Weed management workshop on tap Tuesday

Sept. 9, 2005

On Tuesday, the Palmer Soil and Water Conservation District will host the first Weed Management Work-shop at Mat-Su College. Presentation runs from 9 a.m. to noon in room 103 of the Snodgrass building.

Jamie Snyder, from the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Health Protection Program, will initiate the workshop with an overview of non-native invasive plants and their ecological impacts on watersheds.

Irina Lapina of UAA's Alaska Natural Heritage program will follow with a discussion of invasive plant ecology and the results of the 2004 survey of the Susitna, Matanuska and Copper River basins.

Janice Chumley, integrated pest management technician with the UAF Cooperative Extension Service, will share her expertise with a talk on the invasive plants introduced in residential areas and how individuals can prevent planting them.

The final speaker is Christine Claus, from the Upper Su SWCD. She will discuss problems and solutions in applying an integrated pest management approach to an infestation of orange hawkweed in Talkeetna.

The workshop will conclude with a visit to the Plants Materials Center in Palmer.

- Joel Davidson