NE PMC Insider
Internal newsletter of the Northeastern Pest Management Center.
Issue 6, December 2001
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NE PMC InsiderInternal newsletter of the Northeastern Pest Management Center. Issue 6, December 2001 |
Northeast
- NE PMC Annual Meeting 2001
- NE PMC web pages
- Maryland: Forestry Correspondence Course
- The Maryland Invasive Species Council
- Information Network Projects updates:
- IPM Commodity Working Groups RFP available online, progress reports
- Soybean aphid website exands to include data from northeast
National
We have scheduled the NE PMC annual meeting for March 12-15 in the Baltimore area. We expect to have sessions for information network project leaders, ipm cwg leaders, advisory council and steering committee. Although the entire meeting time will be spread over several days, we hope that most participants can be scheduled for only part of the meeting.
If you have any need for pest management information please browse the site every once in a while. It already holds a great deal of useful, specific information, and it seems like more is added every time I look. I wish NEPMC staff could take all the credit for this, but we can't - the North Carolina State group is adding links, information and functionality to all PMC sites routinely. If you have information to add, or information you need but cannot find, drop us a line.
Search function added as of today.
New logos are now in use both here and on web pages for the other PM Centers nationally. We have not made a complete change here, but will be doing so.
Landowners, farmers and others interested in forestry can learn to manage their wood lots for timber products, wildlife and overall forest health by taking a General Forestry Correspondence Course developed by Maryland Cooperative Extension specialists at the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Registrations are being accepted now for the spring 2002 semester.
The General Forestry Correspondence Course provides the basics of forestry, forest ecology and forest health. Studying in the comfort of their home, students learn how to protect trees from insects, diseases and fire, and explore the details of the forestry business, including tax nuances and the sale and harvest of forest products. They can use their own property, a friend's forest or nearby public lands to apply practical exercises in forest management. Ultimately, the course exercises help them develop an actual forest management plan.
The General Forestry Correspondence Course is presented as a notebook of lessons and supplemental readings. Its six units each contain several lessons with questions at the end of each unit. Maryland Cooperative Extension experts at the university's Wye Research and Education Center correct answers and return them throughout the course, so students have constant feedback.
As part of the $150 registration fee, learners receive a General Forestry Correspondence Course text notebook and a separate Appendices packed with resources. Supplemental readings provided include A Sand County Almanac, The Woodland Steward: A Practical Guide to the Management of Small Private Forests and American Forests: A History of Resiliency and Recovery. A certificate of completion is awarded when all assignments are completed.
For more information or to register, contact Bob Tjaden or Nancy Stewart at the Wye Research and Education Center, P.O. Box 169, Queenstown, MD 21658; phone 410-827-8056; email rt20@umail.umd.edu or ns111@umail.umd.edu.
NEWS RELEASE OF 11/16/01
The Maryland Invasive Species Council (MISC) represents agricultural, green industry, environmental, and regulatory interests. The council has set criteria for listing invasive species within the state of Maryland. A list of about 60 species has been approved and a brochure is in the process of being printed for wide distribution throughout the state.Envirothon The Canon Envirothon is an annual, international competition for high school students to compete on environmental topics. Maryland trains about 1500 students each year and has placed in the top five teams in the country in most of the last 10 years. The Envirothon is composed of four topics that remain the same from year to year and a fifth topic that changes annually. For the 2002 competition, the fifth topic is invasive species. In Maryland, Betty Marose, IPM Specialist, is part of an eight member team which has prepared training materials for the county teams and their coaches. For the first time ever, the training materials were provided on CD-rom and will also be loaded to a web site. The Maryland CD is being viewed as a national model for how to address and provide such training. In addition to the CD, the Envirothon fifth issue team will provide three, one-day regional training programs for the high school teachers who coach the local teams. We will be composing the county and state exams, and providing additional training at both the state contest and to the winning team before it goes on to the international competition. We will also answer numerous requests for information and may provide training to individual schools as time permits. The county contests will be occurring in April, the state contest in June and the international contest in August.
(provided by Bill Hoffman)
The Pennsylvania Pest Management Information Center has engaged in the following activities since it's October report.
The Pennsylvania Pest Management Information Center has engaged in the following activities since it's November report.
The PA-PMIC has distributed two audio-visual aids to key points of contact to date and a third is nearing completion. The first, titled "Recent Pesticide Regulatory & Manufacturer Actions - How will they affect your agronomic crop operation," was a part of the Penn State Crop and Soil Sciences' annual Compact Disc resource for county agents. This 32-slide PowerPoint presentation has a complete script, which will allow these agents to deliver it for core pesticide credits. An in-service was held in order to provide guidance on these and other regulatory matters for the users. The second, titled "Recent Pesticide Regulatory & Manufacturer Actions - How will they affect your greenhouse operation," was distributed through the Penn State Extension Commercial Landscape List-Serve. This 33-slide PowerPoint presentation also has a complete script to facilitate agent delivery. The third, titled "Recent Pesticide Regulatory & Manufacturer Actions - How will they affect your vegetable and small fruit operation," will be distributed to county agents with production horticulture responsibilities before the end of the calendar year. It will also have a complete script.
The PA-PMIC led the development of the press release: "CROP PRODUCERS URGED TO RESPOND TO EPA DRIFT CONTROL PROPOSAL." The release was sent to Pennsylvania's major agricultural media outlets and is available at: http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/november01/drift.html.
Ongoing communications to stakeholders regarding regulatory and registrant actions continued in the form of electronic updates and submissions to stakeholder newsletters.
TopNjinPAS has awarded projects to develop crop profiles as follows:
- Dean Polk, crop profile for apple
- Wes Kline, crop profiles for eggplant, green pepper
- Joe Ingerson-Mahar, crop profile for carrot
- Dan Kluchinski, crop profile for field corn
TopPro New England project leaders are meeting today (12/5) in New Hampshire. Appropriate information resulting from that meeting will be added here when it becomes available.
Funds
An RFP to fund activities proposed by IPM CWGs has been released online
Progress reported by CWG leaders is minimal.
- Fruit appears to be closest to scheduling a meeting, with membership identified.
- GO-IPM (Greenhouse-Ornamental) has identified 16 members but probably will not meet soon because of seasonal constraints on producers and other members.
- Community is struggling to identify members from the northern part of the region. A request to IPM Coordinators for suggestions has been responded to by IPM Coordinators only from Delaware, Maryland and New York.
- Field, Forage & Livestock has recruited 6 members.
Soybean Aphid Watch, produced by the North Central Pest Management Center, is expanded to include county-by-county data on the new pest species in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.
On November 20th, the Agency's Reduced Risk Committee granted Makhteshim's miticide, clofentazine (Apollo), conventional "reduced-risk" status for a new use on grapes. Chlothianidin has better human health and environmental risk profiles than the major alternative miticides, in particular the market leader, propargite, a B2 carcinogen. Its unique mode of action fits well into IPM programs; and it has no impact on predatory mites or beneficial insect species. Clofentazine is currently registered on tree nuts, pome fruit, and stone fruit.
from Wilfred Burr Newest News 12/05
Next week, the U.S. Geological Survey is planning to release the results of a two-year monitoring study for the assessment of pesticide concentrations in drinking water. In this study, USGS analyzed 186 pesticides and degradation products in raw and finished water from 12 water-supply reservoirs and Community Water Systems throughout the United States. This monitoring study was designed to help OPP better characterize human exposure to pesticide residues in drinking water derived from surface-water sources. The results of this study have also been incorporated into the cumulative OP assessment which will be released next weekfrom Wilfred Burr Newest News 12/05
OPP scientists have updated the probabilistic risk assessment and exposure models sections of the OPP science web page. The probabilistic risk assessment discussion has been expanded to include an overview of the preliminary probabilistic risk assessment models and the initiative for implementing a four-level eco risk assessment scheme for pesticides. The Web site is http://www.epa.gov/oppefed1/ecorisk.. The aquatic exposure models GENEEC2 and FIRST were upgraded to include the more recent versions and can be found at the Web site: http://www.epa.gov/oppefed1/models/water/index.htm.
from Wilfred Burr Newest News 12/05
The registrant of lindane does not intend to support certain vegetable seed treatment uses. You may want to contact Keith Dorschner (dorschner@AESOP.RUTGERS.EDU) at IR-4 Headquarters if you feel that lindane is needed for vegetable seed treatment.
from Bill Smith, Cornell PMEP
Insider is sent to NE PMC Advisory Council members; NE PMC Information Network project leaders; NE PMC IPM Commodity Working Group members; IPM Coordinators in the Northeast; subscribers to PMC-L. Email Jim or Liz to offer submissions or suggest changes.
Jim VanKirk, Coordinator 315-787-2378 jrv1@cornell.edu
topJohn Ayers, Director 814-865-7776 (voice) email
Liz Thomas, Information Specialist 315-787-2626 egt3@cornell.edu
This page created December 5, 2001
Centers for Pest Management are sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture
This page developed and managed by Jim VanKirk, NE PMC Coordinator