[MAIPC] FW: [vnps-pot] Fw: A Short Summary and Call to Action for 3 Bills Related to VNPS Mission

Sun Jan 24 01:28:02 PST 2016

Thanks Ruth,

See http://www.vnps.org/  for JB and more. 

Marc

From: Ruth Douglas [mailto:cvilleruth at embarqmail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 11:09 PM
To: 'Marc Imlay' <ialm at erols.com>
Subject: RE: [MAIPC] FW: [vnps-pot] Fw: A Short Summary and Call to Action for 3 Bills Related to VNPS Mission

Marc, thanks for spreading the word, but just curious, why didn’t you put the other 2 items in your email?

Ruth

Getting Rid of Japanese Barberry: Why and How

 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berberis_thunbergii_(1).JPG> 

Japanese barberry, (Berberis thunbergii). Note the slightly elongated, oval-shaped berries. Photo credit: Wikipedian in Residence in Botanical Garden Jevremovac

Japanese barberry, (Berberis thunbergi), arrives in the woods by birds eating the fruits in winter and pooping/planting them. It can grow in full shade and established woods. Nobody, (especially not deer), eats the leaves or the prickly twigs. It can root where branches touch the ground and where seeds are dropped in place to make eventually an extensive, dense cluster. Its leaves break down quickly and raise the nitrogen level in the soil, encouraging earthworms and discouraging native woods plants. It offers mice shelter from predators, encouraging them to congregate and share germs. Its dense foliage keeps the area underneath it moist so that ticks can be active almost all the time.

Research by Tom Worthley, ( University of Connecticut Dept of Extension in College of Agriculture & Natural Resource), Scott Williams, ( University of Connecticut Dept of Natural Resources & Environment), and Jeffrey Ward (Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station Dept of Forestry & Horticulture), found:

o    120 Lyme infected ticks per acre where barberry was “not contained”

o    40 Lyme infected ticks per acre where barberry was “contained”

o    10 Lyme infected ticks per acre where barberry was absent

So that’s why I pull barberry at <http://www.nature.org/photos-and-video/video/fraser-preserve-fairfax-county-virginia>  Fraser Preserve every January & February.

 <http://vnps.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/barberry-in-snow.jpg> 

Potowmack chapter removes barberry at Fraser last year. A little snow is helpful, but you can’t pull barberry if the ground is frozen.

I’ve often said that we can work with snow on the ground. Snow actually insulates the ground and keeps it from freezing; it also increases contrast and helps you spot the small barberry sprouts. But we can’t work when the ground is frozen. Last year I had to cancel half the work sessions I’d scheduled because of frozen ground: you just can’t pull plants from frozen ground. The tops just break off and leave the crown of the plant behind, which leaves it alive and harder to pull the next time you try. Other years only one or two scheduled workdays have had to be cancelled: we really don’t get a lot of ground freezing around here, especially not in the woods with a good layer of leaf litter. The barberry at Fraser is not found in bare ground locations where the ground would freeze more readily.

Barberry is what Alan, (Alan Ford, Potowmack Chapter President), calls a “crown plant:” you kill it by removing the junction between the topgrowth and the roots. Often it’s easiest and causes less soil disturbance if you clip the roots and just remove the crown. It does not grow back from bits of root left in the ground. It does grow from seeds dropped under larger plants, so that it is very worthwhile to return to places where there were large plants or patches to pull sprouts until the seed bank is exhausted — I don’t have statistics on this, but most of them are gone after 3 years of sprout-pulling.

Margaret Chatham
Potowmack Chapter Newsletter Editor

Read the Potowmack Chapter Newsletter, which includes information about helping to remove barberry this winter at Fraser:  <http://vnps.org/potowmack/download/newsletters(5)/VNPS_Potowmack_News_v34n1%20(1).pdf> Potowmack News

From: MAIPC [mailto:maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org] On Behalf Of Marc Imlay
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 10:43 PM
To: maipc at lists.maipc.org <mailto:maipc at lists.maipc.org> 
Subject: [MAIPC] FW: [vnps-pot] Fw: A Short Summary and Call to Action for 3 Bills Related to VNPS Mission

For residents of Virginia. 

2)  Wavyleaf Grass:  Budget amendment to provide $200,000 (Senate) and $150,000 (House) to the Department of Forestry to combat Wavyleaf Basketgrass. This plant is a new invasive species with very aggressive characteristics.  It is anticipated to be worse than Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium) but it currently infests just 300 acres in Virginia, so this amendment provides critical resources to enable eradication of WLBG before it overwhelms natural areas all over the state.

ACTION:

1.       Call or email your Delegate if he or she is a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Technology:  <http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sub+H02003> you can find out here. MESSAGE –“ Please support the Hope amendment, budget item 101 #1h to increase the budget for the Depart. Of Forestry by $150,000 to combat Wavyleaf Grass. This increase is critically needed to eradicate this aggressive invasive non-native plant that could grievously harm the Commonwealth’s natural heritage. This is an invasive plant we can control now before it gets out of hand.” 

1.       Call or email your Senator if he or she is a Member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Economic Development and Natural Resources:  <http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+sub+S05003> you can find out here. MESSAGE: “Please support the Hanger amendment, budget item 101 #2s  to increase the budget for the Dept. of Forestry by $200,000 to combat Wavyleaf Basketgrass. This increase is critically needed to eradicate this aggressive invasive non-native plant that could grievously harm the Commonwealth’s natural heritage. This is an invasive plant we can control now before it gets out of hand.” 

1.       Please send me an email to let me know you took action and with whom so I can follow up:  <mailto:marcia.mabee at gmail.com> marcia.mabee at gmail.com.

From: vnps-pot at yahoogroups.com <mailto:vnps-pot at yahoogroups.com>  [mailto:vnps-pot at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Nancy Vehrs nvehrs1 at yahoo.com <mailto:nvehrs1 at yahoo.com>  [vnps-pot]
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 4:59 PM
To: yahoogroups <vnps-pot at yahoogroups.com <mailto:vnps-pot at yahoogroups.com> >; Plant NoVA Natives <plant-nova-natives at googlegroups.com <mailto:plant-nova-natives at googlegroups.com> >
Subject: [vnps-pot] Fw: A Short Summary and Call to Action for 3 Bills Related to VNPS Mission

Hi Everyone -

I hope that everyone across the Commonwealth is cozy and dry as we experience this major snowfall/blizzard. Some important conservation legislation is pending down in Richmond right now. One is a budget amendment to increase funding for the Natural Heritage Program and the two others are bills relating to invasive species. Please click the link and take action as specified. (I apologize to those for whom this is a duplication.)

Thank you!

Nancy

Nancy Vehrs, President

Virginia Native Plant Society

http://www.vnps.org/

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Suzanne Dingwell <suzdingwell at gmail.com <mailto:suzdingwell at gmail.com> >
To: Arlington Regional Master Naturalists <armn at googlegroups.com <mailto:armn at googlegroups.com> > 
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 4:27 PM
Subject: A Short Summary and Call to Action for 3 Bills

Friends, 

A lot is at stake in the current Legislative session for issues many of you know to be extremely important. In an effort to help you to exercise your right to make your voice heard, VNPS (Virginia Native Plant Society) has provided this summary along with links to enable your action of choice. The link will take you to a page with a brief, 2 -3 sentence summary of the three bills in question, along with links to help you determine who your representatives are, and pre-crafted messages should you wish to use them. Calling is the most effective way to reach out, but emails are good too. Most of the time you will just be leaving a message on voice mail. 

Be a part of the solution!

http://vnps.org/action-needed-virginia-legislature-2016-2/

sue dingwell

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Posted by: Nancy Vehrs <nvehrs1 at yahoo.com <mailto:nvehrs1 at yahoo.com> > 

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