Montana Invasive Species Council meets April 10-11

Press release

HELENA — The Montana Invasive Species Council will hold its next meeting April 10-11 2019 at Cargill located at 4401 Innovation St. in Great Falls.

The business meeting on April 10 will include presentations about gastropods — snails and slugs — and Diorhabda, a leaf beetle which has been used as a biological control agent for saltcedar. Other agenda items include project and committee updates.

  April 11, USDA APHIS trainers will guide attendees through a table-top incident command system response exercise. That afternoon attendees will travel to Belt to view infestations of the eastern heath snail and discuss the issue with local officials and citizens. 

  The MISC is a statewide partnership working to protect Montana’s economy, natural resources and public health through a coordinated approach to combat invasive species. All MISC meetings are open to the public. For more information, contact Stephanie Hester, MISC Coordinator at 406-444-0547. Visit the Montana Invasive Species Council page on the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation website at http://dnrc.mt.gov/ for more information.

Agenda:

Wednesday, April 10

10 – 10:10 a.m. — WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Cargill, Keith Horton

10:10 – 11:15 a.m. — ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS

Roll call and confirm quorum

Action Item: Jan. 23 meeting minutes

Action: Budget FY19 allocations

Action: Partner with North American Invasive Species Management Association (NAISMA) for its 2020 Conference

Action: MISC AIS Committee discussionRare Plant Conservation StrategyInvasive Species Framework update and accomplishments

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. — GASTROPODS PRESENTATION

David G. Robinson Ph.D.USDA APHIS National Malacology Laboratory Academy of Natural Sciences

12:15 – 12:45 p.m. — BREAK

12:45 – 1 p.m. — 2019 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

1 – 2 p.m. — DIORHABDA PRESENTATION

Alex Gaffke, Ph.D. Ecology and Environmental Sciences, MSU Diorhabda for control of Tamarisk (salt cedar)

2 – 3 p.m. — MISC PROJECT UPDATES

Mogulones crucifers Science Advisory Panel update

Action: Invasive Species Listing and Act Committees next steps

Action: All-taxa Response Guidelines adoption

3 – 3:30 p.m. — COMMITTEE UPDATES

Data management (Jed Little) Tree pest (Stephanie) Firewood (Amy) Invasive Woody Trees (Jasmine) Education & Outreach (Kate)

3:30 - 4 p.m. — WRAP-UP AND ADJOURN

Agency and partner updates.

public comment

Thursday, April 11

8 a.m. – Noon — TABLETOP INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEM TRAINING

Craig Guthrie, MEPSenior Training Specialist USDA-APHIS-PPQ Topic: responding to the unexpected

Noon – 3 p.m. — EASTERN HEATH SNAIL FIELD TRIP AND DISCUSSION

Travel to Belt, 22 miles from Great Falls, to visit infestation sites and visit with city officials, landowners and land managers.