Updated USDA Regulations Effective June 27 Will Help Stem the Tide of Harmful Non-Native Plants and Pests

Revised rules will help prevent future infestations of non-native invasive insects, diseases, and plants

ARLINGTON, Va., June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized changes to regulations governing international trade in plants used in gardening and landscape design, which will go into effect on June 27, 2011. The Nature Conservancy has encouraged the USDA to revise these antiquated regulations to improve the ongoing efforts by the Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prevent potentially invasive plants and pests from entering the country. As was recently discussed in a controversial article in the June 9th edition of Nature magazine, the threat of invasive species is easily – and wrongly – confused as the incrimination of all non-native species. In fact, the regulations finalized by USDA-APHIS have put in place new systems that allow imported materials to be judged by their invasiveness potential, not simply by their non-native status.

Originally adopted in 1918 to protect U.S. agriculture from threats like the plant disease that caused the Irish Potato famine, plant importation regulations have remained largely unchanged. During the intervening 90 years, U.S. imports of plants have mushroomed to 1.4 billion live plants and cuttings and bulbs each year. Between just 1995 and 2002, the volume of seed imported to the United States doubled.

The newly revised regulations will give APHIS needed flexibility to act quickly when it detects a potentially invasive plant or pest that is poised to enter the country and cause economic or environmental damage. The rule change, which has been in process for more than six years, will create a new category called "Not Authorized for Importation Pending Pest Risk Assessment," or NAPPRA. Under this new regulation, APHIS can quickly restrict the import of plants suspected of being invasive or carrying pests until the risks they may pose are properly understood and protective measures can be put into place.

Read more here.

Controlled burn planned in Gig Harbor area

6/3/11

Controlled burning is scheduled for June 7-8 on Wollochet Drive NW in the vicinity of Fillmore Street near Gig Harbor. The burning is necessary to prevent the spread of the plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, commonly known as Sudden Oak Death (SOD).

Sudden Oak Death is a serious plant disease that attacks many types of plants and trees common to the Pacific Northwest. The disease cannot be contracted by humans.

read more here on the Pierce County website

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6/8/11 KOMO News

Road crews battling sudden oak death in Gig Harbor

6/3/11 Tacoma News Tribune

Controlled burn planned in Gig Harbor area June 7-8

Slow Sand Filtration Project

Slow Sand Filtration Project for South Carolina P. ramorum-Positive Nursery – The Clemson University Department of Plant Industry strives to protect SC's agricultural resources and natural ecosystems from the introduction and spread of invasive species such as P. ramorum. One nursery in SC has had positive detections of P. ramorum for three consecutive years. While surveys indicate that eradication efforts have eliminated P. ramorum from nursery stock, the pathogen continues to be found in the nursery's water and soil; however, perimeter forest surveys and stream baiting of the river associated with this nursery have all been negative to date.

In an effort to maintain the pathogen-free status of the natural area outside of the nursery, Clemson University researchers and the nursery owner are installing a slow sand filtration system in which all runoff will be directed into a vegetated ditch that will lead to a small retention pond for sediment dispersal. The water from the pond will be pumped into a slow sand filtration system and then drain to another vegetated area for diffusion before entering the river. Each component of the system will be monitored by Clemson University researchers. The nursery and river will continue to be tested for P. ramorum according to USDA CNP protocol and the state compliance agreement. For more information, email Christel Harden.

From the June COMTF Report

P. ramorum in Washington nurseries

A Snohomish County wholesale/production nursery was confirmed P. ramorum positive on May 27^th during an Annual Compliance Inspection. The nursery was previously positive in 2008 and 2010. The Confirmed Nursery Protocol, including delimitation of all stock and collection of trace-forward and trace-back information is underway. Though they are under compliance agreement as an interstate host shipper, the nursery has not made an interstate shipment in the past 12 months. Positive species include Mahonia aquifolium, Gaultheria shallon and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi.

From the June COMTF Report

P. ramorum in Washington waterways

Washington had two repeat P. ramorum-positive waterway detections in May. One of the sites has been positive since 2009 and the other since 2010. Each positive stream feeds into the Sammamish River. Both sites have had positive samples recovered upstream from the confluence of the water course and the Sammamish (baiting by WSDA and WA DNR); the inoculum source for each is unknown.

from the June COMTF report

Oregon nurseries stave off SOD pathogen despite wet weather

Detections down despite cooler, wetter spring weather

By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI

Capital Press

Damp and cool conditions are typically conducive to sudden oak death, but Oregon nurseries haven't seen a surge in the fungal-like pathogen despite the dreary weather this spring.

The disease has been detected at three Oregon nurseries so far in 2011, which is the same number as at this point last year, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

During the entire 2010 season, the ODA's testing program found phytophthora ramorum, which causes the disease, at nine nurseries. That's roughly half as many detections as during the peak years of 2004 and 2005.

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WSU monitoring on Clarks Creek

A link to a page on WSU stream monitoring for Phytophthora on Clarks Creek, Puyallup, WA:

http://www.cityofpuyallup.org/services/development-services/puyallups-stormwater-management-program/clarks-creek-initiative/current-restoration-efforts/