Prevent Introduction of New Pests and
Diseases workgroup (#1) have been working very hard on
the multi-state campaign promoting the Consensus Recommendations
developed by the Dialogue ... [read more]
Solid Wood Packaging letter prepared for the Secretary of Agriculture Sixteen groups signed the Limit the Spread (#2) workgroup’s letter to the Secretary of Agriculture encouraging the adoption of domestic standards for solid wood packaging based on existing international standards... [read more]
"Don't Move Firewood" Web site is on the Move
Members
of the Communicate and Market Key Ideas about Protecting Forests
workgroup (a combination of workgroups #6 and #3b) are happy to say that
the "Don't Move Firewood" Web site is rapidly moving forward.
..
[read more]
NISC Consensus Letter Finalized
The
Authorize New Federal Action
workgroup (#4) focused its most recent efforts on the draft 2008-2012
National Invasive Species Management Plan
... [read more]
Federal Appropriation Increase Encouraged by
Dialogue Members
Members of the Dialogue have been actively lobbying Congress in an
effort to encourage increased funding…
[read more]
Mayors from Major US Cities Sponsor Forest
Pest Resolution
Thanks to a diverse group of Dialogue members, the upcoming US
Conference of Mayors will feature a proposed resolution regarding forest
pests' impacts on city trees...
[read more]
Save the Date for Annual Meeting (full story)
The Continental Dialogue’s annual meeting will be November 12th and 13th, 2008. We expect the meeting to be held somewhere in the Midwest, within easy reach of a major airline hub. Updates on our annual meeting will be found on the Annual Meeting page of the Continental Dialogue Web site.
Changes in Dialogue Web site (full story)
Finished workgroup products are now easily located on the Workgroup Products page of the Continental Dialogue Web site. With this feature, we hope to encourage the sharing of these documents both within and to other partners of the Dialogue. This addition is featured in our new “What’s New” box on the first page of the Web site. The most pertinent and newest pages on the site will be featured here for your reference. If you ever have a suggestion for how we could improve the Web site, please email Leigh at (lgreenwood@tnc.org).
Q - 37 Efforts Underway (full story)
Members of the Prevent Introduction of New Pests and Diseases workgroup (#1) have been working very hard on the multi-state campaign promoting the Consensus Recommendations developed by the Dialogue regarding plants for planting... The first visit to Indiana (by Faith Campbell of The Nature Conservancy) went smoothly, with Faith encountering a positive reception from various stakeholders. Groups such as the Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Native Plant Society expressed their interest in the consensus recommendations, and were encouraging of our efforts. Faith hopes to visit three more key states (FL, GA, and OR) to promote the Consensus Recommendations that Workgroup #1 developed.
Each potential partner will be encouraged to contact U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Edward T. Schafer to help expedite the Q - 37 rulemaking, and if partners are willing, to promote the acceptance of the Consensus Recommendations. To simplify and align the messages that partner organizations are spreading, they will be provided with white papers, the Consensus Recommendations, talking points, and other materials. This will allow partners to rapidly and conveniently take action to promote the revision of Q-37 and potentially advocate for the adoption of the Consensus Recommendations on the behalf of their organization. To see both a short version and the complete PDF of the recommendations, click here. Already, staff of The Nature Conservancy in Virginia are carrying the effort on their own.
To date, letters have been sent to Secretary Shafer by the Virginia Division of Forestry and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Indiana chapter of the Society of American Foresters, and Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society.
Additionally, we are attempting to get Op-Eds in local newspapers in coordination with our visits, and are in the process of placing quarter page eye-catching advertisements that explain in laymen’s terms the importance of our efforts.
If you are interested in this campaign and would like more information, contact Faith Campbell (fcampbell@tnc.org).Solid Wood Packaging letter prepared for the Secretary of Agriculture (full story)
Sixteen groups signed the Limit the Spread (#2) workgroup’s letter to the Secretary of Agriculture encouraging the adoption of domestic standards for solid wood packaging based on existing international standards... By adding their signatures to this letter, these sixteen members will help the recommendations gain traction and aid in preventing the spread of new forest pests. As a member of the Continental Dialogue, you are encouraged to attach your signature to letters that your group decides to support.In brief, the letter states, “The undersigned organizations would like to offer our support for adopting the ISPM 15 international standard for solid wood packaging as a U.S.-wide standard for domestic solid wood packaging and pallets as a proactive approach to limiting the domestic spread of these pests. Further, we urge that ISPM 15 wood pallet and container treatment requirements be implemented as a U.S.-wide domestic standard within the next 24 months.” The letter is expected to be sent to the Secretary on June 12; after that date you will be able to access this document on the Workgroup Products page of the Continental Dialogue Web site.
If you would like to contact the leader of workgroup #2, please email Carl Schulze (carl.schulze@ag.state.nj.us).
"Don't Move Firewood" website is on the move (full story)
Members of the Communicate and Market Key Ideas about Protecting Forests workgroup (a combination of workgroups #6 and #3b) are happy to say that the "Don't Move Firewood" Web site is rapidly moving forward... This Web site strives to be at the cutting edge of conservation initiatives; ideally, this workgroup’s innovative approach will serve as an example for future actions that extend beyond the Continental Dialogue.
The “Don’t Move Firewood” Web site is part of a campaign designed to transcend a typical informational site. Numerous advanced “Web 2.0” technologies such as blogs, Facebook-style interactive sites, and viral videos (such as those found on YouTube) are in development to self-propagate our message to our target audience. This Web site will serve as a starting point for larger efforts to engage firewood users of all stripes with the message that the movement of firewood is a threat to the health of our nation’s forests.
One crucial element to this Web site will be keeping the content current and topical. To that end, we are actively seeking volunteer bloggers. Anyone with an interest in forest health issues is welcome- you, your colleagues, or your graduate students might all make good bloggers. All that is required is that they have the time and desire to write a one to four paragraph article roughly once a month on virtually any topic that pertains to the spread of forest pests and firewood. It will be fun and quick to be a guest blogger on our new site! Please email Leigh Greenwood (lgreenwood@tnc.org) if you want to volunteer or learn more.
Additionally, workgroup leaders Jodie Ellis and Frank Lowenstein have submitted a proposal for funding to expand the scope of the Web site. The proposal’s scope includes a nationwide database of firewood regulations, as well as unconventional advertising efforts with the goal of driving more visitors to the Web site.
We look forward to aligning this Web site with the Union of Concerned Scientist’s firewood pledge and email campaigns. If you have any other suggestions, ideas, or if you would like to become involved in this campaign, please email Jodie Ellis (ellisj@purdue.edu) or Frank Lowenstein (flowenstein@tnc.org).
NISC consensus letter finalized (full story)
The Authorize New Federal Action workgroup (#4) focused its most recent efforts on the draft 2008-2012 National Invasive Species Management Plan… First, members of the workgroup successfully requested an extension of the comment period. Immediately following that effort, the workgroup used the additional time to draft a letter to Lori Williams (NISC Executive Director) covering the five long-term Strategic Goals in the revised management plan.
The letter emphasized a few key points: invasive species issues are in need of greater priority by federal agencies; greater resources will be needed to support those efforts; and without additional funding and greater agency commitment the likelihood of success will be no greater than for the original plan. To see the full text of the letter, visit the Workgroup Products page of the Continental Dialogue Web site.
The 13 signatories of this letter are a diverse group of Continental Dialogue members, which will certainly add weight to this document. Special thanks to Michael Buck, Faith Campbell, Rick Krause, Terry McDill, Ken Rauscher, and Lin Schmale for their outstanding efforts in the creation of this very important letter. If you have questions about this letter or wish to have more involvement with workgroup #4, please contact group leader Terry McDill (teresa.mcdill@state.mn.us).
Federal Appropriation increase encouraged by Dialogue members (full story)
Members of the Continental Forest Dialogue have been actively lobbying Congress in an effort to encourage increased funding… for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) programs targeting the eradication of the Asian longhorned beetle and the management of emerald ash borer, sudden oak death, and Sirex woodwasp. In February, 16 Dialogue members signed a joint statement in support of APHIS funding for these pests [see APHIS statement here]; 14 member groups signed the statement on USDA Forest Service (USFS) funding. [see USFS statement here] Congressional staff members have been quite impressed by the number of groups and the breadth of interests represented- a testament to the effectiveness of the Dialogue approach!
A sub-team consisting of Faith Campbell of TNC and a hired lobbyist, Rick Pasco of McLeod, Watkinson & Miller has met with more than 100 offices to educate them about the threat these pests pose and the importance of adequately funding APHIS’ response. Nadine Block of AF&PA participated in two visits and was joined by her colleague Brett Smith in meeting with staff representing House subcommittee ranking Republican Jack Kingston of Georgia.
Faith Campbell of The Nature Conservancy, Nadine and Brett of AF&PA, and Gene Cross, Harry Fulton, and Mike Evans of the Plant Board; Michael Buck, Mike Countess, Ian MacFarlane, and Leah MacSwords of the National Association of State Foresters played crucial roles in communicating with key offices, especially in the South where we are trying to get first-time appropriations to address the Sirex woodwasp.
Our combined efforts resulted in 23 senators signing a letter to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee that was sent on 24 April. Four of the signers are on Appropriations (Durbin, Mikulski, Specter, Reed); 5 are on Agriculture (Lincoln, Stabenow, Brown, Casey, Lugar). Twelve House members signed the companion letter in that chamber.
It is too early to know whether these efforts will bear fruit in the form of increased appropriations- conflict between Congress and the President could mean that it is unlikely that an appropriations bill will be signed before January 2009. However, the staff we are meeting with, our professional lobbying colleagues, and others all agree that our continued presence is important to provide a foundation for the future.
It is also clear that we are helping our issue get much more attention than ever before. Many of these offices confess that they are learning about the threat from pests to their state for the first time.
Rick and Faith will probably ask you in coming months to provide information about the value of various vulnerable tree types in your state so that future fact sheets and letters can refer to this vital information.
Special thanks to Nadine Block and Faith Campbell, the primary authors on these two crucial letters. If you have questions or would like copies of the letters please contact group leader Faith Campbell (fcampbell@tnc.org).
Mayors from Major US Cities Sponsor Forest Pest Resolution (full story)
Thanks to a diverse group of Dialogue members, the upcoming US Conference of Mayors (USCM) will feature a proposed resolution regarding forest pests' impacts on city trees... Members of the Continental Dialogue were crucial in every step of this resolution's journey thus far; Dialogue members participated in the initiation (Martin Hamburger), writing (Faith Campbell, Joe McCarthy and Frank Lowenstein), promotion (Leigh Greenwood and Joe McCarthy) and co-sponsoring (John Hieftje) of this resolution.
In brief, the proposed resolution states, “The
USCM affirms its support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS’s
efforts to address the critical threat of non-native insects and
diseases affecting trees, and the USCM calls upon Congress to provide
enhanced resources for the U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS’s
Emerging Plant Pests Program in future appropriations bills." If
you wish to read the resolution in full, please email
lgreenwood@tnc.org to have her
send you a copy. The proposed resolution will be presented to the USCM
for an up or down vote during the annual conference June 20th to 24th,
2008.
This resolution has a very impressive list of co-sponsors, thanks in large part to the involvement of Dialogue members. It is lead-sponsored by Mayor Begich of Anchorage AK. The six additional co-sponsors are: Mayor Hieftje of Ann Arbor, Mayor Daley of Chicago IL, Mayor Hannemann of Honolulu HI, Mayor Nickels of Seattle WA, Mayor Bloomberg of NYC NY and Mayor Fargo of Sacramento CA.
You can look forward to hearing more about the outcome of the resolution vote in our next Continental Dialogue newsletter!