National Invasive Species Committee meeting: send in your ideas

The National Invasive Species Council Advisory Committee (ISAC) will be meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, November 18th and 19th, 2008. This is a public meeting and all are welcomed to attend. The National Invasive Species Council is co-chaired by the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce, and its members include the Secretaries of State, Defense, Transportation, Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security and the Administrators of the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration, the National Air and Space Administration, U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Trade Representative.

The Invasive Species Advisory Committee is made up of 31 individuals representing a broad range of stakeholders including scientific, conservation, agriculture, State and Tribal governments and industry organizations that are impacted by invasive species.

This will be the first meeting of ISAC Class V which will include an orientation for new ISAC members. It is also the first ISAC meeting since the approval on August 1, 2008 of the 2008-2012 National Invasive Species Management Plan (2008 Plan). This Plan sets out the overall blueprint for NISC member departments and agencies in dealing with the issues of invasive species for the next five years. The 2008 Plan includes a number of items in which nonfederal partners are likely to play a role as well as a number of items for which NISC as an entity or NISC staff are the lead or an important participant. ISAC provides advice and input to the NISC federal agencies and it is important that ISAC study the 2008 Plan and identify priority objectives or action items that ISAC would work on to provide advice and input to NISC agencies to help in the implementation of the 2008 Plan. Therefore the theme of the November 2008 meeting is how ISAC can best provide input and advice to assist NISC in the implementation of the 2008 Plan, including setting out priorities and specific recommendations as well as referring work to the relevant NISC/ISAC Subcommittees. This will be an over-arching theme and associated or separate items may also be considered at the meeting. Under this theme, issues associated with invasive species in the context of bio-fuels (a prevention item) will be one topic that will be addressed as recommended at the last ISAC meeting in Alaska, May 2008.

As a member of ISAC, but acting personally, I am taking this opportunity to ask you to send to me any topics or ideas which you feel the federal advisory committee should take under consideration. Please send ideas, comments and/or suggestions to IPETRUS@MSN.COM

Members of the Fifth Convening of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee
Name - Affiliation
Peter Alpert, Ph.D. - University of Massachusetts
Nancy Balcom - Connecticut Sea Grant
Leslie Cahill - American Seed Trade Association
Timothy Carlson - Tamarisk Coalition
Earl Chilton, II, Ph.D. - Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Janet Clark - Montana State University
Joseph DiTomaso, Ph.D. - University of California, Davis
Otto Doering, III, Ph.D. - Purdue University
Susan Ellis - California Department of Fish and Game
Miles Falck - Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission
Christopher Fisher - Colville Confederated Tribes
Amy Frankmann - Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association
Ann Gibbs - Maine Department of Agriculture(Representing National Plant Board)
Catherine L. Hazlewood, Esq. - The Nature Conservancy
Lisa Ka’aihue - Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council
John Kennedy - Wyoming Game and Fish Department(Representing the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies)
Robert McMahon - University of Texas at Arlington
Kathy Metcalf - Chamber of Shipping of America
Edward L. Mills, Ph.D. - Cornell University
Jamie K. Reaser, Ph.D. - Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council
Steven Jay Sanford - New York Department of Environmental Conservation
Jeffrey D. Schardt - Florida Department of Environment Protection
Celia Smith, Ph.D. - University of Hawaii
David E. Starling - Aqueterinary Services, P.C.
Nathan Stone, Ph.D. - University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Douglas W. Tallamy, Ph.D. - University of Delaware
John Peter Thompson - The Behnke Nurseries Company
Jennifer Vollmer, Ph.D. - BASF Corporation
Damon E. Waitt, Ph.D. - Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center University of Texas at Austin
Robert H. Wiltshire - Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species(Representing the Federation of Fly Fishers)
Kenneth Zimmerman - Lone Tree Cattle Company