For Immediate Release
November, 18, 2015
Contact:
Karen L. Coluzzi
State Pest Survey Coordinator
Email: Karen.L.Coluzzi@Maine.Gov
Phone: (207)
287-7551
Grants Awarded to Combat
Invasive Forest Pests
AUGUSTA - The Maine
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) is
pleased to announce grant awards to the Maine Association of Conservation
District’s Employees Committee and the Saco River Recreational Council to provide
outreach and education on invasive forest pests that threaten Maine’s economy
and wellbeing.
The two
projects promote early detection of invasive pests such as Asian longhorned
beetle, the emerald ash borer, the hemlock woolly adelgid, winter moth and others
through outreach and education efforts. Early detection reduces the costs and
resources needed for a management response and increases the chances of
eradication success.
“The Maine Association
of Conservation District’s Employees Committee, in partnership with 12 county
conservation districts in Southern and Central Maine, and the Saco Rover
Recreational Council
were both awarded grants under a competitive RFP issued by the Department,” said
Karen Coluzzi, State
Pest Survey Coordinator for the DACF’s Division of Animal and Plant Health. “The outreach and education that these two conservation organizations will provide
will result in increased public understanding of the economic and environmental
threats associated with invasive forest pests, increased support for management
and mitigation efforts, and increased reporting of potential pest sightings to
federal or state authorities.”
For more information on invasive forest pest
outreach and education in Maine, contact Karen Coluzzi at the DACF Division of
Animal and Plant Health at Karen.L.Coluzzi@Maine.Gov or at (207)
287-7551.
More
information on the DACF’s Forest Pest Outreach and Survey Project is available at
www.umaine.edu/invasivespecies/2012/05/14/fpos
More information on the DACF’s efforts to
address Invasive Forest Pests is available at www.maine.gov/dacf/php/caps/ALB/AnnualReports.shtml/
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