East Central Florida CISMA Workdays. Celebration of the 2011: National Invasive Species Awareness Week

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1 East Central Florida CISMA Workdays Celebration of the 2011: National Invasive Species Awareness Week

2 Bicentennial Park North Ormond Beach Volusia County, FL March 2, 2011 Target Plant Species: Brazilian pepper Herbicide: Garlon 4 Method: Hack and Squirt Participants: Volusia County UF Ag Center, IFAS FWC, IPMS

3 Bicentennial Park North Ormond Beach Volusia County, FL March 2, 2011 The weather was perfect for a day in the field. The objective of the day was to treat Brazilian pepper trees with the hack and squirt method around the inside perimeter of the park near the basketball and tennis courts. This park is heavily used by Volusia County residents as observed during the workday. Park guests stopped to ask who we were and what we were doing. It was the perfect opportunity to educate the public on the ECF- CISMA and invasive species. Morning training session: Ed, Steve, Martin and Mike David Griffis is ready to kill some pepper trees! Getting the job done with a smile: Ed, Mike and Martin

4 Bicentennial Park North Ormond Beach Volusia County, FL March 2, 2011 We had great help from the Volusia County Special Task Force : These three individuals, Martin Moran, Steven Kulchawick and Michael Cirillo, received a hands on training, on how to properly identify Brazilian peppers, how to score the trees and apply herbicide to the tree trunks for an effective kill. David Griffiths with the University of Florida, IFAS Agricultural Extension Office provided identification techniques along with safe machete handling. The Crew: Kelli Gladding, Edward Northey, Steven Kulchawick, Michael Cirillo, Martin Moran & David Griffis Other invasive plant species identified: Asparagus fern Boston fern Bamboo David Griffis is scoring the tree trunks Tag Team- David Griffis and Edward Northey

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6 Brevard County EELS Coastal Jewel Site Malabar, FL March 3, 2011 Target Plant Species: Chinese tallow Brazilian pepper Cogon grass Herbicide: Garlon 4 Glyphosate Method: Hack and Squirt Cut stump treatment Chinese tallow: Sapium sebiferum

7 Brevard County EELS Coastal Jewel Site Malabar, FL March 3, 2011 Cooperative Participants: Brevard County, EELS The Nature Conservancy Florida Fish and Wildlife Department of Defense US Fish and Wildlife Pro-Tech Natural Resources Sign-in: Mike, Mark & Damion Mable O Quinn About the Site: The 184 acre Coastal Jewel site, owned by Brevard County and the USAF has a conservation easement on 101 acres. Ken, Don & Mable The Mother Tallow Tree Chain-sawed by Ralph Lloyd & Treated by Steven Troy Treated Tallow stumps

8 Brevard County EELS Coastal Jewel Site Malabar, FL March 3, 2011 Ken Burkett Project: The exotics are Cogon grass, Chinese tallow and Brazilian peppers. The trees were mid-sized that could be herbicided in place. The cogon grass is several patches no greater then about a quarter acre. There is some torpedo grass in wetland areas. The exotics are concentrated along the FPL power-line easement, which is within the conservation easement. It is a total of about 4.5 acres of exotics with about 40-50% coverage of exotics. Mark Mercadante Bernadette Gallagher Mike Renda

9 Brevard County EELS Coastal Jewel Site Malabar, FL March 3, 2011 Endangered, Florida Scrub- Jay What makes this site special as a CISMA project: The site is one of those lands that could more readily be missed during management, or it could be unclear who should manage it. A cooperative workday brings partners together to get this job done. Wildlife observed during workday: Florida Scrub- Jay Indigo Snake Protecting Habitat Educational Training: TC CISMA (Treasure Coast) partners, Mike and Bernadette, learned to recognize smaller, defoliated tallow. Tallow is an EDRR species for TC CISMA. Mike also added this site to EddMaps for Chinese tallow.

10 Brevard County EELS Coastal Jewel Site Malabar, FL March 3, 2011 It was a great day and we were able to treat all of the Chinese tallow along the power-line easement. Unfortunately the winds were too high and we could not treat the small patch of cogon grass and did not find the torpedo grass. When everyone was leaving for the day, Ralph Lloyd spotted a Chinese tallow tree near a wetland and the remaining participants jumped out of their trucks and went to work. The tallow trees were beginning to rim the wetland along with Brazilian peppers starting to sprout. We treated as much as we could but this will be a great area to return to for another workday. This wetland is where the Indigo Snake was spotted as well, GREAT find Mark. Everyone helped out and all had a great time doing so. We are looking forward to the next ECF- CISMA Workday! The Crew (Left to right): Steven Troy, Chris O Hara, Damion Keene, Mable O Quinn, Bernadette Gallagher (kneeling), Mathew Martin, Mark Mercadante, Ken Burkett, Mike Renda, Kelli Gladding (kneeling), Ralph Lloyd & Don George Powerline Easement and location of the majority of invasive plant species