- Author: Grace Dean, Forest Stewardship Communications Specialist
Free forester site visit for landowners who complete workshop series
Forest landowners in Solano and Sacramento counties are encouraged to learn about their forests and connect with natural resource professionals in their areas during the next Forest Stewardship Workshop Series from University of California Cooperative Extension, July 18 to Sept. 12. These programs can be essential for small landowners who seek to make their forests resilient against wildfire.
Upon completing the nine-week series of virtual and in-person sessions, landowners also will be eligible for a free site visit from a local Registered Professional Forester (RPF), Certified Range Manager or California Certified Burn Boss.
Content is applicable to all forest landowners regardless of where their forest is located and will highlight talks from the local Resource Conservation District, UCCE forestry advisors, CAL FIRE, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other natural resources community leaders. Registration fee is $60 for the workshop series, which will address common concerns among California landowners, including but not limited to:
- Forest ecology and vegetation management
- Financial planning and cost-sharing opportunities
- Oak woodland management and targeted grazing
Past participants have rated the workshop series highly, with 98% of 2022 participants rating the series overall as excellent or very good. In addition, 94% of past participants reported greater awareness of applying for and using cost-sharing programs.
A past participant has described the workshops as very accessible, saying “they (UCCE) broke things down into small pieces, [and] staff were always an email away.” In seeking to make an otherwise large amount of content approachable, UCCE hopes that landowners come away with a holistic understanding of the management process.
The workshop will take place in a hybrid setting, with classes taking place weekly online over Zoom. Participants will also engage in practical learning through a field day, where they can meet other cohort members and UCCE professionals at an outdoor field location.
At the conclusion of the workshop series, landowners will be equipped with the knowledge and network that will empower them to manage their forests in ways that meet their specific goals and objectives.
Community members in Sacramento and Solano counties interested in forest management, forest and fire ecology, and related topics are encouraged to register: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=28675.
Forest landowners across California can learn about upcoming workshops in their areas, and also find additional resources, publications and videos: https://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/Stewardship/.
/h3>July 10, 2019
WEST NILE VIRUS
Elk Grove, Ca.—The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District confirmed today that the first mosquito sample of the season has tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV). The mosquito sample was collected near the Florin area of south Sacrament County. “As we expected, after finding the first positive bird earlier in the week, now we are finding virus in the mosquito populations, “ said Gary Goodman, District Manager. “With the very warm weather expected over the next few days, we expect WNV activity to quickly ramp up,” he added. The District encourages residents to take these findings seriously and do everything they can to protect themselves. Last year in California there were 211 confirmed human cases of the disease, including 11 fatalities.
The detection of this recent WNV activity is evidence that the disease is present and the public should take proper precautions to stay protected. “As more people enjoy outdoor activities during the warm summer evenings, it's important to remember that the best protection against mosquito bites is an effective insect repellent” said Goodman. Residents are also encouraged to report dead birds, neglected pools and other mosquito problems.
As a response to the finding of WNV, the District will increase its mosquito trapping and monitoring in the area to find sources where mosquitoes may be breeding. Targeted ground spraying may also be conducted to rapidly decrease the numbers of adult mosquitoes.
For current information about District activities, please visit www.FIGHTtheBITE.net. Residents may also subscribe to mailing lists to receive email notifications for upcoming mosquito treatments by zip code. To sign up, go to Spray Notifications on the website.
2019 West Nile virus activity update:
Sacramento County: 1 mosquito sample and 1 dead bird have tested positive for West Nile virus to date.
Yolo County: No activity has been detected to date.
Practice the District D's of Mosquito Prevention:
DRAIN standing water that may produce mosquitoes.
DAWN and DUSK are times to avoid being outdoors.
DRESS appropriately be wearing long sleeves and pants when outside.
DEFEND yourself by using an effective insect repellent. Make sure to follow label directions!
DOOR and window screens should be in good working condition.
DISTRICT personnel are also available to address any mosquito problems. Call them at 1-800-429-1022 or visit www.FIGHTtheBITE.net
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You can exchange suds for a bug.
That would be a cabbage white butterfly for a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.
And it's all in the interest of science.
Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, is sponsoring his annual “Beer for a Butterfly Contest,” starting Jan. 1.
The first person in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano who collects the first cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, of the new year--outdoors--and drops it off live in the Department of Evolution and Ecology office--wins a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.
Shapiro, who maintains a research website at http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu, launched the contest in 1972 as part of his scientific research to record the first flight of the butterfly in the three-county area. It's a contest he usually wins. He has been defeated only four times, and all by UC Davis graduate students.
Since 1972, the first flight has varied from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, averaging about Jan. 20.
In 2018, he collected the winner at 11:23 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19 in one of his frequented sites—a mustard patch by railroad tracks in West Sacramento, Yolo County.
He described the butterfly as quite yellow instead of white. “Cold weather promotes sepiapterin formation, so early ones are often quite yellow.”
This is the eighth year since 2010 that the winning butterfly has been collected in Yolo County. In 2017, Shapiro found the winner on the UC Davis campus; in 2016, graduate student Jacob Montgomery netted the winner outside his home in west Davis, and Shapiro collected all five winners from 2012 to 2015 in West Sacramento. He found the 2011 winner in Suisun, Solano County.
Shapiro's graduate student, Adam Porter, defeated him in 1983. Two other graduate students, Sherri Graves and Rick VanBuskirk, each won in the late 1990s.
The butterfly inhabits vacant lots, fields and gardens where its host plants, weedy mustards, grow. The male is white. The female is often slightly buffy; the "underside of the hindwing and apex of the forewing may be distinctly yellow and normally have a gray cast,” Shapiro said. “The black dots and apical spot on the upperside tend to be faint or even to disappear really early in the season.”
In its caterpillar stage, Pieris rapae is a pest of cole crops and is known as "imported cabbageworm." The larvae "chew large, irregular holes in leaves, bore into heads, and drop greenish brown fecal pellets that may contaminate the marketed product, according to the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program's website.) "Seedlings may be damaged, but most losses are due to damage to marketed parts of the plant."
Ready to join the hunt for the first-of-the-year cabbage white butterfly? And try to defeat the good professor?
The contest rules include:
- It must be an adult (no caterpillars or pupae) and be captured outdoors.
- It must be delivered alive to the department office, 2320 Storer Hall, UC Davis, during work hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, with the full data (exact time, date and location of the capture) and your name, address, phone number and/or e-mail. The receptionist will certify that it is alive and refrigerate it. (If you collect it on a weekend or holiday, keep it in a refrigerator; do not freeze. A few days in the fridge will not harm it, Shapiro says.)
- Shapiro is the sole judge.
The list of winners, dates and locations since 2010:
- 2018: Jan. 19: Art Shapiro collected the winner in West Sacramento, Yolo County
- 2017: Jan. 19: Art Shapiro collected the winner on the UC Davis campus, Yolo County
- 2016: Jan. 16: Jacob Montgomery, UC Davis graduate student, collected the winner in west Davis
- 2015: Jan. 26: Shapiro collected the winner in West Sacramento
- 2014: Jan. 14: Shapiro collected the winner in West Sacramento
- 2013: Jan. 21: Shapiro collected the winner in West Sacramento
- 2012: Jan. 8: Shapiro collected the winner in West Sacramento
- 2011: Jan. 31: Shapiro collected the winner in Suisun, Solano County
- 2010: Jan. 27: Shapiro collected the winner in West Sacramento
Shapiro has monitored butterfly population trends on a transect across central California for 46 years and records the information on his research website at http://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/. His 10 sites stretch from the Sacramento River Delta through the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada mountains to the high desert of the Western Great Basin. Shapiro visits his sites every two weeks "to record what's out" from spring to fall. The largest and oldest database in North America, it was recently cited by British conservation biologist Chris Thomas in a worldwide study of insect biomass.
Shapiro, a member of the UC Davis faculty since 1971 and author of the book, Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento Valley Regions, has studied a total of 163 species of butterflies in his transect.
/span>- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
I enjoy sharing backyard citrus and produce as much as anyone. Unfortunately, as backyard citrus trees start to overflow with their bounty and we are of course in the giving and sharing spirit, I have to remind everyone who lives in certain parts of Sacramento County that the Oriental fruit fly quarantine is still in place.
I called the California Department of Food and Agriculture today to check on this, and they responded that no, the quarantine has not yet been lifted and may not be for several more months.
The Oriental fruit fly is an invasive insect pest that can cause devastation to several hundred crops, leading to serious crop and economic damage. Fresh fruit, vegetables and other plant material should not be moved from one's own property but should be consumed or prepared (cooked or processed) on site. Plant material is safe to eat and there is no concern about diseases or other contamination.
While you might think, "well, I don't see any flies on my fruit", the eggs and larvae could be on or under the fruit or vegetable skin/peel and go unnoticed.
Remember these are not the common fruit flies that you might find on overripe fruit in your kitchen. These flies are a little larger and feed on a wider range of healthy fruits and vegetables.
If you live within the quarantine zone, please help limit the spread of this invasive and potentially damaging pest by not moving plant material off your property. If you have any questions, please call the CDFA pest hotline.
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
New Release from CDFA:
SACRAMENTO, August 30, 2018 – A portion of Sacramento and Yolo Counties have been placed under quarantine for the Oriental fruit fly following the detection of 15 flies in and around the southern part of the City of Sacramento near the Lemon Hill community. The quarantine zone measures 123 square miles, generally bordered on the north by El Camino Avenue; on the south by Laguna Boulevard; on the west by the Sacramento River; and on the east by Bradshaw Road. A link to the quarantine map may be found here: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/off/regulation.html.
To prevent the spread of Oriental fruit flies through homegrown fruits and vegetables, residents living in the quarantine area are urged not to move those items from their property. However, they may be consumed or processed (i.e. juiced, frozen, cooked, or ground in the garbage disposal) on the property where they were grown, or disposed of by double-bagging and placing in the regular trash bin, not green waste.
Following the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), CDFA primarily uses the “male attractant” technique to eradicate this pest. Trained workers squirt a small patch of fly attractant mixed with a very small dose of pesticide approximately 10 feet off the ground on street trees and similar surfaces; male fruit flies are attracted to the mixture and perish after consuming it. This approach has successfully eliminated dozens of fruit fly infestations from California over the last several decades.
The Oriental fruit fly is known to target over 230 different fruit, vegetable, and plant commodities. Damage occurs when the female fruit fly lays her eggs inside the fruit. The eggs hatch into maggots and tunnel through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit for consumption.
While fruit flies and other invasive species that threaten California's crops and natural environment are sometimes detected in agricultural areas, the vast majority are found in urban and suburban communities. The most common pathway for these pests to enter the state is by “hitchhiking” in fruits and vegetables brought back illegally by travelers when they return from infested regions of the world or ship infested produce through the mail. Help protect California's agricultural and natural resources; please Don't Pack a Pest (www.dontpackapest.com) when traveling or mailing packages.
The Oriental fruit fly is widespread throughout much of the mainland of southern Asia and neighboring islands, including Sri Lanka and Taiwan, and it has invaded other areas, most notably Africa and Hawaii.
Residents with questions about the project may call CDFA's Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899. Additional information may be found here: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/off/
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To learn more and read recent news coverage about the Oriental fruit fly issue in Sacramento, see the following resources: