Thinking Locally Acting Neighborly: CISMA’s and landscape scale conservation Kristina Serbesoff-King -on behalf of Florida Invasive Species Partnership (FISP)

 25,000 plants into FL annually  1,318 established outside of cultivation, 10% invasive in natural areas Source: Strangers in Paradise 1997, FFWCC 2005  1,000 non-native insects in Florida, or 8% of all insects  122 non-native fish, many of which are predatory  >50 non-native mammal species, 18 reproducing  >11 non-native bird species that breed in Florida, 185 non- breeding seasonal birds  52 species of non-native amphibians and reptiles,  39 reproducing (<25% of the total) – greatest # in US! Scale of Threat in Florida

 Increase effectiveness and decrease costs by working together  Build focus on prevention as well as treatment  Provide tools to develop a unified approach and bridge the gap between land owner efforts  Encourage development, implementation, and sharing of new and innovative approaches Florida Invasive Species Partnership Goals:

If landowners and land managers in Florida wish to achieve long-term success, it is critical to collaborate with all stake holders, focusing on prevention as well as treatment. Publicly owned areas No Boundaries! 60% of Florida is privately owned

Public land managers –Limited funds, Limited staff –Limited ability to “cross the fenceline” Private land incentive programs –Limited funds, Limited staff –Knowledgeable about their programs –Unaware of other options Private landowners –Limited funds –Not receiving all the available informationChallenges

a partnership of federal, state, and local government agencies, tribes, individuals and various interested groups that manage invasive species in a defined area.CISMAs Crossing Boundaries, Meeting Challenges Cooperative Invasive Spp Management Areas

1. Defined geographical area 2.Involvement or representation of the majority of landowners and natural resource managers in the defined area 3.Steering committee 4.Commitment to cooperation 5.Comprehensive plan that addresses the management or prevention of one or more invasive species. CISMA - 5 Basic Characteristics

$Cross boundaries; invasive plant management across the landscape, rather than just political or property boundaries $Share a common vision and mission $Be highly visible, building community awareness How CISMA’s could improve our effectiveness?

$Adopt and utilize Best Management Practices to reduce the risk and improve the results of control efforts $Provide an early detection and rapid response network $1 + 1 = 3 Combined efforts improve results How CISMA’s could improve management of invasive plants?

$Secure and coordinate funding $Allow partners (public and private) to share and leverage limited resources $Reduce individual costs by pooling resources How CISMA’s could improve availability of resources? $

$A Partnership approach to managing invasive plants in a geographic area $5 Basic Characteristics $It’s flexible and unique to each area $14 recommended steps toward forming CWMA/CISMA $Three documents: (1) Agreement (2) Strategic Plan (3) Annual Operating Plan CISMA Summary

Training/EDRR workday/increased BIPM funds Joint grant to control coastal invader Annual workplan/Aerial Surveys Prioritized plants with BMPs Cogongrass demo for landowners Plant ID workshop in the works PTI Grant – tallow, TSA, cogongrass BCC wants to know more – BMPs for ROWs Treating cogongrass – BCC engaged Python EDRR, Greenthumb, Australian pine Cogongrass mapping, PTI Grant Workshop held in to create work plan, submitted CCS proposal

Necessary ingredients for long-term success: Multiple agencies and organizations in partnership Involve private landowners and interests Recognize differences and commonalities in missions Conservation leverage COOPERATION is the key to successful, long-term management of invasive plants! Invasive Species know NO boundaries – Do we?

Next Call – February 25, th Wednesday every month at 1:30pm for call-in/log-in WebEX - go to: nethope.webex.com Enter meeting number: Enter meeting password: invasive Phone - US Toll-free: Participant Passcode: Florida Invasive Species Partnership (FloridaInvasives.org) : Monthly CISMA WebEx/Conference Call participation is voluntary, we promise it will only last 1 hour, and we can guarantee that you will enjoy the conversations