“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Will Rogers, 1924
The sooner you can mobilize against an impending threat, the more success you’ll have in meeting it. That means paying attention to what’s happening outside your boundaries as well as inside.
First stop
The USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection program provides technical support for combatting invasive forests pests and disease. As many as 250 scientists share expertise on forest entomology, forest pathology, invasive plants, pesticide use, survey and monitoring, suppression and control, assessment and other forest health-related services.
Next stop: cement local networks
By staying in touch with your counterparts in county, regional and state governments, you can hear about potential threats before they end up in your front yard. Georgia offers a good example.
Early warning Information networks
There are several sources of (relatively) current data on what pests and disease are where — and how they might be spreading.
To combat what shows up – or may show up – in your community, you need solid information on what’s coming and from where. Fortunately, federal agencies and most states monitor and track forest pests and disease.
Published annually since 1955, these report identify the then-current status of and changes to the most significant forests pests and diseases. Reports provide a national summary of conditions on all ownerships.
A cooperative project between Purdue University and the Forest Service, this interactive web tool which provides detailed spatial data describing pest distributions and host inventory estimates for damaging, non-indigenous forest insect and diseases.
National Early Detection and Rapid Response Information System
US Geological Survey scientists administer Siren: The National Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) Information System. It provides an online forum for invasive species information sharing and collaboration that serves as the information hub of the National EDRR Framework.