Dear Partners,

Happy February! I am delighted that APIPP just released its 2021 Annual Report. For highlights, click here or read more below.

We made great progress on addressing the threats invasive species pose to the Adirondacks in 2021, and now we are asking for your input on where we should focus our priorities over the next five years. Please be sure to provide your feedback via our strategic planning survey by February 11.

We have an exciting month coming up. We hope to see many of you at our partner roundtables next week. Click on these links to register for our Terrestrial Invasive Species Roundtable on February 8 or Aquatic Invasive Species Roundtable February 10. Read more below about our February 16 kick-off for the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid survey season. 

Lastly, if you know good candidates for our communications coordinator position, please ask them to apply by February 7.

2021 Annual Report Now Available

APIPP just released its 2021 Annual Report. The accomplishments of our five-member team, in cooperation with our more than 30 partners and 100 volunteers, is impressive. The complete report can be found here. An excerpt with highlights and short reports on the following special projects can be found here.

- How APIPP works with private landowners to remove tree-of-heaven wherever it is found in the Adirondacks. Tree-of-heaven is a favorite host tree for spotted lanternfly, which is an invasive insect that can devastate orchards and vineyards and damage sugar maple trees.

- How a collaboration with the City University of New York Research Foundation is enabling APIPP to use remote sensing data to detect changes in hemlock health across a large landscape so we can more strategically deploy on-the-ground surveyors and expand early-detection efforts for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA).

- How volunteer Forest Pest Hunters (see more below) are expanding HWA early-detection efforts.

- How APPIP’s Lake Management Tracker program is helping seven lake associations assess the effectiveness of their efforts to control Eurasian watermilfoil.

- How volunteers with our Knotweed Management Partnership help protect important ecological areas and prevent the spread of knotweed by securing landowner permission to treat this highly-invasive plant.

- How private landowners are helping in the fight against emerald ash borer by allowing APIPP to establish long-term monitoring plots in stands of white, green, and black ash trees.

- How APIPP is expanding knowledge about the range of invasive jumping worms.

Your Feedback Needed on Future Priorities—Please Complete Survey by February 11

As the 2021 Annual Report shows, APIPP and our partners are making great strides in protecting the Adirondacks from the negative economic, ecologic and public health impacts of invasive species. To ensure the Adirondack Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) is aligned around the most important priorities moving forward, APIPP is working on a new strategic plan with the guidance of a planning committee.

We need your input on priorities for the Adirondack PRISM!

Please complete this survey by February 11 to give us your feedback and help chart the course for the next five years.

Join Our Team: APIPP is Hiring an Invasive Species Communications Coordinator

Help APIPP and our partners spread the word about invasive species! We are looking for an experienced communications professional to join our team. (At least five years of experience is preferred). The Communications Coordinator will lead the development and implementation of an annual communications plan, organize APIPP’s annual education calendar, serve as a resource for outreach events held by partners, and much more! This is an exciting opportunity to grow APIPP’s outreach work. In 2021, APIPP worked with more than two dozen partners to deliver 31 presentations that reached more than 1,700 people.

The position is based out of The Nature Conservancy’s Keene Valley office and requires on-site work throughout the Adirondacks. For more information go to https://careers.nature.org and search for job ID number 50823. To apply, submit a resume and cover letter online by February 7, 2022.

“Adirondack Forest Pest Hunters” 2022 HWA Survey Season Kicks Off on February 16

The Forest Pest Hunters is a joint program sponsored by APIPP, Adirondack Mountain Club, Capital Region PRISM, Lake George Land Conservancy, NYS iMapInvasives, and NYS Hemlock Initiative. Last year volunteers signed up to survey more than 100 trailheads, significantly expanding our early-detection efforts. The 2022 survey season kicks off on February 16 with a Zoom webinar from 10:00am-11:30am. The webinar is a great opportunity to learn about HWA and how to help survey for this invasive insect. If you are interested, register here.

Several partners are leading field trips for volunteers to refine skills learned during the webinar. Check out the Events page on our website for more information.

• Lake George Region: February 17, Hosted by the Lake George Land Conservancy
• Coles Woods, Queensbury: February 24, Hosted by the Capital Region PRISM
• Moreau Lake State Park, Corinth: February 24, Hosted by the Capital Region PRISM
• Ausable River Watershed: March 2, Hosted by the Ausable River Association
• Keene Valley: March 19, Hosted by the Adirondack Mountain Club

We hope you will join this winter survey effort. Surveys run through early April when this pest is easiest to identify and the insect is not mobile. Surveys stop on April 15 to avoid accidentally transferring this pest in its mobile stage.

I hope to see you at one of our February programs!

Tammara