1854 Treaty Authority’s Outreach Efforts in 2015
By: Jeffery Flory, 1854 Treaty Authority (Minnesota)
In 2015, the 1854 Treaty Authority partnered with
PlayCleanGo to help extend their message and outreach materials regarding
terrestrial invasive species, how human activities spread them, and how to
reduce their spread.
Our first event was at the Iron Range Earth Fest, held in
Mountain Iron, MN on April 18th.
We had two staff members run a booth for 10 hours, handing out
materials, answering questions, and discussing about PCG’s message and about
our organization to about 210 people.
On June 5th, Enbridge had a volunteer day at the
Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, MN. 1854
staff met with 42 of their staff to talk about PCG’s message and handed out
boot brushes and outreach materials after the meeting and at the end of the
volunteer day, emphasizing and demonstrating the importance of cleaning their
shoes, gear, and clothing after working outside in the dirt and around the
invasive species present at the zoo. A
sub-set of their staff helped 1854 in pulling Common Buckthorn seedlings and
saplings from the zoo’s property. Thirteen people cycled throughout the day towards this effort, totaling
about 36.5 volunteer hours of Buckthorn identification training and hard work
removing buckthorn. They were able to
fill three, 55 gallon garbage bags and hung a lot of pulled seedlings and
saplings on tree and shrub branches. More work is needed at the Lake Superior Zoo, but our efforts would fall
short without the hard work and dedication from amazing volunteers.
Later that year, 1854 and the
City of Duluth teamed up to reach people during National Get Outdoors Day at
Hartley Nature Center in Duluth, MN on June 13th. One 1854 staff and two city staff members met
with about 81 people utilizing Hartely Park for hiking, exercising, or enjoying
the outdoors with their children for 5.5 hours.
The 1854 Treaty Authority is
an inter-tribal organization that works for the Grand Portage and Bois Forte
bands of Lake Superior Chippewa in the territory ceded under the Treaty of
1854. Our staff attend certain events
for muliple purposes, including powwows where 1854 staff hand out information,
swag, and issue or re-issue band ID cards. On August 8th of 2015, 1854 also included information and handouts
to band members at Rendezous Days, reaching roughly 75 people with
PlayCleanGo’s and Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers’ messages.
PCG National Steering Committee Representative Spotlight
 Matthew Davis has been the ND & MN Regional Trail Coordinator for the North Country Trail Association (NCTA) for the last 9+ years. He lives in Detroit Lakes, MN - a lake rich area that is ironically a hotbed for Aquatic Invasive Species issues.
Representing non-motorized recreationists on the PCG Steering Committee, Matthew first got involved with the PCG program when one of the NCTA partners in Minnesota was looking to provide trailhead information on invasives to trail users. He was very excited to discover PCG, which at the time, was just getting going under the Minnesota DNR. Now, many NCT trailheads in Minnesota feature PCG information right alongside information on the North Country National Scenic Trail and many more will moving forward. He is involved with PCG because he believes it is incumbent on all trail users to prevent the spread of invasives thus damaging the trail experience for future generations. The non-profit NCTA is a PCG partner and Matthew is now working to recruit additional partners across the Trail’s 4,600 miles and also within the National Trails Community (did you know that there are 30 National Scenic and Historic Trails?).
In his spare time, Matthew enjoys hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, canoeing and in general being in the outdoors with his wife and four young kids. His family is on a mission to visit all 75 State Parks and Recreation Areas in Minnesota.
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Being Social on Social Media! #PlayCleanGo
By: Erica Edmiston, Teton County Weed & Pest (Wyoming)
Are you using FaceBook or Twitter to connect with others in the invasive species world and to share the PlayCleanGo message? These can be fantastic tools to get the word out but they can also be a little daunting! Trying to come up with content to share, photos, new information so that you keep your followers engaged can be exhausting!
Let’s help one another out! If you are creating content use the hashtag #PlayCleanGo at the end of each post. Yes, even on FaceBook. Using the hashtag allows others to search for your posts this way. If fellow PCG members are looking for material, they can simply type #PlayCleanGo into the FaceBook or Twitter search bars and share it!
Need more content? Well PCG has Dropbox for that! PCG has been
uploading tons of material for you to use for free! Look for the FunFacts. If
you have not yet accessed all of the content in Dropbox and need assistance,
please email info@playcleango.org.
One last thing! Don’t forget to connect with PlayCleanGo from your
personal pages as well as the ones you manage for your organizations!
Twitter - @PlayCleanGo
FaceBook - facebook.com/Playcleango
#PlayCleanGo
PlayCleanGo Partners:
Who Are They
By: Susan Burks, PCG
Program Leader (Minnesota)
As of this article,
the outreach campaign PlayCleanGo: Stop Invasive Species In Your Tracks (PCG)
had a total of 290 partner organizations spread across 35 states and 4 Canadian
provinces. Who are they? The quick and easy answer is that they are
PCG’s greatest asset!
Designed to change
public behaviors at risk of spreading harmful invasive species, the success of
the PCG campaign is dependent on the frequency and breadth of exposure it
receives by the recreating public. While simple, memorable and consistent
messaging increases the likelihood folks will remember what they’ve seen, it is
the number of times they see it and the range of organizations using it that
helps ensure folks buy into the messaging and take up the desired actions. By engaging many partner organizations, this
campaign can help protect the natural resources here in Minnesota, as well as
natural resources across the continent. That is ultimately our goal, so we are grateful
for our partner organizations and their contribution to the PCG outreach
campaign.
Our partners include organizations of all kinds. The
most common types of organization are public agencies, not-for-profit
organizations and conservation districts.
See Chart. Councils, cooperative weed/pest management areas, and
management units, such as national forests and wildlife management areas are
also common. Outreach efforts have done
a good job of reaching like-minded organizations and management units. Where the campaign could expand is in reaching
out to recreational clubs and associations, outdoor retailers and youth
organizations.
Where are they located? Across the continent. See map. The majority are in the west, with 188 partner organizations across western United States and Canada. There are currently 82 mid-western partners and 20 partners in the eastern United States. Minnesota, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Nebraska are leading the charge in the United States (with 55, 36, 30, 26 and 24 partner organizations respectively). Alberta and British Columbia and the most active Canadian provinces with 13 and 12 partner organizations respectively.
The states and provinces with the most participation have made a concerted effort to enroll their cooperators from the state council down to the cooperative weed management areas and local communities. In the process they have enrolled land managers as well as decision makers at all levels. With that kind of support, several of them have landed good sized grants to expand their local outreach efforts. Their partners are energetic and their products are creative. You can check out some of their products by going to the shared PCG Partner Dropbox folder. Feel free to use the contact list to reach out to some of these partner organizations and find out more about what’s working for them.
 Partner Challenge!
By: Emily Anderson, Wild Rivers Invasive Species Coalition (Michigan/Wisconsin)
Over the last few years PlayCleanGo partners like you have helped the originally Minnesota-based program to grow to a national, and international campaign! PlayCleanGo now includes 290 partners from 35 states, 4 Canadian provinces, and 7 federal agencies (not too shabby). But the campaign steering committee knows that there are still potential partners across the US and Canada that have never heard of PlayCleanGo, and with them, recreationists that we want to reach with the PlayCleanGo message.
That is why we issuing a challenge to you, our partners! This year, take time to spread the word about PlayCleanGo and invite organizations, agencies, and states/provinces in your area to learn more and consider joining the campaign. For the months May-June, we’re challenging you to spread the PCG word to as many people as possible, encouraging them to become partners. The winner for most partners joined in YOUR state (from May 1-June 30) will be featured in the July 2016 summer newsletter and will be announced on Facebook on June 30 (for bragging rights!)
Helpful hints for drawing in new partners:
- Check the PlayCleanGo partners page
to see who is (or isn’t) a partner in your area. Email, write, or call potential partners you know and invite them directly to join!
- Highlight the benefits of joining PlayCleanGo: Access to PCG graphics, ability to customize your own PCG campaign materials, states/provinces can customize their partner drop-down menu on the PCG website, and best of all…it’s FREE!
- Remind potential partners that PCG is for groups big and small, from federal agencies to small citizen clubs and county conservation districts.
- Show off PCG campaign materials
at local events and conferences. Include handouts and PCG partner cards for folks to grab. (Check out the displays dropbox folder
for ideas.)
- Link to PCG on your website.
- Include a PCG highlight in your next newsletter.
- And most of all, use PCG materials yourself to promote the PlayCleanGo message.
New partners don’t have to go through any rigorous process either, just direct them to http://www.playcleango.org/join.html where they can enter their information and join the campaign. We’ll even send them a welcome package with some free swag just for joining! Together, we can reach recreationists across the US and Canada.
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Have You Seen The PCG Commercials?
By: Shantell Frame-Martin, Montana
Noxious Weed Education Campaign (Montana)
According to research about 65% of the population is visual
learners and 90% of information that gets transmitted to the brain is visual!
This highly visual learning style was the driving force behind Montana’s set of
PCG themed commercials. Last summer, the Montana Noxious Weed Education
Campaign (MNWEC) scripted, filmed and successfully aired three PCG commercials
in Montana.
The first commercial features photos of picturesque Montana
landscapes complete with recreationalists enjoying camping fly fishing, hunting
and hiking. This commercial boasts the need for recreationalists to ‘Come
Clean, Leave Clean’ because recreation in Montana is a way of life. To protect
recreational opportunities, wildlife and landscapes for future generations,
recreationalists are encouraged to arrive with clean gear, feed certified hay,
stay on trails, remove mud and weed seeds from gear, clothing and vehicles.
This commercial also features photos of houndstongue, dyer’s woad and blueweed;
all of which are state listed noxious weeds in Montana. This commercial aired around the state from
July 7-July 20, 2015 and ran both as a television and YouTube ad. The YouTube campaign proved quite successful,
with 28,322 total impressions, 21,401 video impressions and a total of 3,408
views.
The second commercial features a summer recreation theme
complete with live action shots of people hiking, fishing, riding an ATV, and
waterskiing. This video is unique
because it also features people participating in weed prevention methods such
as removing burs and seeds from a pet companion after hiking, pressure washing
watercraft, and removing seeds and plant parts from backpacks and ATVs. The take home message from this commercial
is, “Preventing new infestations is the best way to manage noxious weeds!” Airing of this commercial took place from
September 1-September 15, 2015 and was also featured in a YouTube
Campaign. This commercial had 20,739
total impressions, 17,078 video impressions and a total of 3,263 views.
Commercial #3 was by far the most successful commercial as
it aired during hunting season in Montana from November 8-November 28, 2015.
This commercial features a big game hunting theme and showcases hunters that
are horseback riding, riding ATV’s, and hiking.
As with commercial #2, this commercial showcases these recreationalists
participating in weed spread prevention activities including cleaning burs and
seeds from their horses, gear, pants and shoelaces, as well as power washing
the undercarriage, wheel wells, tires and running boards of both the ATV and pickup
truck that are seen in the commercial.
During the timespan this commercial aired on YouTube it had 47,536
impressions, 25,609 video impression and 4,515 views.
In addition to airing all three commercials on television
stations in Montana and the YouTube Campaigns, the ads have also been posted on
the Montana Noxious Weed Education’s (MNWEC) Facebook page. Feel free to post and re-post these videos from the MNWEC FB page to
your own FB pages. If you would like more information about the commercials,
feel free to contact Shantell at shantell.frame@montana.edu
or (406) 444-9491.
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EVENTS
MAY 2016 is Invasive Species Action Month in British Columbia!
It's official!
The province of BC has declared that May 2016 shall be known as "Invasive Species Action Month." Read the BC proclamation.
The Invasive
Species Council of BC is hosting a website that will list all the events,
activities and resources for the month, including a great photo contest! Check
out bcinvasivesmonth.com
The month is
broken down into the following themes to highlight key programs each week.
The third week in May will highlight PlayCleanGo – good timing
as the May long weekend is the start of the official camping season!
May 23-27, 2016 is Idaho Weed
Awareness Week. Learn
more about Idaho Weed Awareness.
June 2016 marks Wisconsin’s 12th
Annual Invasive Species Awareness Month! The month long event features various
education and outreach by local groups along with a statewide Invasive Species
Video contest through the Wisconsin DNR Facebook page and the Invader
Crusader Awards. These awards are given by the Wisconsin Invasive Species
Council to citizens and professionals that have made a significant impact in
the fight against the spread of invasive species in Wisconsin. For more
information, go to http://invasivespecies.wi.gov/.
July 24-29, 2016
the North American Envirothon – Invasive Species: a Challenge to Environment,
Economy and Society will be held in Peterborough, Ontario. An international competition for
high-schoolers, the Envirothon develops knowledge, skilled and dedicated
citizens who have an understanding of natural resources and are willing and
prepared to work towards achieving and maintaining a balance between the
quality of life and the quality of the environment. Learn more about the NA Envirothon.
October 17-19, 2016 the Upper
Midwest Invasive Species Conference: Sharing Innovative and Practical Solutions
is being held in La Crosse, WI. For more
information or to register, visit http://www.umisc.net/.
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