Click here to download a pdf of the Agenda

DATE: March 24, 2007 9AM – 4PM

PLACE: MARX MARRIOTT RENAISSANCE HOTEL in Downtown Syracuse, NY

$20 fee (limited to the first 275) Registration Closes 3/16

Agenda:

830 Registration

900 William Schwerd, President, American Wildlife Conservation Foundation
Introduction: who “we” (co-hosts & sponsors) are & why we are here

915 Scott Shupe, American Wildlife Conservation Foundation
Overview of the “narrow” topic of today
The global effect of introduced microbe, insect, plant, and animal species influences physical, economic and cultural aspects of native species within the firm and infirm habitats. From SARS to VHS, round goby to silver carp, golden nematode to Asian long horned beetle, and honeysuckle to buckthorn, man’s expanding influence is reducing species diversity and may be limiting our long term survival capabilities. Discussing local, personal examples may be the best path to understanding greater consequences.

930 Dr. Edward Mills, Professor and Director Cornell Research Station
Chasing ecological change – The Oneida Lake Story
Oneida Lake is one of New York State’s premier natural resources yet is undergoing significant and rapid ecological change. Global issues including the transport of invasive species to nearby Great Lakes from far away waters by transoceanic shipping and climate destabilization are changing the lakes of Central New York and Oneida Lake. While scientists have investigated the lake’s ecology since the early 1900s and their research has amassed a tremendous reservoir of information, scientists now chase ecological understanding and change. While Oneida Lake projects vibrant health, it remains in a state of transformation and its future uncharted.

1000 Chuck O’Neill, Director, National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse
Ecologic and Economic Implications of The Invasive Species “Explosion”
5,000 nonindigenous species have established free-living populations in the U.S. Of those, approximately 750 can be considered “invasive.” New York State is home to several hundred of those invasive species – the Great Lakes Basin alone hosting more than 180 aquatic invasive species. How have these organisms been introduced?  What makes an organism “invasive”? How are they impacting important native and non-native organisms? And, what are they doing to our ecosystems and economy.

10:30 Break – SPONSORED BY: TBD

1045 Dr. Ward Stone, Pathologist NYSDEC
Botulism in Lakes Erie and Ontario
Two invasive animal species are involved in the spread of a virulent strain of Botulism E in Lakes Erie and Ontario. Feces from quagga mussels combined with algae dieback in the fall produce an anaerobic sediment facilitating the growth of Botulism E. The botulism passes through the food chain of insects, crawfish, detritus feeders, piscivorous fish, piscivorous birds and scavengers causing the death of thousands of birds.

1115 Moderated Q&A – – Peg Sauer, Vice President, American Wildlife Conservation Foundation

1130 Lunch with Dr. Randy Jackson, Cornell University
Oneida Lake through time: A history of human impacts on New York’s largest lake
Tracing history of the lake and its uses from earliest records through construction of the canal and establishment of exotics such as zebra mussel, focusing on changes in fish community and ecology

1300 Dr. Paul R. Bowser, Professor of Aquatic Animal Medicine
Aquatic Animal Health Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia – The Virus, the Disease and the 2006 New York State Experience
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) is a disease that was found for the first time in New York State in 2006. While the disease poses no risk to human health, its apparent ability to infect a wide range of different fish species is an issue of extreme concern to the fish health community as well as resource management agencies. The Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus (VHSV) is an OIE (World Animal Health Organization) Reportable pathogen. A report to the OIE brings with it a number of issues associated with international trade to avoid the spread of the disease from the location where it was found. The trade implications can have very significant consequences on a national and international level.

1330 Douglas Stang, Chief, NYSDEC Bureau of Fisheries
New York State Policy on Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia & implications to fisheries, the baitfish industry, government programs, and local tourism
Via Environmental Conservation Law, the New York State Legislature provides the Department of Environmental Conservation the authority to adopt measures to prevent the development, spread and introduction of epizootic diseases that endanger the health and welfare of native fish and feral animals in New York State. With the finding of VHS in certain New York waters, the DEC adopted regulations that minimize the risk of the spread of VHS to other waters of the state by evaluating and addressing those most likely vectors of the disease. In doing so, the DEC assessed the likelihood of effectiveness, impacts, and implications of regulatory and management actions prior to implementation.

1400 Break - SPONSORED BY: TBD

1415 Amy Samuels, Cornell Cooperative Extension – Onondaga County
Successful elements of a ‘grass roots’ water chestnut control program
Prevention, detection and rapid response are key components of invasive species management. Through CCE’s Adopt-A-Shoreline Program, volunteers play a vital role in the prevention, detection and control of water chestnut and other invasive aquatic plants. To date, almost two thirds of the shoreline of Oneida Lake is monitored by volunteers. Thanks to their dedication, water chestnut has been almost eliminated from Long Point, the eastern most point of infestation on Oneida Lake. Success of the program can be attributed to partnerships, perseverance and widespread educational outreach.

1430 David White, Cornell University –NY Sea Grant Great Lakes Program Coordinator
New Educational Resources for Understanding Oneida Lake's Watershed
The Oneida Lake Education Initiative is a new program with several components specifically designed for lake users and schools in the watershed. The primary goal of the initiative is to disseminate scientifically based information to enhance our understanding of the lake and it's watershed. An overview of 2 elements of this initiative will be presented....a new website focusing on the lake, and a "traveling trunk" designed to be used by educators focusing on the aquatic recourses of the lake (including exotics).

1445 Steven J. Sanford, Chief, NYSDEC Bureau of Habitat
What is next on the agenda of the NYS Invasive Species Task Force- Past, Present, Future
The New York State Invasive Species Task Force convened in early 2004 and reported to the Governor and Legislature in late 2005. Since that time, $3.25 million in funds have been allocated to implement their recommendations. Substantive progress is being made in improving coordination of outreach and education, information management, research, control and management, and the support of regional "grass roots" partnerships. The Task Force is being reconstituted and restructured to continue to guide progress on invasive species management.

1500 Gretchen Wainwright, (Director of Conservation Programs for The Nature Conservancy's Central/Western New York Chapter) and Willie Janeway (Director of Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy)
Good things are happening in the fight against invasives in New York, but the best is yet to come.
From 2002 though 2006 a partnership of public and private partners together advocated successfully for the creation of a State Invasive Species Task Force, the completion of a report detailing recommendations, and the adoption of a state budget that included new funding dedicated for invasives. Regional invasive partnerships are expanding, funding is increasing, and the state is trying to start up and staff a state-wide office of invasive species. Governor Spitzer has arrived and has pledged to further increase the state's dedicated environmental protection fund (the EPF) and to increase staffing at DEC. We will discuss how a diverse coalition of groups from the Farm Bureau to The Nature Conservancy to public agencies with a common interest in helping prevent and respond to invasives and the harm they cause, might change government policies and secure increased dedicated funding to advance the effort to prevent, contain, manage and eradicate invasives problems.

1515 Moderated Q&A - Rip Colesante, President, Oneida Lake Association

1600 Adjourn

POSTERS AND DISPLAYS:

Bernd Blossey - Research initiatives regarding invasive alien aquatic plants
Oneida Lake Association
Sandy Bonanno - St. Lawrence-Eastern Lake Ontario Weed Management Area (SLELO)
And others

Attendees will receive a ‘goodie bag’ including a CD of the proceedings and relative information