Suffolk County Water and Land Invasive Species Advisory Board

Photo Description:  Volunteers join efforts led by the Peconic Estuary Program, the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, and The Nature Conservancy hand-pulling aquatic invasive plant Ludwigia peploides, more commonly known as water primrose, from the Peconic River. * (See Below for more details)     

Invasive Species in Suffolk County 

Suffolk County continues to be a leader in invasive species control policies and funding -- the need to keep waters open for fishing, boating and swimming, our lands walkable, and our natural areas rich in biodiversity is critical for our county’s future.  Through resolution 985-2005, the County convened the Water and Land Invasives Control Task Force in an effort to define the critical components needed for an effective county-wide invasives program.  A set of strategies to reduce and manage invasive plants and animals and their harmful impacts, to prevent new invasions through early detection and rapid response measures, and to promote public education on issues related to invasive species were developed.    

The Suffolk County Water and Land Invasives Advisory Board was created in 2009 to implement the county-wide invasives program (i.e, Task Force Report recommendations).  The Board has members from County agencies, Legislature, industry and environmental communities and works together with The Nature Conservancy, Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (LIISMA), Long Island Nursery & Landscape Association, Long Island Farm Bureau, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Soil & Water Conservation District, Suffolk County Department of Parks, Nassau County Department of Parks, Nassau County Department of Public Works, New York City Department of Parks, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, LI Botanical Society, and many individual botanists and field scientists.  The Board is well represented by its members’ interests, training and knowledge to develop and implement a vision for better action and coordination for invasive species management.

Suffolk County proudly became the first county in New YorkState to pass a “do-not-sell list”, stopping the sale of 63 invasive plant species in 2007 (see http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/legis/resos2007/i1144-07.htm for list).  Pursuant to the enacting legislation, the Suffolk County Water and Land Invasives Advisory Board develops annual recommendations for revisions to the “do not sell list.”  Advisory Board recommendations inform the actions of the SC Department of Environment and Energy Commissioner and the Suffolk County Legislature.  The LIISMA website has more information on local invasives legislation and the scientific ranking system developed to determine analytically whether a species is highly invasive (see http://nyis.info/LIISMA/Legislation.aspx).

The Water and Land Invasives Advisory Board is also developing a coordinated, ongoing public education and outreach campaign.  It is envisioned that invasive species education will be incorporated into existing state and local educational programs, such as programs for Master Gardeners, pesticide applicators, and teachers at all grade levels, including colleges.  As an example, the Board has joined forces with the Fertilizer Reduction Initiative, a new campaign from the Department of Environment and Energy, to distribute the “do-not-sell-list” among landscapers taking the mandatory Fertilizer Reduction Class in order to renew the Home Improvement license.  The Board will also promote a list of acceptable native plants/non-invasive alternatives. 

The Suffolk County Do-Not-Sell List    

Update on the invasive species “do-not-sell” list legislation:

Suffolk County will have a public hearing on the proposed amendments on June 23, 2009, 2:30pm, at Suffolk County Community College Culinary Arts Center, in Riverhead.   In Summer 2009, Suffolk and NassauCounties are amending their invasive species lists, as well as including a new clause that would exempt sterile cultivars of banned species from prohibition.  Similar to the current invasive species list, the amendments include phase-out periods which were developed in collaboration with green industry members.   

The proposed amendments to the “do-not-sell” list were reached through a series of meetings of the Suffolk County Water and Land Invasive Species Advisory Board, based on work conducted by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC)—a subcommittee of the Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (LIISMA) and in conjunction with the expertise and experience of land managers, horticultural industry professionals, and botanists.  Plant assessment results are critically reviewed and approved by the LIISMA SRC.  Results of these species’ assessments can be found at www.liinvasives.org.  Members of the LIISMA SRC include botanists, horticulture professionals, ecologists, public land managers, and representatives from Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Long Island Farm Bureau, and the Long Island Nursery & Landscape Association.

In 2007, Suffolk and NassauCounties became the first Counties in New YorkState to take a key step in slowing the spread of invasive species by outlawing the sale, transport, distribution, and propagation of 63 invasive plant species. As part of a long-term invasive species management plan, this law is a major move in the fight against the spread of these species into our lands and waters. The ban on 56 of these species became effective January 1, 2009, but of these, only 9 are widely commercially sold (Table 1). The ban includes each plant’s cultivars.

Table 1. Commercially-sold Species on the “Do Not Sell” list

Which are in Effect in 2009

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata                        Porcelain-berry

Eleagnus umbellata                                        Autumn olive

Lespedeza cuneata                                        Chinese lespedeza

Ligustrum obtusifolium                                    Border privet

Lythrum salicaria                                            Purple loosestrife

Ranunculus ficaria                                          Lesser celandine

Rhamnus cathartica                                       Common buckthorn

Rosa multiflora                                                Multiflora rose

Rubus phoenicolasias Maxim.                       Wineberry

For More Information:   

Suffolk County bill 1508:

http://legis.suffolkcountyny.gov/resos2009/i1508-09.pdf

Long Island Invasive Species Management Area:

http://nyis.info/liisma/default.aspx   

Species’ invasiveness assessments can be found at www.liinvasives.org

For more information about the do-not-sell list, invasive plants, non-invasive alternative plants, and the program in general, please contact:  enviro@suffolkcountyny.gov

* Extended Photo Description:  Ludwigia peploides, more commonly known as water primrose, is a South American species that was first detected in the PeconicRiver in 2003. This aquatic non-native, invasive plant which grows primarily on the waters surface spreads rapidly in warm weather months and can often take over entire slow-flowing waterbodies. Ludwigia poses a major threat to the PeconicRiver as it acts as unsuitable fish habitat, outcompetes native plants, reduces biodiversity, blocks sunlight to oxygen producing submerged plants, and severely impedes recreational uses of the river.   The Peconic Estuary Program and its partners have embarked on a multi-year monitoring and volunteer driven eradication effort in an attempt to rid the species from the PeconicRiver and prevent spreading to other Long Island waters. Since the initiation of the eradication effort in the Spring of 2006, over 350 volunteers have spent over 1500 hours hand-pulling over 126 cubic yards of Ludwigia. Frequent monitoring suggests past and current efforts have been successful in controlling the invasive plant and project small scale maintenance in the future.

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