The Invasive Species Bulletin provides you with all the latest news on invasive species in Montana and the region. Please let us know if you have any suggestions, contributions, questions, corrections, or comments. Email: scriswell@mt.gov
NEWS
Montana Ag Network: New noxious weed Ventenata threatening Montana private and public lands
Ventenata is threatening native grass species that livestock depend on.
MONTANA AG NETWORK | At a recent range tour near Joliet, area landowners were shown what one of Montana’s newest noxious weeds looks like and why it’s so important that both landowners and land users help stop the spread of this invasive species to keep Montana’s private, state and federal lands healthy and productive.
Noxious weeds affect over 8 million acres of land in Montana. Bob Hull is a rancher near Joliet and says the new one that everyone should be on the lookout for - whether you live in the country or town - is Ventenata. Read complete article and see video.
AIS Grants Available!
The Montana Invasive Species Council is now accepting grant applications to fund aquatic invasive species projects. Up to $50,000 is available per project to Montana communities or local, state, tribal, or other entities within the state and to Montana-based non-governmental entities.
The Scramble to Defuse the ‘Feral Swine Bomb’
Read the feature by Diane Peters, Sept. 14, 2020, Undark Magazine
Note the article mentions Montana and its Squeal on Pigs prevention campaign.
Feral swine, also called wild pigs, destroy native plants, animals, and precious habitats. Undark Magazine.
Kayak with mussels stopped in Nashua
From Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
NASHUA — Montana’s watercraft inspectors intercepted the 27th mussel-fouled vessel for the year. Last Sunday, vacationers traveling from Michigan to Glacier National Park with a kayak strapped on their van stopped at Nashua inspection station where inspectors found a zebra mussel attached to the kayak’s hull. The kayak had last been in Michigan’s Lake Cadillac, a known mussel-infested waterbody. Inspectors thoroughly decontaminated the kayak before sending the vacationers on their way. Read more
Waterfowl hunters need to clean, drain, dry to prevent spread of aquatic invasive species
Waterfowl hunters are being reminded that they can help prevent aquatic invasive species from infesting Montana’s wetlands, rivers and lakes.
The three steps of Clean, Drain, Dry greatly minimize the risk of spreading invasive species. Waterfowl hunters use gear that should be inspected before hunting in a new area. That means waterfowl hunters should:
Clean aquatic plants, animals, and mud from their boat, trailer, waders, boots, decoys, decoy lines, and push poles.
Drain water from decoys, boats, motors, and other hunting equipment.
Brush hunting dogs and rinse off muddy paws.
Never move plants from one body of water to another. When using vegetation to construct blinds or conceal duck boats, use only what is available in the immediate hunting area.
Hunters’ watercraft must be inspected if you are coming into Montana from out of state; you are traveling west over the Continental Divide into western Montana (the Columbia River Basin); you are coming off Tiber or Canyon Ferry reservoirs; you are launching anywhere within the Flathead Basin and your watercraft last launched on waters outside of the Flathead Basin.
Many inspection stations are closed for the season, but FWP offers inspections at all FWP area and regional offices.
For more information or to find an inspection station, visit CleanDrainDryMT.com or contact the FWP fisheries office at 406-444-2440.
New Zealand mudsnails found at FWP fish hatchery
(Photo provided by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks)
New Zealand mudsnails were detected at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Bluewater Fish Hatchery on Tuesday, Aug. 18. This is the first time FWP has detected mudsnails in a state fish hatchery.
The Bluewater Fish Hatchery, located near Bridger in southcentral Montana, is a trout hatchery and is the third largest production facility in the state. Its primary purpose is stocking sport fish into urban ponds, reservoirs and other public waters.
New Zealand mudsnails are an aquatic invasive species. It was first discovered in Montana in 1995 in the Madison River above Hebgen Lake Reservoir. Since then, New Zealand mudsnails have been detected in several major river drainages across the State.
All hatcheries in Montana are inspected annually for AIS and fish pathogens. The mudsnails at Bluewater Fish Hatchery were detected during the hatchery’s annual inspection.
Because of the detection, no fish will leave or be received at the Bluewater hatchery until further analysis and an investigation is complete. FWP staff are working on a containment and mitigation strategy. Testing results will be available next week to help determine the full extent of the infestation.
FWP will be looking at where the hatchery’s fish have been stocked this year and investigate whether the stocking has spread New Zealand mudsnails to any state waters.
Northern Pike. The Columbia Basin Bulletin: Fish & Wildlife News.
Science Panel Suggests Task Force As Focal Point For Battling ‘Inevitable’ Spread Of Northern Pike In Columbia River Basin
An independent science panel has suggested the creation of a regional task force to be the focal point for efforts to battle the spread of northern pike when the voracious predator “inevitably” spreads in the Columbia River downstream from Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. Read the full article.
DOI listening sessions on its strategic plan Sept. 24, 4-6 pm Eastern and Monday, Sept. 28, 4-00pm Eastern. To participate in one of these sessions, RSVP at Teleconference Sessions by 5pm Eastern on Sept. 21. Any written comments will also be accepted by Friday, Oct. 9, 1:59 pm.
North American Invasive Species Forum, May 18-20, 2021 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Webinars
Crown Managers Partnership New Webinar Series
Conservation, the Crown, & Coffee! This month’s FREE webinar, Building Partnerships Across Borders, will help answer these questions and more! Be sure to register below to join us on OCTOBER 2nd, 10am-11am! REGISTER
NAISMA Special Workshop
NAISMA Certified Weed-Free Forage, Gravel, and Mulch, Oct. 9,10:30am. REGISTER
NAISMA 2020 Webinar Series
Mark your calendars for the 3rd Wednesday of every month.
Any member of the public can register for a webinar and view it when it is live.
NAISMA members can access all recorded webinars HERE.
October 28, 10 am – 2 pm CT - Biocontrol Summit. This summit will bring together weed biocontrol researchers and land managers to share the status of biocontrol research and implementation programs from various regions across the US and Canada as well as updates from our European and other international collaborators.
November 18, 1 pm CT - The ABCs of Invasive Species Organizations and How They Work Together. Sometimes invasive species organizations can be as invasive as the organizations that they are trying to protect us from and educate us about. This presentation will give an overview of the major national organizations and what their individual focus is. It will highlight their scope, membership and the taxa that they concentration on.
Publications
Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species
Teem, J. L., Alphey, L., Descamps, S., Edgington, M. P., Edwards, O., Gemmell, N., ... & Saah, J. R. (2020). Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8.
Abstract: This review provides an overview of the state of genetic biocontrol, focusing on several approaches that were the subject of presentations at the Genetic Biocontrol for Invasive Species Workshop in Tarragona, Spain, March 31st, 2019, a workshop sponsored by the OECD’s Co-operative Research Program on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems. The review considers four different approaches to genetic biocontrol for invasive species; sterile-release, YY Males, Trojan Female Technique, and gene drive. The different approaches will be compared with respect to the efficiency each affords as a genetic biocontrol tool, the practical utility and cost/benefits associated with implementation of the approach, and the regulatory considerations that will need to be addressed for each. The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its Member countries.
Maintenance management and eradication of established aquatic invaders
Simberloff, D. (2020). Maintenance management and eradication of established aquatic invaders. Hydrobiologia, 1-22.
Abstract: Although freshwater invasions have not been targeted for maintenance management or eradication as often as terrestrial invasions have, attempts to do so are frequent. Failures as well as successes abound, but several methods have been improved and new approaches are on the horizon. Many freshwater fish and plant invaders have been eliminated, especially by chemical and physical methods for fishes and herbicides for plants. Efforts to maintain invasive freshwater fishes at low levels have sometimes succeeded, although continuing the effort has proven challenging. By contrast, successful maintenance management of invasive freshwater plants is uncommon, although populations of several species have been managed by biological control. Invasive crayfish populations have rarely been controlled for long. Marine invasions have proven far less tractable than those in fresh water, with a few striking eradications of species detected before they had spread widely, and no marine invasions have been substantially managed for long at low levels. The rapid development of technologies based on genetics has engendered excitement about possibly eradicating or controlling terrestrial invaders, and such technologies may also prove useful for certain aquatic invaders. Methods of particular interest, alone or in various combinations, are gene-silencing, RNA-guided gene drives, and the use of transgenes.
