THE 2007 BASF INVASIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM HAS BEGUN!
BASF provides matching grants for public and private integrated vegetation management programs. To qualify for a matching grant, weed managers must be using herbicides as part of weed control initiatives and must use the BASF funding for application. Both aquatic and terrestrial spray applications are eligible for funding, and working with QVM Certified Applicators and QVM Certified advisors is highly encouraged. Land managers who will self-apply the herbicide are not eligible to participate in the program.
Here are the forms you need to get started. Please click on the links to access each:
1) Request For Proposals
2) Submission Form
3) Letter of Partnership
The 2007 schedule for application and selection is:
Request for Proposals: Released Monday, April 30, 2007
Submission Deadline: Must be received by Thursday, July 12, 5:00 PM CST
Selections Announced: On or around Tuesday, September 4, 2007
To see sample successful applications from previous years, click on one of the pdfs below:
1) Texas Prairie Rivers Region
2) The Blue Wall Preserve
3) Loxahatchee NWR
For more information, contact:
Eastern U.S.: Kellie Judge kellie.judge@basf.partners.com
Western U.S.: Jennifer Vollmer, 307-760-5274 jennifer.vollmer@basf.com
BASF Awards 20 Recipients with Invasive Vegetation Management Matching Grants
Twenty organizations across the U.S. will receive matching grants to fund programs designed to fight the spread of terrestrial and aquatic invasive plants. The grants, totaling approximately $200,000, were awarded by BASF Professional Vegetation Management.
The goal of the Invasive Vegetation Management Matching Grant Program is to aid organizations in meeting matching funding requirements for federal or foundation grants, specifically to support the use of herbicides in an integrated vegetation management program. BASF funding will be utilized as part of the non-federal match for federal or foundation grants such as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Pulling Together Initiative (PTI) Program.
Grants were awarded to a diverse group of organizations, ranging from government bodies to conservation and wildlife organizations; however, each recipient is focused on the control and/or management of terrestrial or aquatic invasive plants.
A wide variety of invasive plants will be targeted for control using integrated vegetation management techniques. Aside from herbicide treatments, some of the programs will include mechanical and bio-control treatments.
“We received over 125 excellent applications for funding. There are so many programs out there and they all need some type of funding to be effective in the fight against invasive plants,” said Jim Bean, environmental resource specialist for BASF. “Our goal is to try and help as many programs as we can each year. The projects chosen this year all offered a realistic action plan for how to control invasive weeds and restore natural ecosystems.” In the 48 contiguous United States, more than 126 million acres of land are infested by 16 invasive plants, which does not account for all invasive plant infestations throughout the country. BASF hopes that by providing additional funding for invasive plant control, more progress can be made toward restoring ecosystems. Funds will be provided to:
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge – Boynton Beach, Fla.
The refuge is owned by the State of Florida and leased to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This project will provide for the aerial herbicide treatment of 300 acres of dense melaleuca over an area of about 10,000 acres in the central portion of the refuge.
Central Oregon Weed Management Area – Oregon
The project will control yellow flag iris in more than 600 miles of main canals and main laterals of irrigation ditches within Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. This area includes Hay Stack Reservoir and Lake Billy Chinook shorelines and the Deschutes River.
Columbia Soil and Water Conservation District – Columbia County, Ore.
This project is the preliminary stage of a multi-year effort to control knotweed species using herbicides and revegetation of treatment sites. Purple loosestrife and yellow flag iris are also being targeted. The project seeks to control infestations on 75 acres of land, primarily along 12.5 linear miles of streams within the county.
Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department – Door County, Wis.
This project will control common reed on 65 acres of shoreline in 10 locations throughout Door County. The management plan has identified areas that are privately owned and adjacent to state natural areas, state parks, Nature Conservancy and Door County Land Trust properties.
Ducks Unlimited (Cibola National Wildlife Refuge) – La Paz County, Ariz.
Alteration of the Colorado River has led to the spread of invasive species, particularly saltcedar, which has taken over most of the refuge. Ducks Unlimited has joined the refuge in a partnership to help reverse the present situation. The project will assist with population recovery of several species of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife.
Fremont County Tamarisk Control Project – Fremont County, Colo.
This project will control 1,000 acres of saltcedar in the Upper Arkansas River Drainage Basin. Saltcedar infestation along the Arkansas River and its tributaries in western Fremont and eastern Pueblo Counties is a cause for concern for local riparian-dependent fish and wildlife species.
LSU AgCenter/SeaGrant and LDWF – Louisiana
The goal of this rapid response project is to eradicate paragrass in Louisiana with prompt action. Only two properties – both crawfish farms – in the state are known to be infested: 220 acres in St. Martin parish (light infestation) and 550 acres in Iberia (very heavy infestation), and control initiatives will keep the grass from spreading further in Louisiana.
Marion County Invasive Species Management Council – Marion County, Fla.
This project addresses strategic cogongrass control in central Florida. Outlier populations and prioritized private properties adjacent to vulnerable portions of Ocala National Forest, the Cross Florida Greenway, Rainbow River State Park, Silver River State Park, and other public lands will be treated in cooperation with natural area and road right-of-way control efforts.
Michigan DNR Wildlife Division – Lake Huron, Mich.
This project is a phragmites control program in the Saginaw Bay along the shoreline of Lake Huron. The goal of the program is to control phragmites on at least five miles, or 200 acres, of the Bay where it has overtaken native vegetation.
Middle Niobrara Weed Awareness Group – North-central Nebraska
The project area consists of land within the Niobrara River valley in four North Central Nebraska counties which have significant infestations of purple loosestrife, leafy spurge and Canada thistle. The project will take aim at 2,050 acres, including 1,300 acres of purple loosestrife, 250 acres of leafy spurge and 500 acres of thistle.
National Wild Turkey Federation – Southern Mississippi
This project will work toward treating cogongrass on the Desoto National Forest and adjacent private landowners in order to gain control at the early stage of infestation before the state of Mississippi is inundated. About 600 acres has been targeted.
New England Wild Flower Society – Massachusetts
This rapid response project will control Japanese stiltgrass in the Blackstone and Millville areas. Approximately 20 acres in a 172-acre area are infested with the invasive grass.
North Dakota Tri-county Corridor Weed Control Project – North Dakota
The project will control leafy spurge and Canada thistle on several thousand acres along highways, rivers and adjacent properties in Stutsman, Barnes and Cass counties.
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy – Pittsburg, Penn.
This rapid response project will control about two acres of Japanese stiltgrass in Allegheny County parks and eight acres of mile-a-minute weed in Pittsburgh.
Texas Prairie Rivers Region – Foard County, Texas
This project will focus on the removal of saltcedar and Russian olive – primarily on private land – in order to restore the native wildlife habitat along Raggedy Creek, which is a tributary to the Pease River in Foard County.
The Nature Conservancy – Greenville County, S.C.
This project includes control of Chinese silvergrass, Chinese privet and multiflora rose in the Blue Wall Preserve, a 550-acre property owned by The Nature Conservancy.
Tualatin River Watershed Council – Washington County, Ore.
About 11 acres of Japanese knotweed and giant knotweed will be controlled along a four-mile stretch of Gales Creek, which is located in the western end of Washington County. This stream is one of highest quality steelhead streams in the Tualatin Basin and is one of the highest priority streams for restoration for the Tualatin River Watershed.
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation – Eastern Shore of Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia in close partnership with The Nature Conservancy will designate two focus areas to control a target of 150 acres of phragmites, mostly on private lands, that is currently invading diverse tidal marshes and upland interface zones along the Seaside of the Virginia Eastern Shore.
Wildlife Mississippi – Mississippi and Alabama
The project will focus on controlling bermudagrass, bahiagrass and fescue on approximately 750 acres of habitat for rare, threatened, endangered and declining species that are dependent on native prairie communities in the Black Land Prairie of Mississippi and Alabama.
Wyoming Game and Fish – Wyoming
This project focuses on controlling cheatgrass on private lands blackened by wildfire in order to reduce the threat of invasive cheatgrass in crucial wildlife habitat. Treatment sites will include 1,000 acres located within the Wyoming Game & Fish Department Strategic Habitat Plan Priority Areas.
For more information contact:
Sören Erickson
Padilla Speer Beardsley Inc.
612.455.1759
serickson@psbpr.com