It's National Invasive Species Awareness Week

Hi Everyone,




Feb 25th - March 3rd is National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW). If, like me, you are unable to travel to Washington, D.C. to join events there you can join several webinars to learn about some of the latest research on invasive species management. They are available at this link: https://www.nisaw.org/




You may be thinking February is not the time of year to manage invasive species, especially work involving plants; however, it is a great time of year to review past efforts, and plan invasive species work for the growing season.  Many landowners in Indiana are doing just that. In addition to planning for upcoming work, we are excited to announce that Indiana is rolling out the Indiana Invasives Initiative (III) and participating in Weed Wrangle Indiana®.


http://www.sicim.info/.

The III is a far reaching and ambitious project with a goal of having every county in Indiana represented by a Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) over the next 5 years.  These CISMAs will help enhance, expand and maintain healthy lands and waters through management of invasive species. For information please check http://www.sicim.info/. I will blog more about this project throughout the year. In the past 12 months since it started 10 CISMAs have been added to Indiana and much invasive species work has been done!

Weed Wrangles® are events held across the nation that are designed to bring communities together to learn about and manage invasive plants. Indiana will hold several Weed Wrangle Indiana® events this year. Our initial spring line-up includes the following:

 

April 12, 9AM-Noon: Weed Wrangle Indiana® at the Sanctuary Oaks Nature Preserve, Shelburn, IN. Please contact Amber Slaughterbeck at amber@sicim.info for additional information.


April 13, Noon-2PM: The Johnson County (CISMA) in conjunction with the Soil Water Conservation District and Johnson County Parks will hold a Weed Wrangle Indiana® at the Johnson County Park in Nineveh, Indiana. Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/342768659664194/


April 4, 2PM-5PM: The Orange County CISMA will hold a Weed Wrangle Indiana® at the Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest in Paoli, IN. Please call 812-203-3033 for more information.


May 4, Time TBD. The Johnson County Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (CISMA) in conjunction with the Greenwood Stormwater Operations & Nature Center at 225 S. Washington Street, Greenwood, Indiana will hold a Weed Wrangle Indiana®. Please contact Dawn.slack@tnc.org for more information.


May 18, 9AM-Noon, The Morgan County CISMA will host a Weed Wrangle Indiana® at the Old Town Waverly Park in Martinsville, IN. Please contact David Mow at David.mow@att.net for additional information.


May 18, time TBD. A Weed Wrangle Indiana® in Indianapolis along the Urban Wilderness Trail at Ensign Graham Edward Martin Park south of 16th Street. Additional details coming soon. Please contact KIB at https://www.kibi.org/

Additional Weed Wrangle Indiana® events will be forthcoming. Please check the Indiana Invasive Species Council (IISC) calendar at https://www.entm.purdue.edu/iisc/ or the Southern Indiana Cooperative Invasives Management (SICIM) calendar at http://www.sicim.info/ for events around the state.


I hope to see you at a Weed Wrangle Indiana event or a CISMA event in 2019.


Dawn