2009 Cal-IPC Symposium

"Wildland Weed Management
on the Leading Edge"

REGISTRATION | SPONSORSHIP | PRESENTERS | ATTENDEES

The 18th annual Cal-IPC Symposium will be held in Visalia, "Gateway to the Southern Sierra", on October 8-10, 2009! A pre-Symposium Field Course on Advanced Herbicide Control Methods will be held October 7.

The Symposium brings together more than 300 natural resource managers and researchers to discuss the latest developments in the field of wildland weed control and restoration. Join us this year in Visalia!

Call for Papers - due June 19

Share your innovative tools, programs, and research with others in the resource management community. If you're in school, enter our Student Paper Contest. Abstracts for oral and poster presentations accepted through June 19. More info...

Registration and Lodging

Registration is now open - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE NOW. Register before Sept. 5 to receive the early bird discount of $25. We have discounted room prices at the Marriott and the Comfort Suites on site. Visit the Symposium Registration and Lodging page to learn more.

Program

[Full program to be posted in summer 2009.]

Keynote Speaker: Rich Minnich, UC Riverside, presents his new book, California's Fading Wildflowers: Lost Legacy and Biological Invasions. The book casts new light on the historic prominence of forbs in the state's ecosystems, and the devestating impact of invasive plants throughout California. Visit the UC Riverside Newsroom to learn more.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Courtney Albrecht, CA Dept. of Food & Argriculture - CDFA's Noxious Weed rating system
• Athena Demetry, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks - Shifting approaches to invasive plant response in the high country.
• Joe DiTomaso, UC Davis - New tools and techniques in the field.
• Mark Heath, Shelterbelt Builders - Backpacks, grindstones and skid steers: Tools and techniques for long-term restoration success.
• Nicole Heller, Climate Central - The promise and pitfalls of species distribution modeling to predict future invasions.
• Beth Leger, Univ. of Nevada, Reno - Adaptive value of remnant native plants in invaded communities: An example from the Great Basin.
• Rick Rayburn, California State Parks - Climate change: Strategies to managing biodiversity through acquisition and restoration
• Paula Schiffman, CSU Northridge - The roles of animals and disturbance in plant invasion: Lessons from the Carrizo Plain.
• Joel Trumbo, CA Dept. of Fish & Game - The wildlife and environmental impacts and fates of herbicides

Discussion Groups: Weed mapping; Monitoring and follow-up; Field tools; Next steps for research needs; Careers roundtable; and more...

Field Trips: Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks, Kaweah Oaks Preserve, and Atwell Island (see below).

Sponsorship and Exhibits

Consider sponsoring the Symposium! Each year, diverse organizations support the conference and Cal-IPC by becoming Symposium sponsors. Four levels of sponsorship are available, with most levels providing exhibit space at the Symposium. All sponsors receive an organizational membership in Cal-IPC, recognition in the Symposium packet and Cal-IPC News, at least one free admission to the Symposium, plus other benefits based on level of sponsorship. More info...

Awards

Each year, Cal-IPC honors members for exceptional achievements at the Symposium banquet. See the Awards page for a description of each award, past winners, and instructions for submitting nominations.

Special Events and Activities

• Wildland Weed Field Course: Wednesday Oct. 7 join us to learn from experts in the field about Advanced Chemical Control Methods. More info...
• Photo Exhibit & Contest: Our annual photo exhibit gives amateur photographers a chance to show off their best plant and people photos. Symposium attendees vote for favorites in a variety of categories. Please contact Bree Richardson with your submissions. Download this PDF for more spefics about entering the contest. Topics include:
  • Landscape - demonstration of major invasions
  • Specimen - close-up of a plant or plant part
  • Impacts - capturing the ecological or economic costs of invasion
  • Before/After - show us your weed control success
  • Weed Workers - two legs, four legs, or more!
  • Humor - you should see the entries we get in this one! Let's see yours.
• Raffle: Each year, the Symposium features the fabulous Cal-IPC raffle and auction. We are seeking your donations of books, tools, art/crafts, vacation stays, local products, gift certificates - anything a weed worker could want is fair game. Items may be sent to the Cal-IPC office or brought to the Symposium. Please contact Tanya Meyer if you have something to donate.
• Field Trips: Saturday field trips visit local weed managment projects and areas of scenic interest, and extend your opportunity to socialize with colleagues and local experts. Space is limited - register early.
  
  Reed canarygrass removal from Kings Canyon National Park

  Photo: Athena Demetry, NPS
  • Grand Weed Tour: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (8 am - 5:30 pm) On our way to the high country, we will tour a community-led project to control arundo and yellow starthistle, and hear about a USGS study on post-fire control of Italian thistle. We'll lunch near Round Meadow and the Giant Forest, home of the world's largest tree, and talk about control of bull thistle and non-native grasses. Then on to Grant Grove to see a project controlling reed canarygrass that is aggressively invading mid-elevation meadows. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks website
  • Kaweah Oaks Preserve and Atwell Island (8 am - 4 pm) - Start the day by heading into the Tulare Basin to visit 7,000-acre Atwell Island where restoration of marshes, sloughs and ponds provides important wetland habitat. Preserve managers and local naturalists will share the natural history of this bountiful region, and describe how they are making restoration work within the region's agricultural economy. Then back to the 324-acre Kaweah Oaks Preserve which protects one of the last remaining valley oak forestes in the San Joaquin Valley. Sequoia Riverlands Trust staff will discuss timed grazing, prescribed burns, and other management of invasive species. Kaweah Oaks Preserve website, Atwell Island website
  • Winning Public Support: Sequoia National Parks (8 am - 1 pm) - We will carpool to the Giant Forest area of Sequoia National Park to meet retired park naturalist Bill Tweed, co-author of Challenge of the Big Trees: A Resource History of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Bill will share insights from recent and historical episodes in the parks' resource management, and lead a discussion on the roles that cultural perceptions play in our work. We will finish with lunch in the park - you can head back to town or stay in the park to explore more on your own. Giant Forest Trails website

Student Activities

Cal-IPC strongly encourages students to attend our annual Symposium. We offer discounted registration for students, we host a student lunch on the second day of the Symposium, and we sponsor the Student Paper Contest. Find out more about the contest on the Information for Presenters webpage.

Did you know there is a Cal-IPC Student Chapter? See their website or contact them at calipcsc@gmail.com.

---

Archived Symposium Proceedings
Presentations, proceedings and working group notes for previous years' symposia:
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2000-2002 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995