Mountain Cottontail

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region:

Good morning from this mountain cottontail at Seedskadee #WildlifeRefuge in Wyoming! (Tom Koerner / #USFWS)

Isolation Barrier for West Lake Landfill

From EPA:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

(Lenexa, Kan., Dec. 31, 2015) – EPA Region 7 has announced its decision to proceed with the installation of a physical isolation barrier for the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site in Bridgeton, Mo.  The decision also calls for the installation of additional engineering controls, such as cooling loops, to prevent potential impacts that could result if a subsurface smoldering event were to come into contact with the radioactive materials contained in the West Lake Landfill.

 

“Finding a solution to mitigate the potential impacts of a subsurface smoldering event is a top priority for the community, and a top priority for EPA,” said EPA Region 7 Regional Administrator Mark Hague. “Today’s announcement is the first step in moving forward with the installation of a physical barrier and other engineering controls to address this issue.”

 

“We are now working through the highly complex details of implementing our decision and the associated legal steps. Once the plan is finalized, we are committed to providing this information to the public,” Hague said. “EPA will use all available enforcement authorities to ensure implementation of this work.”

 

The agency will continue to work closely with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other stakeholders as final plans are developed. Construction activities will be carried out under the direction and oversight of EPA, and with expert support from the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

EPA will release additional information, such as location of the barrier, once plans are finalized. The installation of a physical isolation barrier, and other engineering controls, will proceed as EPA continues to evaluate the remedy decision for the West Lake Landfill Site.   

 

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Green-tailed Towhee

January 3, 2016

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region:

Here’s a rare sight in the Midwest. This green-tailed towhee was spotted in Gibson County, Indiana. This bird normally stays on the west side of the Rocky Mountains!

Photo: Green-tailed towhee courtesy of Steve Gifford.https://flic.kr/p/CvkBth

Those Deceptive Blue Jay Feathers!

From USFWS Northeast Region:

Did you know that blue jay’s feathers are not actually blue? The feathers are constructed in such a way that they distort the reflection of light, and as a result, the feathers appear blue. If you hold a blue jay feather just the right way, it will appear gray. (Randy Loftus/USFWS)

White-crowned Sparrow

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region:

White-crowned sparrows spend summers in the north and west, but can be found across most of the country in the winter. Have you seen any?

Photo: White-crowned sparrow courtesy of Kelly Colgan Azar/Creative Commons.https://flic.kr/p/jsGAJf


#Bird #Nature #Sparrow #Wildlife

Red Fox in the North

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region:

Red foxes in the north have longer and more dense fur than foxes in the south. Check out the beautiful color on this one!

Photo: Red fox courtesy of JLS Photography - Alaska/Creative Commons. https://flic.kr/p/pdMeHD

Five Invasive Pests: You Can Help Stop Their Spread

From the #USDA:

Posted by APHIS Public Affairs Staff, on December 30, 2015 at 1:00 PM

The Asian Longhorned Beetle has killed more than 100,000 trees since it was accidentally introduced to this country about 20 years ago.

USDA APHIS is deeply involved with mitigating invasive pest issues, along with State and local governments. Invasive pests cost the U.S. an estimated $120 billion each year in damages to our environment, agriculture, and native species. The five invasive species described here are a few of the damaging invasive pests of concern to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.  You can help detect these pests and take actions to reduce their spread.

The Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), a disease-infected insect, spreads Huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening disease) throughout citrus producing states. Once a tree is infected with HLB, there is no cure and it will produce green, misshapen and bitter fruit.  HLB has already devastated millions of acres of citrus crops throughout the United States and abroad. However, with funding through the Huanglongbing Multi-Agency Coordination (HLB-MAC) group, a public-private collaboration effort led by USDA, USDA is putting up a formidable fight against this pest.  We have doubled production of Tamarixia radiata, a wasp that parasitizes the ACP and stops the spread of the disease, trained detector dogs to sniff out trees infected with HLB with 99% accuracy, and helped develop treatments like thermotherapy to heat-treat trees to kill the ACP and restore the viability of the fruit. Consumers can help this fight by not moving citrus plants so ACP and HLB cannot spread.

Two species of Imported Fire Ant were unintentionally introduced into the port of Mobile, Alabama, from South America almost 100 years ago: the black imported fire ant (1918) and the red fire ant (late 1930s). Both probably came in soil used as ballast in cargo ships. These invasive ants commonly move to new, non-infested areas either naturally by spreading colonies or by hitchhiking on agricultural commodities, including baled hay. They feed on the buds and fruits of numerous crop plants, especially corn, soybean, okra and citrus. Hard, mound-shaped nests can get quite large, posing risks to workers and farm equipment, inhibiting field work. They also displace native ant species and reduce food sources for wildlife. Imported fire ants threatens crops in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. You can help reduce their spread by cleaning farm equipment of caked mud and dirt before moving them from property to property.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) is a wood-boring beetle that attacks 12 different types of trees, with maple being a favorite host. Since its discovery in Brooklyn, New York, in 1996, over 130,000 trees have been lost in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio and Illinois due to the ALB. USDA and its partners are actively fighting infestations in New York, Massachusetts and Ohio. Once the ALB infests a tree it will die. Signs include, perfectly round 1/4 inch or larger exit holes on the tree trunk and branches, egg sites about the size of a quarter that look like wounds on the bark, a sawdust-like material called frass on the ground or in branch crotches, dead or fallen branches, and also any larva or tunneling holes in cut wood. You can help by looking for and reporting signs of the ALB before it has the chance to destroy trees in other states.  And, please burn firewood where you buy it; do not move firewood, you may move ALB or other damaging pests.

One of the world’s most destructive pests is one that is not currently detected in the United States, and we want to keep it that way.  The Khapra Beetle is a threat to America’s stored agricultural products, including grains, spices, packaged and dried foods, and animal products. Plants at risk include: wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, rice, and flour.  Known for its “dirty eating” behavior, this tiny beetle only feeds a little on each grain and thus can damage a surprising amount of stored product. Its feeding damage often spoils 30 percent of the product with up to 70 percent damage reported. The beetle can survive without food for long periods, with little moisture, hiding in tiny spaces. Because of its preference for warm climates, it has the most potential to become established in Arizona, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. USDA is constantly on the lookout for this beetle, which is detected periodically in commercial cargo and passenger baggage at U.S. ports of entry. Remember to declare all agricultural products when traveling internationally to help keep this beetle out of the U.S.

Get more information about these and other pests and what you can do to stop their spread at HungryPests.com.

The Asian Citrus Psyllid plays an important role in helping spread citrus greening disease and controlling this little pest is vital to ensuring continued enjoyment of citrus fruit.

    

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Tags: #HighFive, APHIS, Asian citrus psyllid, Asian longhorned beetle, Beetles, citrus greening, citrus greening disease, Huanglongbing, invasive pests, invasive species, South America