meeting for establishing EDRR Strike Team eligible species next Tue., 1/14 and more

Hi all,

 

·         Priority EDRR list committee meeting next Tuesday to revise the species available for FWC’s EDRR Strike Team funding and you are invited! The species the FWC EDRR Strike Team will treat (for infestations <10 acres and meeting a few other criteria) are determined by each CISMA’s priority EDRR list. The committee to revise the Heartland CISMA’s list will meet on Tue., Jan. 14, 2014 at 10am at Circle B Bar Reserve in the conference room at the back of the education center. See the 12/23 email I sent out for links to the FNAI information we started from or, better yet, contact me by Monday and I’ll send you what we’ll be working with on Tuesday. I hope to see you there!

·         FWC volunteers help with invasive species work. Did you know that Ridge Rangers volunteered 541 hours last year on invasive species projects in the Heartland CISMA? Bill Parken, Ridge Rangers Coordinator, can help arrange workdays and now there is a new Southwest Florida Volunteer Coordinator for FWC, Necia Godzisz, who will be focusing especially on invasive species projects and will extend further off-Ridge. Contact Bill (Bill.Parken@MyFWC.com) if you have any need for volunteers for invasive species or other projects and he’ll get you started.

·         FWC tech position available. Jean McColloum will be hiring a full time OPS technician for OK Slough WMA.  She needs someone with mechanical ability, since a major part of the job is keeping our equipment going; the job also includes burning and exotic plant control, a lot of tractor work, etc.  This person would work with her (a team of two) on managing the FWC 3,000 acres.  As of Jan 1st, OPS employees get health benefits, so this is a big plus. People need to apply online : https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/peoplefirst/logon.htm . Select Hendry County, under Biology - OPS Fish & Wildlife Technician  Ignore the West Palm, the job location is near Felda FL in Hendry Co. Closing is Jan 17^th.

·         Pesticide applicator online CEU opportunity. Five TAME Invasives Online CEU courses are now available at http://pesticide.ifas.ufl.edu . Learn how to manage the following invasive plants:  Hydrilla (New), Melaleuca, Brazilian Pepper-tree, Old World Climbing Fern, and Tropical Soda Apple.  CEU’s are available for licensed pesticide applicators for completion of each of these five classes. Please send any questions to Ken Gioeli (ktgioeli@ufl.edu).

·         UF/IFAS PLANT CAMP for teachers.  Please send to any educators (4-12^th grades) that you think would be interested in a free 1-week summer science training with 32 PDPs.  Applications are being accepted through February 24, 2014 and are available at http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/plant-camp-2014

·         4th annual Central Florida Invasive Species Workshop reminder- save the date for Wed., 3/5/14. We’re getting together a great lineup of talks and breakout sessions, including more about Praxelis, best practices for working with contractors,

---

Cheryl Millett Biologist cmillett@tnc.org (863) 635-7506, ext. 205 (Office) (863) 604-3352 (Cell)  (863) 635-6456 (Fax) nature.org Download our Nature Conservancy magazine App FREE for exclusive digital content.

The Nature Conservancy LWR Office P. O. Box 630 Babson Park, FL 33827-0630