CIPM Staff: Emily Rindos Haley Center Kim Goodwin Kitty Weiss Liz Galli-Noble Scott Bockness

Transcription

1 DRAFT CIPM Steering Committee Chair John Simons, BLM Meeting Facilitator: Liz Galli-Noble (CIPM Director) Center for Invasive Plant Management Steering Committee Meeting Conference Call MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, December 14, 211 1: am 11:5 am (Mountain Time) Meeting Participants Steering Committee Members: Amy Ferriter (DOA, ID) Andrew Canham (MRWC, SD) John Simons (Chair, BLM, MT) Dr. Lars Anderson (ARS, CA) Larry Beneker (BIA, MT) Dr. Roger L. Sheley (ARS, OR) Sheilah Kennedy (Industry, WA) Virgil Dupuis (SKC, MT) Dr. Tracy Sterling (ex officio) MSU CIPM Staff: Emily Rindos Haley Center Kim Goodwin Kitty Weiss Liz Galli-Noble Scott Bockness Absent: Mike Ielmini (USFS, DC), and Eileen Ryce (FWP, MT; excused: she was attending a meeting of the Mississippi Basin Panel of the ANS TF) 1. Introductions and Meeting Overview Liz Galli-Noble announced who was on the call (stated above). John Simons reviewed the meeting agenda (Attachment A). He then welcomed the new Steering Committee members and asked each of them to briefly introduce themselves to the group: Amy Ferriter (State Agency 2 Representative) Amy Ferriter is the Invasive Species Coordinator for the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. She is based in Boise, ID. For the past five years, she has focused on implementing Idaho s Action Plan for Invasive Species. Idaho now has a comprehensive Invasive Species law and rules. Idaho has a dedicated funding source (boat sticker funds) that allows the state to operate a comprehensive prevention program. Idaho s program is aquatic and terrestrial and includes all taxa. The focus of the new five-year strategy ( ) will be pathway management. Amy came to Idaho from Florida, where she ran a very successful invasive species program for many years. Virgil Dupuis (Tribal/Extension Representative) Virgil Dupuis is the Extension Director for the Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, MT. He coordinates the development of a native plant nursery and ecological restoration expertise. For nearly 2 years, Virgil has worked in the environmental, conservation, and restoration efforts on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, and has implemented a program for the production of native plants for use in land restorations on the reservation. Virgil is a member of the Salish Kootenai Tribe and has served as the Tribe s lands manager; he also works in weed management areas for the Tribe. Virgil works extensively with other tribal colleges and tribal organizations including the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Larry Beneker (BIA Representative) Larry Beneker works in the Rocky Mountain Regional Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Billings, MT. His regional office provides services for 1 tribes in Montana and Wyoming; but this does not include the Flathead Reservation, however. Larry served on the CIPM Steering Committee many years ago. He is also an advisory member of the Noxious Weed Trust Fund Advisory Council and is on the APHIS Technical Advisory Group (TAG). His work involves biocontrol, herbicide, and outreach. Dr. Roger Sheley (Other Federal Agency 2 Representative) Roger Sheley is a research ecologist with the USDA-ARS, eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Burns, OR. Roger was an associate professor and the Extension Noxious Weed Specialist at MSU from 1994 to 23, during which time he created the 1

2 CIPM (launched in 2). Roger then moved to OR to continue his research and coordinate the area-wide ecologically-based invasive plant management project. This program combines state and transition models and successional management as a framework to make the best management decisions for a given landscape based on ecological principles. He has known and worked with many of the other members of the SC and is excited to be working with and contributing to the CIPM again. 2. Approve August 1, 211 Steering Committee Meeting Minutes John Simons asked everyone to review the minutes from the August 1, 211 Steering Committee meeting minutes. After a few minutes he then asked if there were any corrections. There were none. Lars Anderson made a motion to approve the meeting minutes as written (including the edits on page 4 that John Simon s submitted via earlier in the month). Amy Ferriter seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (Attachment B). 3. Budget Review / Financial Updates Liz Galli-Noble briefly went over the CIPM Financial Update (Attachment C). She reported on current funding amounts by source (including ~$3, in non-grant funding sources; bottom of page 2), pending grant funding, potential future grants, and recently rejected grant applications. Liz also noted that, as of December 31, 211, the CIPM would no longer have the Montana Statewide Noxious Weed Awareness and Education Campaign under its umbrella. In the future, CIPM will only provide assistance to the Campaign, as we do for many of our project partners at MSU and in the region. It has been a very difficult year for CIPM dealing with the Campaign. Working with LRES, we got the program back on track and, happily, we will now let others move the program forward in 212. Amy Ferriter What are you referring to? Liz Galli-Noble Tracy Sterling requested that the Montana Statewide Noxious Weed Awareness and Education Campaign program be pulled under the CIPM umbrella last year, in an effort to consolidate LRES weed programs, as well as to better manage the Campaign program and clean up many long-term issues that were plaguing the program. CIPM did exactly that, we fixed the problems; inventoried and documented the program situation; launched the WIYW project; wrote a one-year work plan/budget and submitted it to the NWTF Council to hire a new coordinator and continue the program; and secured a little short-term funding for the Campaign. Because of some serious confusion regarding the program s next round of funding, CIPM recently pulled back from direct supervision of the Campaign program. This has taken way too much of our time this past year (I have contributed >4 hours; ~2 hours were reimbursed), and the continued confusion and funding uncertainty makes it a very undesirable partnership for CIPM. This past year has not been positive for CIPM or me regarding the supervisor of the Campaign program. We are done. Tracy Sterling It has been a huge relief to stabilize the Campaign, and thank you to Liz and CIPM for all the hard work they put into helping the Campaign. We now must wait to see how the next phase of the program goes. MSU strongly supports the continuation of the Campaign program. Lars Anderson Liz would you send me information on the NSF ISE project that you are working on. It sounds similar to something we are doing at UC Davis. Liz Galli-Noble Sure. I will send you the draft proposal. This is a UConn-led project with U Georgia. It was nice of them to reach out to the CIPM as their western regional partner. Liz Galli-Noble I also want to thank Sheilah Kennedy for helping me with a CIPM donation letter (see Attachment D for draft). We plan to send this out to many perspective donors in the new year. Also, I met with Eileen about the WRP ANS TF contracting to administer the panel. They are moving forward with an RFP for that soon. She encouraged CIPM to apply and we plan to do so. 2

3 4. CIPM Program and Staff Updates CIPM staff gave updates on their current projects: Emily Rindos - CIPM Outreach and Science Communications Associate Recently I have spent much of my time working with the MRWC as the Outreach and Awareness Workgroup coordinator. I just completed an EDDMapS reporting and species identification guidebook, which Chuck Bargeron (UGA) converted into an iphone app. It will also be distributed online in a printer ready format. In addition, I am updating and reformatting the MRWC s Sportsman s Guide (hunter education booklet). The second edition will include messages for fishermen and boaters, as well as identification information for aquatic invasive species and how to report sightings using the MRWC-EDDMapS. For the past several months, I have been working with Liz and Dr. Mandy Tu to organize the 212 Dept. of Defense invasive species workshop. In August, I designed the layout for the LRES Department s Self Study Report and helped Liz with editing. As part of the Weeds Across Borders 212 organizing committee, I have been assisting CONABIO with planning the conference. In August and September, I assisted Liz and Haley with Campaign inventory and preparing Campaign materials for distribution, including the complete rewriting/editing of the WIYW Teacher Guide. In October, I designed a 2-page Best Management Practices flyer for the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee s Terrestrial Invasive Species Subcommittee. Over the past several months, I have developed advertising and promotional materials for Kim Goodwin s program. Finally, I have continued to edit and coordinate the CIPM Quarterly newsletter as well as help Liz write grants for CIPM and the MRWC. Liz Galli-Noble I am currently working on promoting Emily to a CIPM Assistant Director position and securing an increase in pay for her. Andrew Canham Emily Rindos work is second to none. John Simons We need to write a letter of appreciation for everything Emily Rindos does. Kitty Weiss, CIPM E-Communications Coordinator I was out on maternity leave for all of August and September, and half of October. Since being back I have: Designed and coded the DoD workshop website Coordinated the webinar portion of the MRWC Fall Meeting Updated the MRWC website Posted all the Wild Dakota videos online Started working on a brochure for CIPM and branding Took minutes for the WWCC meeting. Started working with Scott Bockness to get more CIG project information and materials up on the web. Liz Galli-Noble CIPM is very lucky to have Kitty Weiss. She is such a dedicated and professional worker and she even helped us out while she was on maternity leave. We have a really strong CIPM staff and we are making great progress. Scott Bockness CIPM Conservation Innovation Grant Project Leader CIG is a regional project with many project sites. We are researching to expand our management activity specifically for landowners. We are also looking into the feasibility of biomass as a fuel source. We have been merging our efforts with the forestry people to develop something beneficial for bioenergy development. I have been working on growing the website with Kitty. I have been attending conferences and meetings. I have been working with the Synergy Resource Solutions, Inc. team to finalize the site selection and site plot designs by the end of

4 Kim Goodwin Weed Prevention Coordinator I recently submitted grant proposals for EDRR projects in north central Idaho and prevention programs in eastern MT. Award decisions will be announced in February 212. In August, we hosted a regional symposium and workshop in Island Park, ID to explore the challenges and steps to protect north central Idaho from the spread of rush skeletonweed and Dyer s woad, which was attended by over 6 federal, state, and county level stakeholders from ID, MT, and WY. I am surveying key issues that were identified in the talks and discussion that took place during the symposium and formulating EDRR strategy with an emphasis on risk reduction and capacity development. We continue to collect spatial data from county, state, and federal sources to maintain infestation maps of priority weeds in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. We are working to reduce dispersal of rush skeletonweed by working with Jeff Littlefield at MSU to identify potential new biological control agents. We are also striving to improve detection rates for rush skeletonweed invasions through the development of a multispectral camera and computer system and the use of digital aerial sketch mapping. Tracy Sterling I just heard that your Island Park event went really well. John Simons What is digital aerial sketch mapping? Kim Goodwin It s a remote sensing technique that can help land managers regularly monitor landscapes for new weeds. Trained observers in light utility helicopters, which travel slow and close to the ground, detect, and map invasions with mobile GIS. It could be a good method to improve monitoring and mapping of rush skeletonweed because the plant is wind dispersed and poses sampling problems to land managers, whereby vast areas of wildland must be regularly surveyed to locate new populations. John Simons What is the cost? Kim Goodwin It depends on the survey pattern of the helicopter based on the target survey unit and accuracy needs. If you want to find plants or eradicable patches, the helicopter has to travel in a tight grid pattern, which means a higher cost per acre. The cost can be as low as $.7/acre. Ground surveys are more accurate but cost $6./acre. Haley Center CIPM Office Assistant (MSU undergraduate student) I am a freshman at MSU in the architecture program. I have been working with CIPM since mid-july. This summer I worked with the Campaign program doing inventory and distribution. This fall I have been working for CIPM doing minutes and helping around the office. I am very excited to be working with CIPM and its staff. Liz Galli-Noble Director I have been working on the following things these past few months: CIPM program administrator, projects P.I., and staff supervisor (includes the Campaign program and Kim s program). Working with MSU HR, writing grants, writing project reports, project fiscal management, etc. Emily and I are editing a children s book on weeds for a local-area author. Emily and I are planning the DOD workshop. Emily and I are assisting CONABIO with the 212 WAB conference planning; this also includes the planning of the NAISN workshop which will also to be held in Cancun in April 212. I am on the BOD of NAISN. Really enjoy working with the Missouri Watershed Coalition program manager, grant writer and manager, helping with EDDMapS and the new app, database merger, EDRR, P.I. for the CIG project, coordinating the fall meeting, helping with the Outreach and EDRR Workgroups, and traveling for MRWC presentations (Reno, Vegas, ID, MT). Wrote annual report for the Biocontrol Symposium. NSF ISE project negotiation, work plan, budget, grant paperwork, grant application for CIPM/MSU. Edited the LRES Self Study document. 4

5 Have many advisory committee duties: NRCS STAC, WWCC, GYCC, and recently MWCA BOD. Gave presentations: o Butte (Montana Purchasing Association) for CIPM; o Weed Control Association and Great Basin LCC meeting - Reno, NV for MRWC, EDDMapS and CIPM; o WWCC Meeting - Las Vegas, NV for CIPM, MRWC, and EDDMapS; o California s Interagency Noxious and Invasive Plant Committee conference call for CIPM. Roger Sheley I am very impressed at all the work that is being done. Liz Galli-Noble We owe a lot to Dave Burch and the MT Dept of Agriculture. He had faith in CIPM back in 28, and has been an excellent partner of ours. There is talk of moving new funding for coordination of the Columbia River Watershed Coalition program; and Virgil Dupuis would be the perfect person to sit on the Executive Committee of that new group. WA, OR, MT, WY, NV, and UT all are very excited about this and want CIPM to pursue it. The grant is being negotiated by MT and the feds, and CIPM will take the program and grant management lead. We will see if the grant goes through. The only state that has not seemed overly supportive is Idaho. Amy Ferriter ID is not sure about the coalition and project? What are ID s concerns? I am willing to help make this work, if I can. Liz Galli-Noble When I sent out the idea for this project to the state weed coordinators from WA, OR, MT, WY and ID, they all supported it and wanted us to move forward, except for Matt Voile of ID. He had concerns about CIPM s involvement (was it really necessary?); would all we do is write more management plans and not get any work done on-the-ground?; why wouldn t the federal money simply go to the states directly?; and the like. I responded to his concerns via , and several fellow weed coordinators have tried to talk to him about it directly. John Simons Many states are behind this idea. The next thing is getting grants together. Liz Galli-Noble A grant for ~$87, has been submitted for year one of the CRWC effort. Now we wait. Virgil Dupuis Let me know if you need help from the Tribe. 5. Upcoming Events, Potential Projects, and Funding Opportunities Liz Galli-Noble Upcoming events include: *212 Weeds Across Borders + NAISN Workshop and Board Meeting April 21-27, Cancun, Mexico *DoD NW Workshop May 21-25, Portland, OR Some potential projects are: 3 rd round of plastic weed models and identification cards; DuPont-sponsored webinars; NSF ISE grant; MRWC (EDDMapS trainings, database merger); and possibly the launching of the Columbia River Watershed Coalition. Roger Sheley My goal will be to address the base funding issue for CIPM. We need to get into the President s budget for permanent, long-term funding. I have some ideas on how to do this; I will focus on growing the program in a shrinking economy and creating opportunities to get funding. CIPM can emerge as a more efficient way to deal with organization and coordination. John Simons There are agencies that are turning away. Roger Sheley We need to use interagency fire to become a facilitator and get into the President s budget. We need to be efficient and unified. 5

6 Andrew Canham Agreed. We need to do more with less. Lars Anderson Agreed. We will have to move this up the chain. We should be talking to the USDA invasive species coordinator to get federal action. Roger Sheley The first step is to create a concept paper that we can use as an example on how to grow. Liz Galli-Noble Let s put that on the agenda to talk about at the next meeting. This is a good idea. John Simons A draft of the plan should be completed over the next couple of months. We should also consider what we are calling it. The title should not be base funding, but rather education and coordination funding, in order to gain support. Andrew Canham And a good track record. Roger Sheley I will be back in my office by January 18. Perhaps Kim can help us with this strategy. Liz Galli-Noble We will plan to continue this discussion after you get back. I will call you and set something up in late January or early February. Sheilah Kennedy This will be an excellent program to build on. Should we go to Washington DC in February? Do we need this information for the NISAW meeting? John Simons/Liz Galli-Noble Yes, it would be helpful. Liz Galli-Noble I will add CIPM products/achievements to the donation letter, perhaps a second page listing those accomplishments. Sheilah Kennedy It is a good idea to have something to show organizations to get funding. Liz Galli-Noble We will do a second draft of the donation letter and send it out for review. Tracy Sterling We should utilize the new MSU College of Agriculture development director to get ideas for CIPM donations. Lars Anderson We have news from California that Lake Tahoe has agreed to change its invasive species policy. They have finally agreed to use herbicides to fight Eurasian water milfoil and curlyleaf pondweed. 6. Schedule Next Steering Committee Meeting Liz Galli-Noble - The next Steering Committee meeting will be scheduled for some time in the spring 212. April and May are very busy for CIPM, so I would prefer March, if that works for others. I will send out a Doodle to the Steering Committee members to confirm the best date and time in late March. John Simons Should we think about video-conferencing? Federal agencies and university extension services have the ability to host video-conferencing. Liz Galli-Noble CIPM would be willing to compensate anyone who has to pay to connect to a video link. John Simons Let s try again to get all or most of us linked via video conference for our next meeting. Kitty can contact the SC members about how that might work. The meeting was adjourned at ~11:5 am. 6

7 Attachment A. Center for Invasive Plant Management Steering Committee Meeting Video Conference Call AGENDA Wednesday, December 14, 211 1: am - Noon (Mountain Time) CIPM Steering Committee Chair John Simons, BLM Meeting Facilitator: Liz Galli-Noble (CIPM Director) DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. Introductions Welcome to new members; members briefly introduce themselves to the group: Amy Ferriter Invasive Species Coordinator, Idaho State Department of Agriculture (State Agency 2 Representative) Virgil Dupuis Extension Director, Salish Kootenai College; Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe (Extension and Tribal Representative) Larry Beneker BIA, Rocky Mountain Regional Office (BIA Representative) Dr. Roger Sheley Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Eastern Oregon (Federal Agency 2 Representative) 2. Approve August 1, 211 Steering Committee Meeting Minutes (2 minutes) 3. Budget Review / Financial Updates (1 minutes) 4. CIPM Program and Staff Updates (4 minutes) Emily Rindos, Kitty Weiss, Scott Bockness, Kim Goodwin, Haley Center (MSU Student), and Liz Galli-Noble 5. Upcoming Events, Potential Projects, and Funding Opportunities 6. Schedule Next SC Meeting Spring 212 Preferences? Conference Call, Call-in Instructions: Call Participant Join On-Demand Plus Conference Call: 1. Dial Enter CIPM Conference ID number and press # 3. You will be placed directly into the meeting if the moderator has already joined. If the moderator hasn t joined, you will be placed on hold for up to 1 minutes. If you have problems, please Emily Rindos at emily.rindos@montana.edu.

8 Center for Invasive Plant Management Steering Committee Meeting Conference Call Minutes Wednesday, August 1, 211 1: am - 11:45 am (Mountain Time) Meeting Facilitators: John Simons, Chair (BLM) and Liz Galli-Noble (CIPM Director); Note Taker: Haley Center (CIPM) Meeting Attendance: Steering Committee members: Andrew Canham, Slade Franklin, Mike Ielmini, Sheilah Kennedy, and John Simons CIPM Staff: Liz Galli-Noble, Emily Rindos, Kim Goodwin, Haley Center (in person); and Scott Bockness (via telephone) Absent: Lars Anderson, LaDonna Carlisle, Eileen Ryce, Tracy Sterling, Jennifer Vollmer Note: We did not have a quorum of members at this meeting. The meeting began at 1:5 am. John Simons called the meeting to order. 1. Introduction and Meeting Overview Liz Galli-Noble began the meeting by taking a head count and expressing that both Tracy Sterling and LaDonna Carlisle contacted her that they would be unable to participate. John Simons also gave a brief overview of the agenda (Attachment A). 2. Approve May 1, 211 Steering Committee Meeting Minutes John Simons asked everyone to review the minutes from the May 1, 211 Steering Committee meeting. After a few minutes he then asked if there were any corrections. There were none. Andrew Canham made a motion to approve the minutes as written and Sheilah Kennedy seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (Attachment B). 3. Steering Committee Membership One SC member ends her second term of service and two members are up for renewal in the Fall 211, and suggestions for replacement of these members were provided: Jennifer Vollmer - 2 nd term ends Suggested replacements: Steve Manning or Lee Patrick (IPC), Mel Shumway (DuPont), and John Cantlon (DuPont), Jerome Otto (WY) LaDonna Carlisle - 1 st term ends; LaDonna is likely unable to do a second term due to agency cutbacks and a potential change in assignment. Note: The representative category is currently for Tribal/BIA, which everyone agreed are really two distinct categories. Suggested replacements: LaDonna has spoken to a couple of tribal members in NM and AZ, who are interested. Liz has also asked a tribal member from MT about serving as the Tribal representative. Update: Virgil Dupuis (Extension Director for the Salish Kootenai College and member of the Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe) has accepted Liz s invitation to join the CIPM Steering Committee as the Tribal Representative/Extension Representative. Slade Franklin - 1 st term ends; he will not be able to do a second term. Suggested replacements: Rachel Seifert-Spilde (ND), Tim Butler (OR), and Amy Ferriter (ID). Update: Amy Ferriter (Invasive Species Coordinator, Idaho State Department of Agriculture) has accepted Liz s invitation to join the CIPM Steering Committee as the State Representative. Other vacancies on the SC that need to be filled include: NGO/Conservation Organization Past suggestions: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, TU, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Wild Turkey Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, IPCs University Suggestions: University Extension Agent, faculty associated with invasive species; Brian Mealer at University of Wyoming would be a great choice. 1

9 Other Federal Agency Suggestions: Any of these agencies would be good additions: USACE, USGS, BPA, USFWS, BOR, NRCS, NPS, APHIS, FHA, EPA, DOD; Liz has approached Pete Egan. Mike Grotowitz (USACE) or Al Cofrancesco (USACE) were also mentioned. Liz Galli-Noble commented that she has not put enough energy into filling these vacant positions. She will try to do better over the next couple of months. 4. Budget Review/Financial Updates Liz Galli-Noble briefly went over the CIPM Financial Update (Attachment C). She reported on current funding amounts by source, pending grant funding, and potential future grants. 5. CIPM Program and Staff Updates CIPM staff gave updates on their current projects: Emily Rindos, CIPM Outreach and Science Communications Associate Emily Rindos has been working on the following projects since May 211: Missouri River Watershed Coalition Outreach Workgroup coordination and grant writing, Editing the CIPM monthly newsletter and CIPM website, Working with Kitty Weiss to completely renovate the CIPM website, Formatting the LRES Departmental Self Study, Working with Kim Goodwin on the upcoming Managing the Spread of New Plant Invaders workshop in Island Park, Idaho, Coordinating the DoD Northwest Workshop to be held in March 212, Assisting CONABIO with the coordination of the 212 Weeds Across Borders Conference, Small projects such as a brochure and logo for Park County CWMA, a fact sheet for the GYCC, and What s in Your World program assistance (technical writing, program coordination, etc.). Scott Bockness, CIPM Conservation Innovation Grant Project Leader Scott Bockness has been busy with the spring flooding, which has taken a toll across Montana. The sites that were meant to be sampled this spring for the CIG project will have to wait until spring 212. Scott has been working (under contract) with Synergy Resource Solutions, Inc and Yankee Pellet Mills, Inc. to conduct aspects of the CIG project. Sheilah Kennedy - Will there be any Federal assistance available for land managers due to flooding this past spring? Scott Bockness - Funding from the state will most likely go to landowners affected by the flooding. There may be an opportunity for funding. Slade Franklin - Flooding will not only affect the area this past spring, but most likely in coming years as well. Do you think that your site selection protocol needs to be amended? Slade also mentioned that Wyoming is participating in a wildlife impact study in riparian areas that might be a good fit for CIG project match in the future. Scott Bockness has been in contact with Seattle s Ecotech, who are looking into woody biomass development in Montana. He is encouraging them to include invasive species (saltcedar and Russian olive) as potential feedstock. There are currently three sites in Montana that could possibly turn noxious weeds into an energy source. Mike Ielmini - Mike asked about Ecotech s business model/strategy to make this work. He explained that during a recent meeting he had in DC which focused on the same topic, the company concluded that they will not be able to come up with enough noxious weed resources to make it a viable feedstock source for the continuing production of biofuel. There are only scattered saltcedar infestations in the West, and once those materials are gone, there would be no way to continue production. The idea is great for getting rid of a noxious weed, but for investment purposes, the project would not be able to survive without state subsidies. 2

10 Note for clarification: Liz Galli-Noble contacted Mike Ielmini after this meeting to explain that he and Scott were talking to two different groups, both of which are interested in biomass feedstock and biofuel production: (1) Ecotech in the Pacific Northwest; and (2) Michael Wohl of Greenspace Capital in DC, who also contacted Liz and Scott in April and said exactly the same thing about the viability of using invasive plants for a biomass feedstock. Ecotech was taking a very different approach, which is still being investigated. Kim Goodwin, Weed Prevention Coordinator reported that she has been working on a variety of projects this past several months, including: grant writing, writing articles for publication, completing a chapter for a publication, and planning the upcoming Managing the Spread of New Plant Invaders: Early Control of Rush Skeletonweed and Dyer s Woad workshop. Liz Galli-Noble spoke on behalf of Kitty Weiss, CIPM E-Communications Coordinator who is currently on maternity leave. Kitty will return full time to CIPM in October. Projects Kitty has been working on include: Regular day-to-day maintenance of CIPM s website: o maintaining current events, resources, and jobs, o making changes and adding materials requested by staff, partners, and website users, o fixing errors, and o responding to user suggestions and comments through the cipm-webmaster@montana.edu e- mail account. Updated CIPM Store pages, adding several new items throughout; Worked with Emily and Park County CWMA to come up with a logo and brochure to meet their needs; Worked with MSU s IT department to make sure backups were being performed for CIPM staff s computers; Updated the About page on the website to reflect new staff changes; Updates to the CIPM home page; Redesign process for the CIPM website; Worked with CIPM staff to brainstorm page content for several top level pages, as well as the overall site organization, new navigation and organization; Worked with the Western Weed Coordinating Committee to create a new design for their website; Worked with Wild Dakota TV to post invasive species videos; Coordinated the April Webinar and Video Conference for the MRWC, took a tour of the MSU Extension facilities, as well as a group tour with CIPM staff at the Burns Technology Center, and started working on the technical issues associated with video conferencing; Designed a four-page brochure that is an overview of what CIPM does (Liz used on her Washington, D.C. trip); Set up a CIPM account with Sharefile, an FTP-like file sharing website; and Started going through website files and cleaning out all the duplicate and no-longer used files. Liz Galli-Noble also spoke on behalf of the Montana Statewide Noxious Weed Awareness and Education Campaign and gave an update on that program. CIPM staff, in particular the Director, have spent hundreds of hours dealing with Campaign program management in spring and summer 211. The Campaign Coordinator was not reappointed on June 3, 211 and CIPM is now assisting with a program transition and the potential hiring of a new coordinator. Liz wrote a short-term Campaign workplan and budget, and developed a survey and evaluation form for the program. All CIPM staff, along with a new summer student hire (Haley Center), have been working in July and August on the following tasks: cleaning up the Campaign website; conducting inventories of the Campaign office and storage units; purchasing missing WIYW materials; rewriting and producing missing WIYW materials; and working with MSU Extension Publications to launch the What s in Your World program. Liz has also assisted with securing funding for the program by writing and submitting grant applications to the BLM and APHIS. Liz Galli-Noble, CIPM Director then provided a list of projects/tasks that, in addition to hundreds of hours committed to the Campaign, she has been working on for the past several months: CIPM program administration, LRES duties, staff management, media contact, grant management, etc.; 3

11 Missouri River Watershed Coalition program management, grant writer and PI, fiscal officer, Yellowstone River aerial imagery project management, EDDMapS, CIG PI, Executive Committee and Workgroup support, and reporting; NAISN Board of Directors, MOU writer, and grant writer; Working with Emily on the Weeds Across Borders 212: assisting with coordination, grant writing, Coordinating Committee, etc.; DoD NW Workshop management and coordination; CIPM grant writing: see Attachment C for list of applications; and Assisting with editing the LRES Departmental Self Study. Liz Galli-Noble also mentioned that, sadly and suddenly, Cori Huttinga took a better paying job at MSU in June. For the past several years, CIPM has been the only entity within the LRES Department to employee its own accountant. With Cori s resignation in June, Liz and Tracy Sterling decided that LRES would take on CIPM accounting duties (with a few duties falling on the Director) to see if CIPM could function without an accountant, and to see if LRES could take on those duties without hardship to their staff. So far it has been an easy adjustment and will save CIPM ~$5, in salary and benefits annually. 6. Review of Funding Ideas from May 21 Steering Committee Meeting John Simons wanted to follow up on suggestions that had been made at the May 21 Steering Committee meeting. John Simons - We need to find funding for the CIPM education, outreach, and technology transfer project. Should we be contacting state organizations to fund the program? Slade Franklin Wyoming has a grant program that could possibly be tapped for this in February 212. In particular, for an EDRR maps program. Liz should contact me in January to discuss this. John Simons CIPM should also be tapping the Montana NWTF in November and December. Liz Galli-Noble We have already applied to the NWTF and plan to do more in the future. John Simons Correction (9/2/211): Another funding opportunity involves two organizations that have provided what appears to be base operating funds to the Centennial Valley Association. The Centennial Valley Associaton is a group that is preserving the resources and way of life in the Centennial Valley in SW MT. The two foundations listed below can be reviewed as a potential grant funding source. Both organizations have a NW and MT focus for resource conservation and education. The Brainerd Foundation Cinnabar Foundation John Simons How about the work with Eileen Ryce and the ANS Task Force Western Regional Panel? Liz Galli-Noble - I met with Eileen right after our May meeting and we talked about CIPM functioning as the coordinator for the Western Regional Panel as well as the Mississippi Regional Panel. Eileen is discussing this with others in those groups. It looks promising and it would be an easy, good fit for CIPM. Further, as was also mentioned by Jennifer Vollmer during the last Steering Committee meeting to look into tapping funding from corporations that have lost lawsuits I researched the topic extensively with no luck and asked our MSU legal counsel about it; she knew nothing about it (see Attachment D). I also asked the Legal Counsel if CIPM could sell advertising on our website and/or provide links to for profit businesses. The answer was no. John Simons: Perhaps you could contact John Cantlon for information on lawsuits. Update: Sheilah Kennedy did send an to John Cantlon inquiring about this. Thus far, no response. Andrew Canham - He had been reviewing the mission of the Center and wanted to comment that CIPM is fulfilling its intent fully. Working with the Missouri River Watershed Coalition is a perfect fit for CIPM. We should really utilize the resources around us, especially the people (connecting to and helping people). Working with and funding CIPM is money well spent. Gina Ramos has found funding for CIPM in the past, but we still need to continue to find more; we need to tap FICMNEW and state and federal agencies. We need to look into the Exxon Mobile educating teachers 4

12 grant for more outside funding. If we can make the salt cedar fuel opportunity with Ecotech work, it will be a great accomplishment. 7. Schedule Next SC Meeting The next Steering Committee meeting will be scheduled for some time in November. Liz Galli-Noble will send out a Doodle to the Steering Committee members to confirm the best date and time. Liz also asked about the option for using video conferencing for the next meeting. It would be less expensive than having Committee members traveling to Bozeman, but would be more engaging than using conference calls. Everyone thought that this was a good idea and worth looking into. Most said they could think of ways they could link to facilities in their areas. Liz will look into it and poll the Committee members about using this option for the November meeting. 8. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 am. 5

13 CIPM Financial Summary Updated: 12/1/211 MSU Index # Award Year Current Funding Funding Source Grant Title or Project Title Amount Awarded Amount Spent (to date) Amount Remaining Notes *IDC rate 4W281 9/29-9/214 1/21 CESU Agreement w/ BLM: Old FY 26 $1 million + (CWMA confer $12,) + (Nat Areas Confer $1,) FY29 $78, FY21 $78, 98, 78, 78, 93,917 78, 78, 4,575 1% and 17.5% Montana Dept of Agriculture, Noxious Weed Trust Fund (USFS State & Private Forestry Program) 4W2185 5/ W289 9/29-9/212 4W3374 1/21-9/212 4W382 9/211-9/212 4W3766 9/211-9/213 9/29-4W2782 8/212 4W3339 4W373 1/21-9/213 8/211-12/ NA #1. Missouri River Watershed Coalition Project Coordination JHS, Inc. 6-State Saltcedar Mapping Project #2. Missouri River Watershed Coalition Project Coordination CISEH EDDMapS Project JHS, Inc. Yellowstone River Mapping Project #3. Missouri River Watershed Coalition Project Coordination Wild Dakota Television Show Hunter Education Booklet CISEH EDDMapS Expansion Project #5.Missouri River Watershed Coalition Project Coordination #6. Missouri River Watershed Coalition Project Coordination CSREES (NIFA) Microbial Biocontrol Symposium NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant (MRWC) Project Coordination, lab tests, travel, etc. Synergy Resource Solutions Riparian Plant Community Assessments in the Missouri River Watershed (3-year contract) 1 1, 86,876 13,124 1, 59,7 16,368 24,625 13, 79,69 7,5 12,81 3, 86,876 13,124 67,293 15,378 7,3 45,171 7,5 12,81 ~15, 1,29 34,519 ~15, % Extension to 9/212 % 11, 11, 1% 4, 4, % 1, 7,942 2,58 1,, 829,5 17,5 132,91 696,599 17,5 % Extension to 8/212 % DoD Legacy Program Strategic Management of Invasive Species Workshop 13, 4,168 98, % CIPM Services (sales/services/weed models) 59,975 CIPM Products NA NA CIPM Indirect Cost Account 1,356 NA 9298 CIPM AG23 2/21 CIPM Donations (thru MSU Foundation) 75 4 (gift fee) 71 5% Current Funding Total $1,153,514 15%

14 Previous Funding W94 4W281 4/2-9/29 9/29 Congressional Appropriation Cooperative Agreement w/ BLM: FY 2 $5, FY 21 $5, FY 22 $1 million FY 23 $1 million FY 24 $1 million FY 25 $5, FY 26 $1 million + (CWMA confer $12,) + (Natural Areas Confer $1,) 45, 45, 9, 893,7 889, 444, 98, 45, 45, 9, 893,7 889, 444, See above See above /22 USDA - Coordinate biological control book publishing 15, 15, /22 NCSU - Online invasive plant management 12, 12, /21 NPS - Weed Pocket Guide 2,5 2, /22 USDA - Publishing invasive plant prevention guide 4,668 4, /22 USDA-ARS - Biological risk-benefit project 8,64 8, /23 USDA-APHIS - Invasive species management workshop 3, Project Canceled 4W154 8/24 NPS - Conduct Gardiner Basin native vegetation workshop 7,5 7,5 4W56 7/24 CSREES - Restoration case study information 48,15 48,15 4W311 1/25 Western IPM Center - Producing invasive plant resource guide 5,712 5,712 4W457 5/25 NRCS - Noxious weed training for field office personnel ($7,5) 6,544 6,544 4W811 1/25 USFWS - Web-based training modules for NWR system 168, 168, Completed 8/8 4W235 3/28 DOT - Federal Highway Admin People powered projects: National CWMA conference 25, 25, 4W168 5/27 MT Dept of Agriculture, Noxious Weed Trust Fund Weed models & weed cards (2 nd series) 2, 2, Completed 9/9 4W /28 Western IPM Center Invasive Plants in Natural Areas: Connecting Regional Centers Across the U.S. 1, 1, Completed 1/9 2% /28 DuPont Corporation (donation) 4, 4, 5% NA 4/29 MSU Extension; Montguide Revisions 1,8 1,8 % WSSA Contract end /28 #1. Invasive Plant Science and Management journal marketing 11,96 11,96 2/7/1: $2,5 4/29 #2. Invasive Plant Science and Management journal marketing 1, 1, returned % 4W /28 4W /28 4W2542 3/29 4W172 6/27 4W2978 1/21 Western IPM Center Invasive Plant Inventory and Survey Methods for Land Managers: A Web Seminar Series 36,95 36,95 DoD Legacy Program Strategic Management of Invasive Species Workshop 114, ,216 MT Dept of Agriculture, NWTF Assessing plant community and soil characteristics after saltcedar invasion and treatment Salish Kootenai College Spatial Modeling of Invasive Flowering Rush in the Columbia River Headwaters USFWS Weeds Across Borders Conference Completed 5/1 Completed 6/1 25,5 25,5 Completed 6/1 18,72 18,72 Completed 9/1 46,933 46,933 % 2% 1% 1% % 17.5% % 25% Completed 12/ % Other Funding Sources: LRES Department CIPM s assistance with LRES Self Study editing and layout = $6,75 MT SNWAE Campaign Program CIPM staff compensation for running the program (administration, management, WIYW, outreach) July 1 December 31, 211 = ~$22, Western Weed Coordinating Committee CIPM compensation for assistance to the group (website, listserv, meeting documentation, etc.) = $1, ( ) + $1 from State of WY Total: ~$29,85 2

15 Secured CIPM Funding (awaiting contracts to be signed): $? - USDA Tribal College Research Program: Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus) Influences on Habitat and Food Web Implications to Non-native and Native Fishes in the Flathead Basin; Salish Kootenai College, University of Montana, CIPM (secured, July 14, 211) Pending CIPM Grant Funding: $32,3 USFWS: Translation of the USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System Managing Invasive Plants website into Spanish (4/211, pending, not promising) $1, MT FWP funding, Fort Belknap Indian Community; help write weed mgt plan (Proposal submitted: 9/8/211, pending) ~$19,5 CEC/NAISN funding: NAISN Workshop Coordination (Draft Proposal submitted: 8/211, pending) $55, NFWF PTI Grant: Plastic Weed Model and ID Card Production (Proposal submitted: 1/7/211) + $15, CIPM cash match + $6, committed by GYCC to fund a 5 th species model. $4, or less Federal Highway Administration: WAB 212 Coordination (Preliminary workplan and budget submitted: 8/2/211, pending, not promising) $33,542 NWTF/USFS S&P: INVADERS/MRWC EDDMapS Database Merger Project (Draft Proposal submitted: 11/23/211, pending) $87,461 NWTF/USFS S&P: Columbia River Watershed Coalition-Project Coordination (Draft Proposal submitted: 11/23/211, pending) $35,472-$45,472 NWTF//USFS S&P: EDRR and MRWC EDDMapS Train-the-Trainer Workshop (Draft Proposal submitted: 11/27/211, pending) NEW: $3, for CIPM - NSF Informal Science Education Grant; leads: U Conn and U Georgia; 3-year, $3 million project; CIPM western partner in Years 3, 4, 5; (Proposal to be submitted: ; pending) These were never officially rejected?? $17,4 USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System (Regional Grant): Expansion of the Wild Dakota Invasive Species Video Series (Preproposal submitted: 6/28/211, pending) $73, USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System (Regional Grant): Expansion of WIYW Program to MRW (Preproposal submitted: 6/28/211, pending) Recently Rejected CIPM Grant Funding: $54, APHIS Farm Bill 121 Suggestion: Plastic Weed Models and ID Cards (rejected, June 211) $385, APHIS Farm Bill 121 Suggestion: MRWC Outreach and Awareness Program (rejected, June 211) $125, USFWS: Great Northern LCC: Integrating Invasive Species Data for the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative: Solutions for data collection and management proposal; USGS, University of Colorado, University of Georgia (CISEH), CIPM (rejected, May 26, 211) *CIPM - ~$2,; host 2 workshops in Bozeman $176,842 EPA: Preproposal: Expanding the Montana Invasive Plant Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) Program: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Active Ingredient (rejected, July 1, 211) *CIPM - $1, $25, NFWF PTI Grant: Expansion of Invasive Species Educational Booklet (Preproposal rejected ) 3

16 $15, NFWF PTI Grant: Expansion of the Wild Dakota Invasive Species Video Series (Preproposal rejected ) $75, NFWF PTI Grant: Expansion of WIYW Program to MRW (Preproposal rejected ) $5, MT NWTF: Base funding for Campaign Program (Liz submitted draft workplan July 31, 211, rejected 11/22/211) Montana Statewide Noxious Weed Awareness and Education Campaign: $25, BLM: Base funding for Campaign Coordinator (secured: July 31, 211) CIPM Program Costs Projected CIPM annual program costs based on June-December 211 CIPM expenditures 1. CIPM Staff Salaries (Galli-Noble, Rindos, Weiss, Center) Monthly Total Annual Total $12,5 $15, 2. CIPM Staff Benefits (Galli-Noble, Rindos, Weiss, Center) Monthly Total Annual Total $4,35 $52,2 Total Staff Salaries & Benefits = ~$22,/year **Note: Bockness not included, full salary/benefits for 3 years covered by CIG 3. Communications (phones, long distance calls, faxes, stamps, etc.) Monthly Total Annual Total ~$5 $75 4. Travel (travel not covered by specific projects estimates based on expenses) Monthly Total Annual Total $25 $3, - $5, 5. Rent (CIPM storage unit) Monthly Total Annual Total $5 $6 6. Office Supplies/Materials & Equipment (computers, printers, paper, office supplies, print cartridges, etc.) Monthly Total Annual Total $2-$25 $2,5 7. Repair & Maintenance (equipment repair & maintenance) Monthly Total Annual Total $75 $9 8. Other (subscriptions, publication purchases, dues, etc.) Annual Total ~$5-$1, Total CIPM base program annual costs: ~$212, + Other (Steering Committee meetings) Annual Total: ~$1,-$1,5/year 4

17 Attachment D. ADD HEADER Request Letter for Donations to CIPM DRAFT - December 13, 211 HELP PROTECT OUR WESTERN ECOSYSTEMS FROM INVADERS The Center for Invasive Plant Management (CIPM) serves as a nationally recognized and well respected western regional hub for invasive plant expertise and interagency project collaboration ( ). CIPM has been promoting ecologically sound management of invasive plants in western North America for more than a decade by sponsoring research, conducting public education, and facilitating collaboration and communication among researchers, educators, policy makers, natural resource managers, and the concerned public. It is widely accepted among natural resource managers that people must work together across jurisdictional boundaries to manage invasive species and maintain healthy, non-invaded ecosystems. CIPM was created to build those bridges, and we work with and provide strong leadership to state and federal agencies, Tribes, farmers, ranchers, the research community, Extension Services, county weed districts, and conservation organizations throughout the West. We have established strong partnerships in Montana, throughout western North America, and nationwide, which have helped promote broader awareness and progressive, sustainable solutions to invasive species problems. CIPM was contracted to organize and conduct the 21 Weeds Across Borders Conference, which was very successful; and we are currently assisting Mexico with planning the 212 conference. We have also worked closely with the Missouri River Watershed Coalition, Department of Defense, Salish Kootenai College, Western Weed Coordinating Committee, and several sister universities these past few years, with great results. CIPM s work is crucial to keep vital, healthy ecosystems and the unique species that depend on them from being negatively altered or lost forever. But we cannot continue this important work without the support of those who share our dedication to the prevention and control of non-native invaders and thus, to the protection of premier western habitats. We need your support to help us continue to address the most pressing invasive species threats at the landscape scale. Your contribution will allow us to: support and sponsor comprehensive invasive plant research and implement timely technology transfer between natural resource managers and scientists; serve as a science-based information clearinghouse; provide a western regional voice for ecologically sound management of invasive plants at the state and national levels; create hands-on products and tools for natural resource managers and private citizens; and provide pro bono technical support services to community-based organizations that have very limited funding and resources. Please make a tax-deductible donation to support CIPM today. Donations to CIPM are processed through our university partner, the Montana State University Foundation. Please make your check payable to Center for Invasive Plant Management/MSU Foundation at the following address: Elizabeth Galli-Noble, Director Center for Invasive Plant Management 235 Linfield Hall, PO Box Montana State University Bozeman, MT Thank you very much for your contribution to CIPM. These funds will be immediately put to very good use! ADD: More detailed information available upon request.

18 Elizabeth Galli-Noble, Director, Center for Invasive Plant Management Note: Tracy Sterling and Liz need to meet with Darin Paine, MSU COA Director of Development, about private donors.