Newsletter Vol 23 Issue 2, 2015 – California Invasive Plant Council

Vol. 23, No. 2

Summer 2015

Cal-IPC News
Protecting California’s Natural Areas from Wildland Weeds
Newsletter of the California Invasive Plant Council

Burning

wildland weeds

Wildland firefighters conduct a prescribed burn of
European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria) along
the coast at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Burning
can be an effective part of an integrated management approach, but concerns about containment
and air quality make permissions difficult to
obtain. Photo by Morgan Ball.

INSIDE
Protecting military lands p. 4
Calflora’s Weed Manager p. 6
CDFA adds noxious weeds p. 7
2015 Symposium in San Diego p. 8
Simplified restoration permitting p.10
Weedspotting down under p.13

From the Director’s Desk

Activism vs. managerialism
Cal-IPC
1442-A Walnut Street, #462
Berkeley, CA 94709
ph (510) 843-3902 fax (510) 217-3500
www.cal-ipc.org info@cal-ipc.org

Protecting California’s lands and waters
from invasive plants
STAFF
Doug Johnson, Executive Director
Elizabeth Brusati, Senior Scientist
Agustín Luna, Director of Finance & Administration
Bertha McKinley, Program Assistant
Dana Morawitz, Program Manager
for GIS and Regional Conservation
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jason Casanova, President
Council for Watershed Health
Jennifer Funk, Vice-President
Chapman University
Steve Schoenig, Treasurer
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Jutta Burger, Secretary
Irvine Ranch Conservancy
Morgan Ball
Wildlands Conservation Science
Tim Buonaccorsi
RECON Environmental, Inc.
Gina Darin
California Department of Water Resources
Jason Giessow
Dendra, Inc.
Elise Gornish
UC Davis, Dept. of Plant Sciences
Shawn Kelly
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project
Drew Kerr
Invasive Spartina Project
Ed King
Placer Co. Ag. Commissioner’s Office
Annabelle Kleist
Capitol Impact

By Executive Director Doug Johnson

n our last issue, I wrote about the split between “intrinsic” and “instrumental”
rationales for protecting nature. Basically, should we protect nature because it has an
intrinsic right to exist, or because our quality of life depends on a healthy environment?
My short answer was, “Yes to both.”
A related split occurs when we communicate about protecting the environment.
A recent article in the Earth Island Journal, “The New Greenspeak,” asks whether the
professionalization of the environmental field has swamped our communications with
the language of green “managerialism.” We take “strategic approaches” to delivering
“conservation outcomes.” We protect “ecosystem services” and “natural capital.” Does
such language, as Orwell warned, hide true meaning? Do we risk diluting the passion
that drives a gut-level commitment to activism on behalf of the environment?
Again, my answer would be that we need both. We absolutely need communications
that tap into our connection with the natural world around us. That potent biophilia is
a central part of what makes us human, and the activism it fuels is critical for lessening
the damage we do (both to other organisms with their intrinsic right to exist as well as
to the resources on which we depend).
However, we also need to operate in the world of business. The very fact that today
one can make a living by working to protect the environment represents significant
progress. But such work requires funding, whether through agency budgets, foundation
grants, or donor contributions. To secure this funding, products must be delivered,
conservation outcomes must be met, there needs to be a good return on investment.
After all, we need to put our funding where we think it can do the most good. And using more managerial business terms reflects an awareness of how “the real world” works
(though we may believe the actual “real world” lives far beyond business conventions).
As long as we maintain the ability to communicate our connection to nature, it can
be useful to create handles like “ecological services” that convey the tangible benefits we
receive from pollinators, upper watersheds, and other things we don’t always remember
to credit for our quality of life. Those of us working to “manage” wildlands just need to
remember to keep feet in both worlds.

Dan Knapp
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
John Knapp
The Nature Conservancy
Virginia Matzek
Santa Clara University
David McNeill
Baldwin Hills Conservancy
STUDENT LIAISONS
Marina LaForgia
UC Davis
Justin Valliere
UC Riverside

Affiliations for identification purposes only.

Cal-IPC News

Summer 2015 – Vol. 23, No. 2
Editors: Doug Johnson & Elizabeth Brusati
Published by the California Invasive Plant Council. Articles may
be reprinted with permission. Previous issues are archived at
www.cal-ipc.org. Mention of commercial products does not
imply endorsement by Cal-IPC. Submissions are welcome. We
reserve the right to edit content.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Dedicated volunteer Jim Roberts
pulls Algerian sea lavender
(Limonium ramosissimum), an earlyeradication species, near Mission Bay
in San Diego. San Diego’s 50-year
Multiple Species Conservation
Plan stands as one of the country’s
most advanced planning efforts for
protecting biodiversity, forming
the perfect backdrop for this year’s
Symposium and parallel conference
on the future of habitat conservation
planning. Photo by Carolyn Martus.

Cal-IPC Updates
WCB funds Humboldt/Del Norte.
Cal-IPC worked with partners in the
Humboldt and Del Norte Counites
WMAs to propose a region-wide eradication project for knotweeds, arundo, rush
skeletonweed, and shiny geranium. On
May 21, the state’s Wildlife Conservation
Board approved $450,000 for the fiveyear project.

Wildland
Weed News
Home Depot signs on. The hardware
giant has officially joined the PlantRight
partnership, committing to carrying only
non-invasive plants for landscaping in its
California stores.
Cal-IPC connecting. Cal-IPC recently
attended conferences of the California
Council of Land Trusts, the California
Native Grasslands Association, the Bay
Area Open Space Council, SERCAL, and
the National Park Service’s “Science for
Parks, Parks for Science” conference at
UC Berkeley.

Pulling leading-edge yellow starthistle
under native shrubs in Tahoe National
Forest. Photo by Kathy Van Zuuk, USFS.
2015 Sierra work. Cal-IPC will again
be funding treatment of early eradication
targets in Sierra counties thank to grants
from the Wildlife Conservation Society,
the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation,
and the US Forest Service, State & Private
Forestry Program. Additional work this
year includes the California Conservation
Corps removing musk and Canada thistle
at the Smithneck Creek Wildlife Area in
Sierra County.
Wildlife Action Plan. Cal-IPC drafted
a chapter on invasive species for the
California plan, which sets priorities for
the California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife. A
draft is out for public comment until July
2. Managing invasive species is the most
cited action submitted by regional work
groups around the state. See story page
14. www.wildlife.ca.gov/SWAP

body of existing studies, which to-date
have not been deemed sufficient to
support such a determination. The US
EPA is expected to formally respond.
USDA weed unit expands. The
Agricultural Research Service unit
headquartered in Albany (with staff also
located at UC Davis) works on biocontrol
agents for weeds and other critical topics.
They are hiring a new research leader, and
have funding to expand the unit’s work
to include biocontrols for insect pests and
pollinator health. Cal-IPC served on the
interview panel for the research leader.
NFWF grants to California. The
National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
made grants for early detection/rapid
response in the Mid-Klamath and Salmon
River watersheds, and eradication of dune
and tidal marsh weeds in Humboldt Bay.

WMA funding. State Senator Cathleen
Galgiani (Stockton) worked with Cal-IPC
to submit a letter to legislative leadership
that $2.5 million be provided to CDFA’s
Weed Management Area program from
the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

New medusahead resource. UC Davis
has developed a slide show with notes and
a handout covering medusahead ecology
and control. Download from the Weed
Research & Information Center, wric.
ucdavis.edu.

New projects. Cal-IPC has new grants
supporting: risk assessment for emerging
invasive plants; development of a national
standard for assessing and listing plants;
outreach to landscape designers regarding
plants in horticulture; and a Wildland
Volunteer Network in the San Francisco
Bay Area.

Aquatic weeds police. US Forest Service
law enforcement officers in the Pacific
Northwest are now authorized to enforce
aquatic invasive species laws on National
Forests. The one-year trial aims to provide
leverage for public education.

Other News
California Invasive Species Action
Week is June 6-14. Year two of the event
sponsored by the California Dept. of Fish
& Wildlife, established to increase public
awareness of invasive species issues and
encourage the public to take action in
preventing their introduction and spread.
A student art contest, “Don’t be a vector!
Be a protector!” is open to grades 2-12.
Cal-IPC drafted the legislative resolution
formally declaring the week. www.wildlife.
ca.gov/CISAW
WHO determination on glyphosate. An
international panel for the World Health
Organization has declared that glyphosate
“probably causes cancer.” Their detailed
report has not yet been published. The
determination is based on the extensive

New wooly mullein resource. Volunteer
Richard Calkins has developed a webpage
and flyer for control of Verbascum
thapsus in the Sierra. Though the weed
is widespread in California, removal
can help limit its spread into new areas
and reduce fire danger from dried
stalks that firefighters have referred
to as “matchsticks”. Richard hopes to
enlist outdoor recreationists in removal
from campgrounds and river banks. See
woolymullein.info.

Keep Current!
Remember to check your
membership status on the mailing
label of this newsletter. You can
renew online or with the enclosed
envelope. Thank you for your
membership!

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Cal-IPC partners to protect military lands
By Elizabeth Brusati, Cal-IPC

brought in with military activities, the
ilitary installations cover a large
worked to refine the information into a
amount of land—Camp Pendleton first detection of this grass in North
set of recommended high-priority species
America. Barbed goatgrass was found at
in San Diego County alone covers 200
for early eradication and surveillance. This
square miles—and like
complements the
all land-management
priorities that bases
agencies, they have
already have estabto contend with
lished to control
invasive plants. Land
more widespread
management on
weeds.
military installations is
An important
conducted to maintain
aspect of our
the military mission.
approach was
How do invasive plants
to incorporate a
cause problems for
regional perspective
the military mission
beyond the installaof an installation? At
tion itself. Effective
Fort Hunter Liggett
management
in Monterey County,
requires looking
yellow starthistle tears
at source populaparachutes during traintions and dispersal
ing exercises. At Beale
vectors off-base.
Air Force Base, invasive
Many military
yellow starthistle creates
installations are
hazards on their runbordered by public
Yellow starthistle creates a safety hazard for aircraft by attracting birds near the
ways. On other bases,
lands and while the
runway at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County. Photo by Beale AFB.
invasive grasses create a
agencies coordinate
Detachment Fallbrook in 2006, likely
fire hazard, a serious concern in a place
on some things, they don’t often discuss
where live ammunition is used. Military
brought in with cattle grazing, and is the
invasive plants. Early detection is more
only known population of this major
installations also protect habitat for
effective when multiple organizations are
weed in southern California.
endangered species, from California least
looking out for the same species, and by
Over the course of 2014, Cal-IPC
terns to Quino checkerspot butterflies. In
establishing lists of high-priority species
worked with six military installations
2005, the National Wildlife Federation
with regional input groundwork has been
report “Under Siege” described the effect
in California to enhance their strategic
laid for collaborative landscape-level work
approach to invasive plant management,
of invasive species on bases across the
to identify and treat new weeds promptly.
with an emphasis on early eradication
U.S.
The results were in some cases immediate.
and surveillance. While helping these
Like any other place, military bases
Natural resource managers at Fort Hunter
are vulnerable to incursion from invasive installations, the project used these case
Liggett detected stinkwort (Dittrichia
plants through traffic and land managestudies to develop an approach that can
graveolens) for the first time after the spement activities. Some bases have frequent be transferred to other military instalcies was described by a regional partner.
traffic; some receive training vehicles
lations. We received funding from the
Beale AFB added the species identified
Department of Defense Legacy Natural
from far away. Camp Pendleton, one of
onto their list for mapping by an environthe busiest military bases in the country,
Resource Program (Project 13-621).
mental consulting firm.
In partnership with natural retrains 60,000 service members each year.
New linkages were made through the
sources management staff at each instalFort Hunter Liggett, an Army Reserve
regional coordination prompted by this
garrison, hosts training events for the FBI, lation, we used the Cal-IPC Inventory,
project. In San Diego, for example, the
county sheriffs and other law enforcement CalWeedMapper, Calflora and local
San Diego Management and Monitoring
agencies. This traffic can result in new
interviews to conduct a full inventory of
Program had developed a list of priority
invasive plant species that could impact
introductions. For instance, Pentameris
invasive plants for western San Diego
the installation. From this foundation we
airoides (annual pentaschistis) was likely
County. Three participating installations

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

special one-day conference for planning professionals:

Habitat Conservation Planning and
Invasive Plant Management
October 29, San Diego Convention Center

ith this year’s Symposium set
for San Diego, ground-zero for
habitat conservation planning, Cal-IPC
is holding a special one-day conference
on habitat conservation planning and
its role in invasive plant management.
This special one-day conference, held
in parallel with the first day of the
Symposium, will explore synergies
between the evolving worlds of habitat
conservation planning and landscapelevel invasive plant management.
Success stories from regions across the
state will set the stage for discussing
how tomorrow’s planning can most

in San Diego County have now integrated
this priority list into their installation’s
priorities. State Parks personnel in the
county were working with Cal-IPC
to develop early detection lists and
identification guides, so we were able to
incorporate military staff into the process.
This resulted in surveillance guides that
can be used by multiple organizations to
educate field workers, including invasive
plant contractors or biologists conducting
species surveys.
The project strengthened connections
between the installations and neighboring
agencies and regional organizations such
as the Weed Management Areas and
Resource Conservation Districts. In some
cases our meetings provided the first time
that neighboring land managers had met
each other in person. Ideally the relationships established in the process will
continue, and having these new priorities
in place will enable the installations to
acquire funding for their invasive plant
management.

Acknowledgements
Thank you to the installation staff
who worked with us: Arlene Arnold

(Warner Springs), Deborah Bieber
(Camp Pendleton), Chuck Carroll (Beale
AFB), Kim Guilliam (Fort Hunter
Liggett), Dawn Lawson (US Navy), Ryan
Lockwood (Detachment Fallbrook),
Luanne Lum (Vandenberg AFB),
Austin Parker (Camp
Pendleton), Rob Pike
(Fort Hunter Liggett),
Lauren Wilson (US Air
Force), and Christy
Wolf (Detachment
Fallbrook). Thank
you as well to all of
the partners from
other agencies who
attended meetings
and provided information. Funding
was provided by
the Department
of Defense
Legacy Natural
Resources
Program
(Project
13-621).

effectively support future efforts to stop
the spread of wildland weeds.
With HCPs, NCCPs, MSCPs,
RAMP, and now the Strategic Growth
Council’s statewide effort for integrated
regional planning… how will evolving
planning efforts mesh? Given new tools
for designing effective landscape-level
invasive plant management projects,
how can we move beyond site-specific
mitigation to distributed mitigation that
takes advantage of key early-eradication
opportunities? Join us for this special opportunity for setting future direction for
environmental protection in California!

Surveillance guides will help installation staff and neighboring organizations identify species of concern for
early detection and rapid response.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Calflora’s Weed Manager expands tools for tracking weeds
By Cynthia Powell, Calflora

alflora has rolled out a new tool
called Weed Manager! Based
originally on the GeoWeed tool, but
developed to function “in the cloud,”
Weed Manager is a system that provides a
suite of individual applications that allow
those in the field to track information,
including management history, for their
weed management projects.
Many public agencies and private
organizations in the Cal-IPC community have helped plan and finance
Weed Manager. This has helped make the
tool flexible so that it can work for any
agency and situation. Weed Manager can
be adapted for your workflow. You can
choose which data fields and attributes
to collect in the field, matching the data
collection protocol your organization
requires. It is also easy to share data and
results with other agencies or to keep
them private.
Weed Manager benefits from Calflora’s
existing database of over 2 million plant
observations, as well as Calflora’s mobile
and desktop features. The 2 million
records in Calflora include feeds from
the Consortium of California Herbaria
(specimens), iNaturalist, and Calflora’s
free smartphone apps.

Weed Manager is available now!
www.calflora.org/entry/
weed-mgr.html.
Here’s what some of our early users
have to say. One user says, “‘Spray and
pray’ wasn’t good for our budget, and
Weed Manager provides us with an
effective tool to track our weed infestations.” Ed King from the Placer County
Agriculture Department says,“I’ve been
using Weed Manager beta for a year now,
and it’s helped me consolidate, organize
and keep track of my invasive plant data,”
Weed Manager is set up to track weed
infestations and treatments over time.
Each treatment record can be entered into
a “history stack” for a given population.
You can even re-draw polygons around
an infestation each year as it’s treated

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Observer. Pro. Observer Pro is available
for all Android smartphones and tablets,
without requiring a data plan. Data may
be collected in the field, with polygon
drawing over cached maps, then uploaded
to Calflora when back within WiFi range.
Observer Pro fields are set up to mirror
each agency’s custom data collection
choices. Observer on the iPhone is not
yet designed for Weed Manager but is
effective for simple data collection.
Please contact Calflora to find out
more about how Weed Manager can help
your organization effectively track invasive
plant management!
Contact Cynthia at cpowell@calflora.org.

Taking data in the field with Observer
Pro, part of the Weed Manager suite of
applications. Photo by Cynthia Powell.
to gauge reduction in area. Cal-IPC
and regional partners are already using
these functions for tracking progress on
collaborative landscape-level projects.
Organizations maintain the option
of sharing the data they collect with
other organizations, with other Calflora
users, and with other systems such as
CalWeedMapper. Each organization configures how they want to use the system.
For instance, some organizations want
two or three photos per field observation, some require percent cover as well
as number of plants, and some require
treated surface in square feet and ounces
of chemical used. Calflora allows custommade forms for each agency to fulfill
these needs, while core data fields remain
standardized to enable data exchange and
integration.
As part of Weed Manager, Calflora
offers two smartphone apps, Observer and

Calflora is an equal opportunity provider
and employer. Calflora would like to thank
the following agencies for supporting the
development of Weed Manager: National
Park Service, Marin County Parks, Placer
County Agriculture Department, US Forest
Service, Yosemite Conservancy, Marin
Municipal Water District, and Cal-IPC.

CDFA expands noxious weed list and revises process
By Dean Kelch, Primary Botanist, California Dept. of Food & Agriculture

he official list of noxious weeds in
the California Code of Regulations
is found in Agriculture Section 4500. So
we often talk about “4500 list weeds” to
indicate weeds that are under the highest
regulatory control in California. If a plant
occurs on this list, it cannot legally be
grown, sold, or imported into California.
Nurseries must be relatively free of such
pests. Landowners should control any
such weeds on their property and should
definitely prevent their spread to neighboring properties.
Though the Section 4500 noxious
weed list has been in broad agreement
with the California Dept. of Food &
Agriculture’s (CDFA) internal weed

ratings, over the years
the internal list has
grown to include
some A- and B-rated
weeds not included
in Section 4500.
Therefore, we recently
updated Section 4500
to include these weed
species (see below for
added species, and
www.cdfa.ca.gov/
plant/IPC/encycloweedia/weedinfo/
winfo_table-sciname.
html for the complete Spongeplant is now listed. The aquatic weed joins water
hyacinth and Brazilian waterweed in the Delta. Photo by
list).
USDA-ARS.

Species added to the list of noxious weeds for California in 2015:
Aeschynomene spp.
Asphodelus fistulosus
Brachypodium sylvaticum
Centaurea jacea s.l. (including C.
pratensis, C. nigra, and C. nigrescens)
Coincya monensis
Dittrichia graveolens
Euphorbia dendroides
Fallopia bohemica (=Reynoutria
bohemica; Polygonum bohemica)
Galega officinalis
Hydrocharis morsus-ranae
Leptochloa chinensis
(=Dinebra chinensis)
Limnobium laevigatum
Ludwigia decurrens
Ludwigia hexapetala
Mercurialis ambigua
Nymphoides peltata
Parthenium hysterophorus
Rhagadiolus stellatus
Saccharum ravennae
Salvinia auriculata s.l.
Tribolium obliterum
Volutaria canariensis
(now thought to be V. tubuliflora)

joint-vetch
onionweed
slender false-brome
meadow knapweed, black knapweed,
brown knapweed
star-mustard
stinkweed
tree spurge
Bohemian knotweed
goatsrue
frogbit
Chinese sprangletop
South American spongeplant
winged water-primrose
water-primrose
Spanish mercury
yellow floating heart
Santa Maria feverfew
star endive
ravennagrass
giant salvinia
Capegrass
Canary Island knapweed

The official “4500 list” overlaps in part
with Cal-IPC’s Invasive Plant Inventory,
but they have significant differenences.
As a nonprofit organization, Cal-IPC
does not have regulatory authority, while
CDFA does. In terms of scope, Cal-IPC
focuses on impact to wildlands while
CDFA is required to focus on pests to
agriculture, although it has broadened its
emphasis somewhat in recent years.
The system for assigning ratings to
weeds (and other pests) for CDFA also
has been revised. Now a risk assessment
will be performed for each potential
pest and a rating (or no rating) will be
proposed. Each draft pest rating proposal
will be posted for a 45-day public comment period. After that, an official rating
will be assigned. Ratings can change as
new information is acquired or changes
in status occur. Only a few pests have
been evaluated under this new approach
so far, but the list will grow with time.
Pest ratings will be reviewed and revised
as necessary at intervals. The pest rating
webpage can be found at www.cdfa.ca.gov/
plant/regs_pestrating.html.
Contact Dean at dean.kelch@cdfa.ca.gov.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

2015 Cal -IPC Symposium

Plus special one-day
parallel conference on
habitat conservation
planning on Oct. 29 See page 5!

San Diego
Oct. 28-31, 2015
www.cal-ipc.org/symposia

Join fellow land managers, researchers, and conservationists at the San Diego Convention Center
to catch up on the latest findings in invasive plant biology and management!
We’ll have it all: speakers, posters, discussion groups, exhibitors, field trips, trainings, awards, photo
contest and our annual social hour with silent auction and raffle! (We will apply for DPR continuing
education credits, including 2 hours of Laws & Regulations.)
And this year, we also feature a parallel one-day conference on Habitat Conservation Planning
(see page 5). The events overlap so attendees can intermix and attend sessions of their choice.
Wednesday, October 28

Saturday, October 31

Trainings (day)

Paper and poster sessions

Field trips (to be confirmed)

– Strategic Approaches

Discussion groups

– UAV demonstration

– Calflora’s Weed Manager

Habitat Conservation Planning
special conference (Thu.)

– Rancho Jamul

Social hour and raffle (Thu.)

and SoCal Botanists is leading a trip to Baja California

DPR Laws & Regs session (eve)

Thursday/Friday, October 29-30

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

– Cleveland Nat’l Forest

Register by September 28 for the early-bird
discount. Other discounts are available
to members, students, presenters, and
Symposium volunteers.

www.cal-ipc.org/symposia

Lodging

We have a discounted room block at the Sofia
Hotel (below), 10 blocks from the Convention
Center on San Diego Bay. Take the trolley or
walk through the historic Gaslamp Quarter.
Make your reservations by Sept. 27! Visit our
webpage for travel and lodging information.

Learn from instructors (and attendees!) Photo by Bob Case.

Catch up with colleagues… Photo by Bob Case.

Include…
Invasive Plant Management Tools & Techniques
New Research on Invasive Plants
Unmanned Aerial Systems in Conservation
Strategies for Eradication Success
Desert Weeds of Alta and Baja California
Preventing the Next Invaders
The Future of Habitat Conservation Planning
…and more!

Trainings

Expand your invasive plant management skills
at a training on Wednesday, Oct. 28
Strategic Planning for Invasive Plant
Management (full day, Mission Trails Reg’l Park)

Sponsor

Symposium sponsors receive complimentary
registrations, exhibit space, recognition at
the Symposium and Cal-IPC organizational
membership. Visit our webpage or contact us at
symposium@cal-ipc.org for information.

Fun

Social hour with
raffle and silent
auction

Photo by Dana Morawitz.

Sessions

Awards
Photo contest
Downtown San
Diego

Calflora’s Weed Manager (half day, site TBA)

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Simplified permitting for small restoration projects
By Elizabeth Brusati, Cal-IPC, with information from Erik Schmidt, Sustainable Conservation

rojects for invasive plant control
often require environmental permits
from state or federal agencies. These may
include permits/compliance required
under the Federal and California
Endangered Species Acts, California Fish
& Game Code, Federal Clean Water Act,
and California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) for starters. Such permitting
often represents a sizable portion of the
work needed to move a project through to
implementation.
This has presented a barrier for the
many restoration projects that are small

and occur voluntarily on private lands.
Even for this type of environmentally
beneficial work, obtaining the proper
permits can take years, discouraging many
landowners (and even larger organizations) from pursuing projects in the first
place.
The Habitat Restoration and
Enhancement Act (Assembly Bill 2193)
provides for a simpler and faster permitting process for small restoration projects.
It was sponsored by the nonprofit
Sustainable Conservation and signed into
law by Gov. Brown in 2014 with support

from Cal-IPC, the California Native Plant
Society, Resource Conservation Districts,
land trusts, and other organizations. The
new permit through the California Dept.
of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) provides a
more efficient process for compliance with
the Section 1600 Lake and Streambed
Alteration Agreement (LSAA) and Section
2081 California Endangered Species Act
(CESA), which is required when the project area overlaps with listed species and
wetlands. It applies to voluntary restoration projects that cover no more than five
acres or 500 linear feet of streambank or

Permitting for small restoration projects (less than 5 acres), such as removing this pampasgrss infestation in San Diego, just got
easier. AB2193 combined three permits into a single streamlined application process. Photo by Jason Giessow.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

shoreline. It can be used on projects such
as removing invasive plants, increasing
native vegetation along stream corridors,
improving aquatic habitat, reducing
sediment and pollution in waterways, and
removing fish passage barriers.
Erik Schmidt, Senior Conservation
Strategist at Sustainable Conservation in
San Francisco, assists agencies with developing simplified regulatory approaches
and assists property owners and partner
organizations in using these approaches
to complete restoration projects more
efficiently. He believes that many small
invasive plant management projects may
be able to qualify for the new AB2193
approval process and other programmatic
permits.
The five-acre limit applies to the
net area of direct impact of the project.
For example, patches of invasive plants
scattered through a larger area can qualify
if the total acreage of the plants to be
removed, along with any site access areas
affected by the project, is less than five
acres. Similarly, the 500 linear foot limitation on stream bank or shoreline applies
to the cumulative total of the treatment
areas affected by the project. It is important for the organization conducting the
work to map the project area before the
permit application is completed, calculate
the acreage, and submit documentation
such as maps and explanatory text with
the application.

Programmatic Permits
The Habitat Restoration and
Enhancement Act approval is one of
several programmatic permits or authorizations that are available around the
state to make regulatory compliance for
voluntary restoration projects simpler.
Programmatic permits are “pre-written”
and can apply to a range of restoration
projects in all of California or a particular
region. Using these permits requires less
time and money because the applicant
understands what is required upfront,
and can design a project to include
the agencies’ species, water quality and
other protection measures without going
through the time-consuming back-andforth regulatory process – including an
extended wait for final project approval.

However, using these permits requires
the applicant to have a complete project
description and application in place for
agency review, unlike individual project
permitting where significant modification
of the project may be allowed based on
input from the agency staff reviewing the
application.
Three other programmatic permits
that may be useful for invasive plant
management projects are the CEQA
15333 Categorical Exemption, the State
Water Resources Control Board 401
General Water Quality Certification, and
the NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinions
for the North and Central Coasts.
CEQA 15333 is a Categorical
Exemption for small-scale habitat restoration projects that cover less than 5 acres
and create no significant or cumulative
impact after all included protection
measures are implemented. If your project
is less than 5 acres, and you can ensure
adequate environmental protection
measures such that the work will not have
significant impacts, you should consider
this exemption instead of a more timeconsuming and costly environmental
document. Project proponents taking this
route should also consider using the State
Water Board’s General Order for 401
Water Quality Certification, and the new
AB2193 process for section 1600 (Lake
and Streambed Alteration Agreement)
and 2081 (CESA incidental take permit)
permitting from CDFW, if needed.)
To use 15333, a Notice of Exemption
(NOE) must be filed by a public agency
acting as the “lead agency;” a Resource
Conservation District (RCD), flood or
water district, or open space district can
fill this role for sites on private land. This
exemption can be used for work at several
sites grouped as one “project” provided
the total size is less than 5 acres. The
15333 exemption might be appropriate
for an early-detection/rapid response
project that is dealing with small, incipient weed populations.
The State Water Resources Control
Board 401 General Water Quality
Certification provides permit coverage
under section 401 of the Clean Water
Act for habitat restoration projects
smaller than five acres and 500 cumulative
linear feet. A Notice of Intent (NOI) for

qualified projects must be filed with the
Water Board by project applicants.
The NOAA Fisheries Biological
Opinions (BOs) are issued by the
National Marine Fisheries Service of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. They apply to habitat
restoration work along streams with
anadromous fish (primarily salmon
and steelhead) in coastal and Bay/Delta
counties. Currently the BOs apply from
the Oregon border to San Luis Obispo
County; counties south of San Luis
Obispo to the Mexico border may be
added in summer 2015. In addition,
the California Coastal Commission has
approved a programmatic authorization
for restoration projects funded or using
technical assistance from the NOAA
Restoration Center (NOAA RC), a nonregulatory program of NOAA Fisheries,
that are located in the Coastal Zone,
where obtaining Coastal Development
Permits for restoration work can be
challenging.

For more information
Sustainable Conservation’s Accelerating
Restoration Program (including a
list of all programmatic permits and
authorizations for restoration): suscon.org/
watersheds/acceleratingRestoration.php
Habitat Restoration and Enhancement
Act – process and application:
www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/
Environmental-Review/HRE-Act
State Water Board: www.swrcb.
ca.gov/water_issues/programs/cwa401/
generalorders_wb.shtml
Contact Erik Schmidt at eschmidt@suscon.
org or (415) 977-0380 x334.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Early detection/rapid response around the state
South Coast

Moroccan knapweed in Orange County. In our
last issue, we described work on removing Canary
Island knapweed (Volutaria canariensis) in the
desert at Anza-Borrego State Park. The same plant
has now been found in Orange County, and the
California Dept. of Food & Agriculture determined that plants from both locations are actually
V. tubiliflora. For details on removal work by the
Orange County Chapter of CNPS visit www.
occnps.org. Photo by Ron Vanderhoff.

Volunteers with the San Diego River Park Foundation (SDRP) learn
about new invasive plants as part of their early detection program. Twice a
year volunteers with the SDRP walk a section of the river and record invasive
species, trash, and other environmental concerns. Work this year on several
high-priority species is being funded by Cal-IPC with a grant from the
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project. Photo by Carolyn Martus.

Central Coast

Old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba) is
invading riparian areas near Santa Cruz,
including seven miles along San Vicente
Creek. The vine, native to Europe and
Southwestern Asia, climbs and covers
native vegetation. It is designated a
noxious weed in the states of Oregon and
Washington. Photos by Ken Moore.

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Weedspotting down under
By Steve Schoenig, California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife

n September 2007 I had an amazing
opportunity to fly halfway around
the world to Perth, Australia for a global
conference on the ecology and management of invasive plants. I had long known
about the many great invasive species
programs operating in Australia, but at
that conference learned about some new
ones that are pretty amazing. The Weed
Spotters’ Network Queensland really
impressed me for its ability to channel
volunteer efforts into a highly-effective,
well-structured program that goes way
beyond simple “crowdsourcing” into a
facilitated multi-tiered network. What
follows is material derived from their
newsletters and websites.
The Weed Spotters’ Network is a
joint project between the Queensland
Herbarium, the Queensland Dept.
of Agriculture & Fisheries and local
governments with funding support from
the Queensland Land Protection Fund.
The Network aims to find, identify and
document those new occurrences of
potential weeds at an early stage so that
preventative actions can be taken. It seeks
to continue a community-based weed
alert system in Queensland,
based on the

model developed by the
previous Cooperative
Research Centre for
Australian Weed
Management.
Queensland is one
of eight mainland states
and territories that
make up Australia. At
715,309 square miles it
is about four times the
size of California, with
only one-eighth of the
population. Queensland
is on the northeastern
An invasive cactus identification training.
corner of the continent
and is comprised of
in activities outdoors and join to stay
arid desert lands, a moderate dividing
informed about emerging weed issues in
mountain range, and tropical rain forest
their region. Weed Spotters report, collect,
in the north.
identify and deliver specimens of potential
The Weed Spotter program is a threenew and emerging weeds in their region.
tiered system. First, a statewide coordinaThey help to educate the community and
tor, Dr. Melissa Laidlaw, works out of
notify Biosecurity Australia and other
the Queensland Herbarium. Second, 22
authorities of outbreaks needing control.
regional coordinators are the local weed
The Network makes a large number of
experts able to answer questions about
significant finds each year. For example,
training, specimen preparation and weed
in 2013 they reported 92 notifications
identification in each area. They help
of 49 species, including 11 Weeds of
identify and filter Weed Spotters’ speciNational Significance, 8 species on
mens and pass them onto the Queensland
the Northern Australian Quarantine
Herbarium. They also provide feedback
Survey, and 12 species on the National
to weed spotters in that region about new
Environmental Alert List. Dr. Melanie
and emerging weeds found, and help with
Laidlaw, the Network’s Coordinator, says,
training, resources, and accessing govern“Queensland is a vast state of diverse
ment information.
landscape and climates, much of which
Finally, the Weed Spotters themselves
is remote from cities and towns. Our
include more than 1,000 individuals
dedicated biosecurity staff and local
who have received training. They can be
pest management officers rely on Weed
landholders, gardeners or members of
Spotters and the broader community
community groups such as Landcare
to complement their work by bringing
Queensland, Bushcare, Society for
new and emerging weed threats to their
Growing Australian Plants, along with
attention.”
Australian, state and local government
Weed Spotters website:
officers, industry representatives, and
www.qld.gov.au/environment/
anyone else interested in weeds and
plants-animals/plants/herbarium/
plants. Many members are weed
weed-spotters/
professionals who work with weed
identification, management and
Weed Spotters Guide:
control on a daily basis. Others
www.wsq.org.au/Publications/CRC%20
encounter weeds while taking part
WS%20regional%20guide_WEB.pdf

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Provide input to state’s Wildlife Action Plan
From: https://calswap.wordpress.com

he California Department of Fish
and Wildlife (CDFW) has released
the draft California State Wildlife Action
Plan 2015 Update (SWAP 2015) and is
seeking public input. Public input will
help shape the final SWAP 2015, which
will be completed by October 2015. The
draft SWAP 2015 is available online at
www.wildlife.ca.gov/SWAP. Written comments on SWAP 2015 can be submitted
on the website, by emailing SWAP@
wildlife.ca.gov or by mail to SWAP 2015
Update, California Department of Fish
and Wildlife, 1416 Ninth Street, 12th
Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814. The
comment period is open from May 18
through July 2, 2015.
SWAP 2015 is a comprehensive,
statewide plan for conserving California’s
fish and wildlife and their vital natural
habitats for future generations. It is part
of a nationwide effort by all 50 states and
five U.S. territories to develop conservation action plans and participate in the
federally authorized State and Tribal
Wildlife Grants (SWG) Program.
Congress created the SWG program
in 2000, recognizing the need to fund
programs for the conservation of wildlife
diversity. California’s first SWAP was completed by California Department of Fish
and Game (now CDFW) and approved
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) in 2005. CDFW has received
approximately $37 million in federal support for the state’s wildlife conservation
activities through the SWG program from
2005 through 2014. The SWG program

Individual Membership
Stewardship Circle
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$ 500
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Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

requires that SWAPs be updated at least
every 10 years. CDFW has now prepared
the draft SWAP 2015, which is the first
comprehensive update of SWAP 2005.
SWAPs are required to include provisions
to ensure public participation in the
development, revision and implementation of projects and programs.
Public meetings to provide information about SWAP 2015 will be held in
Sacramento, Oakland, San Diego and Los
Angeles. See www.wildlife.ca.gov/SWAP
for more details.
The draft SWAP is available at: www.
wildlife.ca.gov/SWAP/Interim-Products
Comment period open until July 2

Cal-IPC perspective… and
what you can do!
The SWAP provides a blueprint for
future action by CDFW, the Wildlife
Conservation Board, conservancies,
and other agencies and programs that
include wildlife protection as part of their
mission.
Invasive plants clearly damage wildlife
habitat. The regional workshops held as
part of the SWAP process demonstrate the
level of concern on the ground. Table 4.1
in the draft document shows that among
pressures on wildlife, invasive species was
by far the most oftened mentioned, with
strategies of direct management, management planning, partner engagement, data
collection and analysis, and outreach and
education being among the most mentioned strategies.
This on-the-ground reality should
be reflected in the overall findings of the
report. The report should explicitly state
that invasive species management is a
top priority to protect wildlife, and that
resources need to be dedicated to addressing this challenge.
There are specific chapters for each
region of the state, listing priority conservation actions, including some on invasive
species. Cal-IPC members can review the
actions prioritized for their region and
comment accordingly.

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Thank You for Supporting our Work!
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Organizational Supporters

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2015 Spring Campaign
Our 2015 Spring Campaign raised
$43,000 through more than 300 contributions to strengthen decision-support
tools like CalWeedMapper that lay the
strategic foundation for landscape-scale
early-eradication projects acoss the state.
Thank you for your support!

Supporters:
ACS Habitat Management
Cabrillo National Monument
Claremont Canyon Conservancy
CNPS Sierra Foothills Chapter
County of Lake Agricultural
Commissioner’s Office
Ecological Concerns, Inc.
Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Inyo County Water Department
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Mission Trails Regional Park
Natomas Basin Conservancy
New Irvine Ranch Conservancy

Nomad Ecology
Orange County Parks
Pesticide Research Institute
Placer County Dept. of Agriculture
Restoration Design Group
Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency
San Joaquin Regional Conservation
Corps
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Sweetwater Authority
The Nature Conservancy-California
Tule River Indian Tribe
West Coast Watershed

Lake Forest, CA
www.naturesimage.net

Cal-IPC News Summer 2015

Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Berkeley, CA
Permit No. 1435

California
Invasive Plant
Council
1442-A Walnut Street, #462
Berkeley, CA 94709
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Your mailing label includes your membership
renewal date. Renew online at www.cal-ipc.org
or by using the envelope included inside this
newsletter. Thank you for your membership!

The WILDLAND WEED CALENDAR
California Invasive Species Action Week
June 6-14, statewide
www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Invasives/
Action-Week

Ecology & Management of Alien Plant
Invasions (EMAPi 2015)
September 20-24, Waikoloa, HI
www.emapi2015.hawaii-conference.com

UC Davis Weed Day
July 16, UC Davis
wric.ucdavis.edu

CNPS Vegetation Rapid Assessment
Mid/late October, Redding
cnps.org/cnps/education/workshops

UC Davis Weed Science School
August 18-20, UC Davis
wric.ucdavis.edu

North American Invasive Species
Management Association (NAISMA)
October 18-21, Vancouver, Canada
www.naisma.org

Nevada Medusahead Symposium
October 26-29, Reno, NV
agri.nv.gov/Plant-Industry
Cal-IPC Symposium
October 28-31, San Diego
www.cal-ipc.org/symposia
Tamarisk Coalition
February 9-11, 2016, Grand Junction, CO
www.tamariskcoalition.org

“The wildest and remotest places on Earth, the most imperiled species on Earth, the chain of life sustaining
human life on Earth will be protected only if urban people care about nature.”
~ From “Urban Protected Areas: Profiles and Best Practice Guidelines” recently published by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“If you keep hitting the plant with a right hook, you can beat the population down to a point, but you need
to switch it up with some uppercuts to finish the job. There’s never one silver bullet that will fix the problem.”
~ Jon Hall, Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, talking about experimental treatments for
removing invasive veldt grass in coastal sand dunes. New Times, 4/1/15.