Year: 2013

Guest blog by Cynthia Sandeno, Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

 

Visitors coming from out of state to camp in West Virginia will notice an important message during their travels. New billboards proclaiming the message “Don’t Move Firewood” have been established across the state in high-traffic locations to remind visitors to protect their favorite areas by buying firewood locally and using it locally.

 

 

In the fall of 2012, the Potomac Highlands Cooperative Weed and Pest Management Area (CWPMA) received funding to implement a large-scale project designed to inform travelers and citizen scientists about the steps they can take to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive pests.  The project, “Slowing the Onward Movement of Pests,” also called STOMP, combines a number of outreach techniques including highway billboards, educational displays at visitor centers in state parks, forests and other locations, public service announcements, and training workshops.  The CWPMA partnered with the “Don’t Move Firewood” Campaign to design posters, billboards, and postcards to help spread this important message.

 

The Potomac Highlands CWPMA is a partnership of people, agencies, and organizations who have come together to combat non-native invasive species in the headwaters region of the South Branch of the Potomac River in West Virginia and Virginia.  Working with the West Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the organization was assisted in their mission to spread the “Don’t Move Firewood” message by the use of advertising space donated by Lamar Advertising Company.  Lamar donated advertising space on four billboards in strategic locations to help increase travelers’ awareness that moving firewood can also move tree-killing insects and diseases.   This generous donation allowed the CWPMA to reach visitors from neighboring states reminding them not to move firewood.  “We would have never been able to reach as many people without the generous donation from Lamar,” said Andrea Brandon from TNC. “Many people travel into West Virginia along these roads and will be reminded that they can make a difference.”

 

West Virginia is home to the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) which is located in the east-central part of the state.  The Forest is the largest expanse of public land in the state, contains an estimated 52% of the publically available recreation land in West Virginia, and is the fourth largest National Forest in the 20 northeastern states.  The Forest is located in proximity to major population centers of the region, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh making travel routes to the Forest high-risk locations for the introduction and spread of invasive species.  The Monongahela is one of the founding partners of the CWPMA and has been leading the implementation of the STOMP project.

 

“Being able to work with the many partners of the CWPMA has led to much greater success than we would be able to accomplish on our own,” said Cynthia Sandeno, Ecologist on the Monongahela National Forest.  “Through the STOMP project, we are able to use private, state, and federal lands to help protect the health of West Virginia’s forests by increasing awareness,” said Cynthia.

 

The economy of West Virginia relies heavily on forest products, agriculture, and natural resource-based tourism; and is well known for its biological and cultural riches, recreational opportunities, and beauty.  Invasive pests are a threat to all of these resources.  The Asian longhorned beetle has not been found in West Virginia, but has been found just miles away in Bethel, Ohio making the travel routes between these two states high risk vectors for the spread of this species.   If the Asian longhorned beetle becomes established in West Virginia, it has the potential to cause more damage than Dutch elm disease, chestnut blight, and the spongy moth combined.  Lamar Advertising donated two billboards near the routes entering West Virginia from Bethel, Ohio.

 

In the coming months, the “Don’t Move Firewood” message will also be spread to state parks and forests where educational displays will be installed to help reach even more people, including those that live in the state.  “We want to make sure that residents and visitors know that even moving firewood between counties within West Virginia could introduce harmful pests,” said Andrea Brandon.   “By buying locally, campers can prevent unwanted pests from invading forests, fields, and waterways and causing environmental and economic damage.”

 

The first “Don’t Move Firewood” posters have been installed in campgrounds located at Nelson Rocks Outdoor Center, a climbing and zip lining facility that receives over 10,000 visitors annually.  And, nine additional educational displays will be installed in August of 2013 in nature centers at state parks and forests that have received campers from Bethel Ohio.  Without the help of the “Don’t Move Firewood” Campaign and the assistance of manager Leigh Greenwood, West Virginia would not have been able to develop these important outreach tools.

What are people asking the DMF summer interns?

By Julia Sullivan

 

Four events into our summer, Annalena and I have been continually impressed with the great questions we’ve been receiving from festivalgoers and farmers’ market patrons. Our experience last week at the Lenox Farmers’ Market was no exception. Here’s a sampling of four such questions that keep popping up.

 

What’s the bug that’s killing hemlocks?

 

One pest that seems to be on a lot of people’s minds is the hemlock woolly adelgid. It was first reported in the 1920s and is currently distributed throughout the Eastern United States. Efforts to eradicate the hemlock woolly adelgid are currently under way via: biological control; lethal control using both chemical insecticides and, more recently, biocides; breeding resistant trees; managing the site to adapt to the loss of hemlocks. The fact that the insect continues to spread and hemlocks remain under threat, however, illustrates the great difficulty often encountered in responding to such invasions.

 

Is it okay to buy firewood at the grocery store?

 

Sometimes! This can be a really good option for some people, but only when it’s done right. If you see bundles of firewood at the supermarket from an unknown source, be wary. Do not buy firewood from an unpermitted or unknown vendor that cannot tell you where their wood comes from. Buying wood that is labeled as heat-treated or kiln dried (to kill any pests within), however, is typically safe. And buying wood that is clearly labeled as being from the local area, if you are planning to use it locally, is also usually fine.

 

Doesn’t the Asian longhorned beetle have predators that keep it in check?

 

In its native areas (China and Korea), yes! Here, not so much. Native trees have defenses against the insects and diseases that they've been living and evolving with for millions of years – not ones introduced from the other side of the world. Likewise, native predators eat native insects, and that keeps their populations in check. Invasive non-native insects and diseases have no effective predators in their new homes, and the trees have no natural defenses against them, allowing insects like the Asian longhorned beetle to reproduce rapidly and threaten the stability of the ecosystem. While native woodpeckers and other predators eat some Asian longhorned beetles, it is not nearly enough to keep their populations in check.

 

What are all those purple boxes?

 

The purple traps you might see suspended in trees are special boxes designed to attract the emerald ash borer. The triangular boxes release a scent similar to a sick ash tree, and the purple color is attractive to the beetle. They are intended to be monitoring devices that indicate the presence of beetles in a given area.

 

NOTE: We have special non-sticky ones to show people at our booth. DO NOT touch the real ones you may see in trees- they are covered in seriously sticky adhesive that is very difficult to remove.

Quiet morning at the Ashfield Farmers Market

by Annalena Barrett

 

After Clearwater and Solid Sound, Julia and I could hardly believe our eyes when we rolled up to the Ashfield Farmers Market last Saturday. About six tents had been set up with a few more on their way. No one seemed rushed or stressed, just happy to be outside on a sunny morning.

 

People started milling around the market around 9:30am, taking their time and chatting with friends. It was so much more low-key than what we were used to, it honestly took some adjusting. Instead of shouting into throngs of humanity, we got to stand by our table as people meandered up to see what we were working on. It wasn’t long before a group of kids were kicking around one of our beach balls and sporting awesome invasive beetle tattoos.

For the most part, people seemed more interested in learning about our cause than picking up some freebees. This made for a very pleasant morning, and by the time the market wound down, it really felt like we have engaged in some challenging and worth while conversations.

Solid Weekend at Solid Sound

By Julia Sullivan

 

With Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival under our belts, Annalena and I felt like old pros by the time we rolled into MASS MoCA for a few hours of tabling last Friday. While we weren’t lucky enough to snag a spot inside the actual Solid Sound Festival, we set up in some prime territory right beside the entrance.  Needless to say, there was a lot of traffic. Hot, thirsty, sunburnt, and curious traffic. Lucky for these festivalgoers, we came fully prepared with hundreds of fans, water bottles, hats, and information. It was a wonderful weekend for stuff.

Friday evening, before the afternoon heat subsided and the festival entrance guards stood down, we found ourselves before a line of hundreds of anxious, sweltering people. Our freebies were in high demand, and we could hardly keep up. While I ripped through boxes of fans and answered the common “What’s this all about?” question, Annalena donned the Asian longhorned beetle costume, which made for some great entertainment for our captive audience. By the time we were ready to pack up for the day, we’d already made a considerable dent in our supplies and gotten the word out about invasive insects.

 

The following day was long but productive. Without hundreds of festivalgoers held helplessly before us, we broke out the prize wheel to entice people. We continued to give out fans but made people do a little work to earn water bottles, frisbees, beach balls, DVDs, hats, and tree shirts. We let people read up on the Asian longhorned beetle and/or the emerald ash borer, tested their knowledge with a couple quiz questions, and eventually let them spin to win. And as always, our stickers and tattoos were a hit. It was awesome to see people milling about with creepy invasive insects all over their arms.

 

We gave away the last of our supplies on Sunday morning. Solid Sound cleaned us out of a truck’s worth of stuff! What seemed a less than ideal location at first ended up working to our advantage, allowing us to interact with almost 700 people over the course of the weekend.

 

While this festival was different in many ways from Clearwater, the array of heartening responses from the people we interacted with felt just as good. Whether we heard “I remember you guys! I still have my frisbee from last year,” “Oh wow, good to know. I’ll get firewood where I camp,” or “Yeah, I know all about this. I don’t move firewood,” our work this weekend served to both raise awareness and enforce what some people already knew. We’re thankful for the awesome weather we’ve had at both of our events so far and looking forward to what the rest of the summer brings!

Here at Don't Move Firewood, we strive to supply any non-profit or local agency outreach professionals that come to us with supplies to aid in their own Don't Move Firewood outreach efforts. That includes things like our brochures, fake tattoos, stickers, water bottles, fans… you name it. So what's our most popular item?

 

Fake tattoos! And we are running out of them right now because of unprecedently high demand (which is a good thing), so I thought it would be a great time to tell the world how you can order your own supply. First, do some comparison shopping to find a reputable online custom fake tattoo dealer. Try this for a starting point for bulk fake tattoos, or this if you just want to print a small amount of them on your own special tattoo printer paper. We don't have a preferred vendor at this time, so you'll need to do your own research here.

 

Then, once you find one you think will work for you given your desired price point and quantity, browse our Don't Move Firewood Resource Library tattoo selection. Once you determine which one you want, you can either download the PDF directly from those links, or email me at info@dontmovefirewood.org and I can send you a PNG file of the requested type.

 

Easy! Good luck!

Don't Move Firewood Summer Interns start off at Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival!

By Annalena Barrett

 

Last weekend Julia and I (the brand new Community Outreach Interns for the Don’t Move Firewood Campaign) attended Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, an awesome environmental music festival. Neither of us had been to the festival before and had no idea what to expect. We set out Friday morning from Sheffield, Massachusetts and miraculously found our way there without a hitch despite our mutual ineptitude with directions. From there, the weekend was a total success. We were joined by two other Nature Conservancy employees based out of Albany and had a great time laughing at each other wearing the campaign’s Asian Longhorned Beetle costume.

It was exciting to see how many people really wanted to engage with us and learn about invasive species and forest health. It was also heartening to hear how much people already knew. Several Clearwater veterans came up to the booth to say they remembered the booth from a few years back and still had their beetle ID cards tucked into their wallets. Or that they love to camp, but have learned to buy their firewood where they want to burn it. Over two days of tabling we spoke with about 900 people and administered almost as many beetle themed temporary tattoos. Needless to say, we worked some long days, but hearing someone exclaim, “Wow I didn’t know that, I’ll definitely be more careful now!” or watching a kid jump up and down as they explained to a parent how invasive beetles spread made it incredibly fun and worthwhile. Often, these issues seem out of hand and unmanageable, but after a weekend of reaching out and talking to folks about simple ways to protect our trees, it seems more and more likely that we will actually be able to get a handle on the situation by implementing best practices.

 

This sense of hope and progress was compounded by the overall environment of Clearwater. We were just one of many groups tabling in the expansive “activist area” of the festival. In addition to this, Clearwater had a Green Living Expo set up and a zero waste policy. Everything from the plates to the forks to the straws we used were compostable and there was a person stationed at every waste disposal area to help people sort their trash correctly. For a festival attended by thousands, this kind of commitment to minimizing waste is commendable. I can’t help but lament a little that everywhere we set up a booth this summer will not be as conscientious and committed as Clearwater.       

 

At the end of the weekend, we had given away hundreds of fun freebees, learned that prize wheels make people of all ages excited, and deduced that there is no situation that is not greatly enhanced by fresh lemonade and a potato pancake.