Team Arundo del Norte April 18th Meeting Minutes (submitted by Deanne DiPietro; revised by Paul Jones) Agenda Item 1: Status of the Grant Application and Funding The EPA state wetland grant is not yet official.* The proposed project requests a total of $250,000 from EPA and DFG to be managed by DFG over two years- June 1, 1997 to June 30, 1999. *Note: Shortly after the meeting, EPA officially announced that the grant was to be fully funded to DFG. Grant elements consist of three objectives: 1. To determine the best methods for giant cane control in northern and central California; 2. To educate the public regarding the giant cane threat; and 3. To gather information regarding giant cane's current presence in northern and central California and its potential for further invasive spread in the region. The above objectives will be accomplished through the completion of four tasks: 1. The establishment of a giant cane control demonstration project; 2. The completion of an herbicide risk assessment for nontarget aquatic species; 3. The development of a giant cane educational program; and 4. The completion of a giant cane survey project for northern and central California. The two demonstration areas will be at Gray Lodge and Russian River on lands ownded and managed by DFG. Due to timeline constraints prior to the deadline for grant submission, Joel Trumbo (DFG) wrote the application very quickly and with little input from the rest of the group. There will be an opportunity to change the specifics when the scope of work if finalized through the grant award process between EPA and DFG, and Joel stated that it is possible that eradication activities in areas other than the official demonstration areas can be supported by DFG. It was suggested that it would be helpful to post the grant as written to get input from the Team Arundo del Norte and others such as Paul Frandson, Gary Bell, and Nelroy Jackson. Joel will provide the document to Deanne for posting on the Internet. Data that may be helpful to have for the risk assessment portion of the work plan include knowing specifics of kill rate for compared methods (possibly obtainable from Nelroy Jackson), and amphibian data from someone in Victoria or Australia. Printed and video materials will be contracted to SFEI, which can subcontract with SEC. There is Arundo work being done at Stoney Creek. Many streams in Tehama Co. are badly impacted. Aerial photography has captured a dramatic increase in the infestation. Other grant possibilities: 1. Tom Dudley mentioned that he spoke with Ann Knox, War on Weeds project. 2. Possibility of CALFED money for demonstration projects as part of the Bay-Delta ecosystem enhancement program. Things that would be targeted could include data on effects of exotic species, assessment methodology handbook to support decision about thebest method to use in each situation. Jones & Stokes offered to write a proposal to be submitted to CalFed for Arundo eradication. The idea was posed of a bank of money to be overseen and distributed by a multi-agency committee for emergency invasive species work. The group also briefly discussed the National Exotic Species Act. Agenda Item 2: Public Outreach and Education Paul Jones will contact Ariel Rubissow about producing the brochure for the Estuary Newsletter for the August issue. We also discussed the need for a landowner informational packet. This will include background information about the problem of invasive plants so there would be a greater likelihood of support by the public and landowners. It would also include liability waiver examples, insurance and permitting facts, and instructions for continued Arundo eradication and management. SEC will begin compiling components of landowner packet, since it has some materials in use already. Agenda Item 3: Permitting and Policy Issues Paul Jones tried recommending to the San Francisco and Sacramento Districts of the Army Corps of Engineers that they adopt a version of the Regional General Permit recently issued by the Los Angeles District. Both replied that Nationwide Permit 27 may be a better tool, since it is now applied more. What we may want to do is appoint a special committee to draft conditions for adoption of Permit 27 for the purpose of Arundo eradication - guidelines for best practices so that eradication is done within certain parameters and to ensure the highest levels of protection of the riparian resources. Several people (Paul has list) volunteered to be on that committee. There was a brief mention of SB 846, the Watershed Planning Act. Also, the subject of burning permits was discussed, along with the question as to whether the permitting be streamlined? SEC will try and get a single permit for the duration of the project time by working with Doug Tolar with BAAQMD. We will try and meet in Oct. in conjunction with the Cal EPPC meeting at that time in Walnut Creek. Paul Jones will contact the Team Arundo group to see if this can be arranged. He has also been asked to give a presentation on the work of Team Arundo del Norte at the Cal EPPC meeting. Team Arundo del Norte will have its next meeting in June, and Paul will give a dry run of the talk he will give, and we are invited to give input into the content. We also briefly discussed the policy issue of using Arundo eradication as mitigation credit for permanent impacts to wetland habitat. This is one of the major policy issues that should be discussed with the original Team Arundo. Agenda Item 4: Regional Survey for Arundo (aka Windshield Survey) Tom Dudley, Paul Jones, and David Leland have a plan to start the regional survey for Arundo infestations by mapping known locations on USGS quad sheets. Later, these locations will be entered into GIS database by SFEI. At that time, it might be possible to compare findings with the recent NOAA infrared aerial images to see if we can consistently identify Arundo signatures. This would allow for a more comprehensive and accurate estimation of status of Arundo in the 9-county bay area. More people are needed to cover the Bay Area, and several more people volunteered. SEC has GIS locations for the entire Sonoma Creek; Circuit Riders may have data for Russian River. IMPORTANT: Anyone who has information on the exact locations of stands of Arundo is kindly requested to contact the following persons: Tom Dudley: Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara Counties David Leland: Sonoma and Napa Counties Paul Jones: San Mateo and San Francisco Counties We need volunteers for Solano County, so please contact Paul Jones if you are interested. Pierce's disease research might be important because of impression that native riparian vegetation harbors the disease and that Arundo is actually a preferred bank cover adjacent to vineyard land. Dennis Bowker and Phill Blake may have more information for us on this subject. Agenda Item 5: Other News Eradication work days at Sonoma Creek: The Sonoma Ecology Center wants to continue its eradication efforts in Sonoma Creek. Though the grant to DFG is not yet approved, Deanne diPietro wanted to know what can be done in the meantime with the help of TadN, and then what might be done with the grant money for eradication in Sonoma. SEC can work in partnership with the RCD for landowner contact and CCC and CDF for the eradication work, especially for the spraying of the herbicide. Joel Trumbo offered a glyphosate application training session at our next meeting. Educational materials developed by the Team can be implemented immediately in Sonoma. Next Meeting: We will hold our next Team Arundo del Norte meeting as follows: Wednesday, 25 June 9:30 - 12:30 DFG Headquarters for the Napa Marsh, Duhig and Ramal Roads, Napa Items for the agenda so far are: - Mitigation Banking credit for Arundo eradication - Training on Herbicide Application - Getting California Conservation Corps (and CDF) workcrews to help with eradication efforts Another email announcement will follow soon with more details. Everyone is welcome!