Invasive Species News

• Spiny Water Flea Confirmed in First "Inland" Water - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation The spiny water flea, an aquatic invasive species, has been confirmed as present in the Great Sacandaga Lake in the southern Adirondacks, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today. Previously, it had been identified in the Great Lakes. This is first time the spiny water flea has been confirmed in an "inland" body of water. (Oct 30, 08) Press Releases - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation
• DEC partners with Adirondack Park invasive plant program - ALBANY – The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Wednesday announced the signing of a five-year contract with the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, an award-winning program focused on detecting and eradicating invasive species such as garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed and purple loosestrife in the Adirondack Park. (Oct 5, 08) New York State News on the Net!
• DEC grants available for eradication of invasive species - ALBANY – New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis Thursday announced that grant applications are now being accepted for projects proposing to eradicate terrestrial invasive species. Terrestrial invasive species is defined as a plant or animal that lives or grows predominately on land. Applications will be accepted until October 31, 2008 (Sept 25, 08) New York State News on the Net!
• Ash Borer's Not in New York Yet - ROCHESTER, NY (2008-08-06) The Cornell Cooperative Extension service says New York has a reprieve on the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer, a pest that kills ash trees. (Aug 6, 08) WXXI Public Broadcasting Council
• Relax: Tests say bugs harmless - Federal officials have determined that insect specimens caught in a Niagara County bug trap were not the emerald ash borer, whose arrival could devastate the region's large ash tree population. Two bugs found last Tuesday in a U.S. Department of Agriculture trap near Olcott were sent to Michigan for testing. Officials now say the bugs were the click beetle, which is common to upstate and poses no danger. (July 22, 08) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Rochester area could lose all ash trees to 'green menace' | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle Some call it the "green menace" — a bug smaller than a penny that already has laid waste to millions of ash trees in the upper Midwest. Now there is suspicion that the emerald ash borer has made its way into New York state. (July 21, 08) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Boaters Upset Over New Federal Rules - Boaters across the state are wondering what the federal government is thinking. A new federal rule could require recreational boat owners to pay hundreds of dollars for a water pollution permit. A federal court in California ruled last year that the EPA should regulate how ships discharge water taken from the ocean, then dumped in fresh water. The rule is designed to limit pollution and limit the spread of invasive species. July 6, 08) R News: As It Happens, Where It Happens
• Rare Insect Infects Local Trees - 13WHAM.com Rochester, NY --- A rare insect has returned to Monroe County after a nearly ten year absence. The insect is known for killing hemlock trees, and it’s now an uninvited "guest" of the Seneca Park Zoo. (July 4, 08) - 13WHAM.com
• Watch for ash borer, Webster tree expert warns | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle The emerald ash borer gets its name from the adult's metallic green color, and eggs are laid just below the bark of an ash tree. The adults emerge in early summer and eat the leaves for about three weeks, mate and lay more eggs. Once they're in the tree, they are hard to detect. (June 1, 08) democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York
• Tree Killer Beetles Moving Toward New York - 13WHAM.com (Rochester, N.Y.) - A tiny, but devastating bug could be making its way to the Rochester area. (April 02, 08) - 13WHAM.com
• Watertown Daily Times | Invasive species litigation targeted ALBANY — State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo wants to make sure New Yorkers' interests are protected in federal litigation involving invasive species in the Great Lakes. Several American and Canadian shipping companies and associations are challenging a Michigan law requiring all ships to treat their ballast water to rid it of non-native invasive species before dumping it into Great Lakes waters. Ballast water is contained in large tanks and is used to keep oceangoing ships stable during transport. (March 3, 08) Watertown Daily Times | News for today, history for tomorrow!
• New leader against alien species -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY Wildlife biologist to head new state office in effort to control invasive plants and animals that enter New York  ALBANY -- A 54-year-old state wildlife biologist will lead the state's fight against invasive species like zebra mussels, which choke upstate lakes, and the approaching emerald ash bore, an Asian beetle that is killing millions of trees in the Midwest. (Dec 27, 07) Albany NY News - Times Union - Serving Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, Troy
• Pest threatens ash trees - Rochester, NY - MPNnow Canandaigua, N.Y. - An invasive insect species that has attacked ash trees across the Great Lakes states of Michigan, Ohio and now Pennsylvania has not reached New York — yet. But Russell Welser of Ontario County Cornell Cooperative Extension said that it's just a "matter of time" before the emerald ash borer makes its way into this area. (August 28, 07) Homepage - Rochester, NY - MPNnow
• State warns emerald ash borer a threat to state's trees - The emerald ash borer, an insect that has destroyed millions of ash trees in the United States, is making its way toward New York. In an effort to prevent or minimize an infestation, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is urging that users of firewood burn only locally available wood and not transport wood to distant campgrounds or state parks. (July 31, 07) The Ithaca Journal: RSS - Local News
• Meet the beetles - Rochester, NY - MPNnow Only a half-inch long, the Japanese beetle can do "a fair amount of damage in July and August" as it munches on more than 600 different kinds of common garden plants, trees and crops, said Russell Welser of the Ontario County Cornell Cooperative Extension. Fair amount? That might seem like an understatement to some gardeners who have seen their raspberries and the other fruits of their labor go the way of the little invaders. (July 30, 07) Messenger Post Newspapers
• The Buffalo News: Home: Invasive pests claiming new habitats in New York State Boring beetle, lake mussel, fruit virus among species devastating to ecosystems First the American chestnut, then the elm. Forest experts say New York will soon add another well-known species, the ash, to the list of trees nearly wiped out by aggressive insects and diseases imported from elsewhere. (July 30, 07) The Buffalo News
• Help Prevent Invasive Insect Infestations: Don't Move Firewood! It's time to head off to open the camp in the spring. The firewood left over from winter won't get used at the house during the summer, so it makes sense to toss it in the truck to take up to camp. But because spring and summer turn out to be warm, that firewood doesn't get burned right away. It stays there neatly stacked and covered all summer until fall, when a warm fire is a necessity at the end of a long chilly day outdoors. --New York State Department of Environmental Conservation - Protecting NY's Environment and Managing its Natural Resources
• Effort is under way to control problem-causing foreign critters, plants — Invasive species. The words alone sound ominous. But until they hear "zebra mussels" or the name of another plant or animal that has affected their life, many Rochesterians are still befuddled by the term. They don't realize that invasive plants and animals can boost bacterial growth in their lakes, clog their sewer pipes and drive out their beloved bluebirds. That's precisely why state environmental leaders spent the past two years dissecting the issue before releasing the final report of the New York State Invasive Species Task Force in December. The report delineates the state's problem and proposes some solutions. This week, Gov. George Pataki proposed $2 million in funding to get the effort started. (January 21, 2006) Democrat and Chronicle
•  DEC speaker: Controlling invasives takes teamwork -— New York state can't afford not to take action to control invasive species like zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil -- but success requires collaboration, state official Lynette Stark said today. Stark, a representative of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, was in Rochester speaking to local arborists, nursery owners and landscapers.  (November 16, 2005) Democrat and Chronicle
•  City Newspaper: News & Views: News articles: The silent invasion Six-hundred miles west of Rochester, in suburban Chicago, is a structure that just might save Lake Ontario. Connecting the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers, the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal links up two of the continent's largest water systems: the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. At the bottom of that canal lies a $9 million underwater electric fence that's keeping species on one side from migrating to the other. (August 24, 2004) City Newspaper
•  Democrat & Chronicle: 'Dog-strangling' vine choking upstate — Tangled, toxic, tough — and everywhere. Meet swallow-wort, a vine-like member of the milkweed family. Over the past decade its growth has been explosive in the Northeast, with the Lake Ontario basin — including Rochester — at its epicenter. (August 5, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Democrat & Chronicle: Danger lurks in hogweed It's 8 to 15 feet tall with flowers, but packs a skin-blistering sap. For more information on giant hogweed or to report a sighting, call Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County's Gardening Helpline at (585) 473-5335 or the Wayne County extension office at (315) 331-8415. (July 17, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Beetlemania — hungry insects will target weedy plant  - Thousands of tiny beetles have been growing up on 10 closely watched plants at Charter School of the Dunes in Gary this spring. Thousands more of the galerucella beetles make their homes at Westville Correctional Facility in LaPorte County. When the school-raised beetles are released along the Grand Calumet this summer, they will feed exclusively on purple loosestrife — a pretty, but prolific species of plant invader. (June 8, 2004) News - Post-Tribune (Northwest Indiana)
• Democrat & Chronicle: Algae problem's solution delayed — Doing something about algae at Ontario Beach has taken a back seat to trying to prevent the Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes. For five years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working with Monroe County to look at ways to control the algae at Ontario Beach. About $1million in federal funds has already been spent looking for remedies. But the project is on hold. ”We don’t have the money for it at this moment,” said Corps of Engineers spokesman Pat Jones, who is based in Buffalo. (April 28, 2004) Democrat and Chronicle
•  Finned invader hits Lake Ontario - Plant-eating grass carp can destroy aquatic environments, scientists say -Biologists have discovered a grass carp, a dangerous invasive fish originally from Eastern Asia, living in Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Don River in Toronto. The grass carp was caught inadvertently a few weeks ago by staff at Toronto and Region Conservation during an assessment of the size of fish communities in the Lower Don River, one of the city's most polluted waterways. (November 29, 2003) http://www.globeandmail.com
•  Task force to target nature's nasty invaders - ALBANY - Non-native plants and animals pose a threat to New York's ecosystem and its economy, Gov. George Pataki said Monday in creating a task force to study invasive species. (August 13, 2003) The Record
•  DeWine Pushes Bills In Congress To Protect Great Lakes (Washington, DC-AP) - Senator Mike DeWine is pushing two bills to help protect the Great Lakes from invasive species. One bill would establish the National Invasive Species Council to coordinate activities by federal agencies and develop a national plan for dealing with the problem. (March 7, 2003) WOKR-TV 13 || ROCHESTER
• WXXI: Despite Regulations, Invasive Species Enter Great Lakes (2002-12-03) A Great Lakes Researcher says there are now more than 160 non-native species of plants and animals in Ontario and the upper lakes, and their numbers are growing despite regulations that were designed to solve the problem. Doctor Edward Mills is with the Cornell University Biological Field Station in Bridgeport. Ten years ago, Doctor Mills and his colleagues cataloged 139 so-called "invasive species" in the Great Lakes. They found 59 plants, 25 fishes and 14 mollusks including the infamous zebra mussels. (December 2, 2002) Public NewsRoom
• Democrat & Chronicle: Fish invasion imperils lake — SYRACUSE — Scientists say it is only a matter of time before a new invasive fish species makes its way into Oneida Lake, where it could spread disease and damage recreational fishing.  (October 13, 2002)  Democrat and Chronicle
• Democrat & Chronicle: Big alien fish closing in on Lake Ontario? — PITTSBURGH — Massive carp that have been known to jump some 10 feet out of the water and wallop boaters in the Mississippi River have been spotted in Lake Erie -- much closer to Lake Ontario than previously reported. Only a couple of bighead carp have been caught in Lake Erie, though some biologists believe they spotted one July 17. (July 31, 2002) Democrat and Chronicle:
• Big Carp Threaten Lakes A big fish that can dominate waterways once it shows up is the cause of concern for scientists.
  The Asian carp hasn't arrived in Lake Ontario yet. Scientists say it's just a matter of time before the fish -- which can weigh as much as one hundred pounds and can measure four feet long -- show up. (July 223, 2002) RNews: News Front - Rochester, NY's Only 24 Hour News
• Study Shows Perils of Importing Non-Native Species - Documenting the ecological perils of introducing non-native species to control pests, researchers said on Thursday parasitic wasps brought to Hawaii as part of sugar cane farming had become the dominant players in a native ecosystem. (Friday, August 17, 2001) WASHINGTON (Reuters) 
• Giant hogweed invades area No one knows how the Asian plant, which can burn the skin, got to western New York. SOUTH BRISTOL - It looks like overgrown Queen Anne's lace but it's a toxic weed.  (Wednesday, August 15, 2001) Daily Messenger
• New lampricide direction PLATTSBURGH — New York has no lamprey-control treatments planned for this fall, but state experts are helping Vermont plan for treating tributaries there. (Friday, August 3, 2001) Press Republican Online
• Wetlands wildflower has deadly beauty Loosestrife chokes out habitats of Tier's native species  (August 15, 2000) Press & Sun Bulletin 
• Bug power harnessed to fight weed  BASOM, N.Y. -- "Weed" almost seems too harsh a word for the stalks of tiny purple flowers growing in western New York's marshes and roadside ditches. (July 19, 2000) DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
• Bugs enlisted in war on dreaded plant invader Purple loosestrife sends beautiful, purple-pink blossoms skyward in a tapering cone, but to ecologists it is the botanical equivalent of the zebra mussel, driving out native vegetation and degrading wetland habitat. (July 15, 2000) BuffaloNews.com
• Man tells fish story with a bite Angler's toothy canal catch turns out to be a pacu,
  not a piranha as he had feared ---8/03/99 DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE Digital