What you do with firewood this upcoming 4th of July (and year-round!) can impact more than just the s'mores on your campfire. If you move firewood around the state, you could spread deadly plant diseases and invasive insects. Don't take firewood with you if you travel or camp this holiday weekend.
Bringing firewood from home, even dry, aged, and seasoned wood, can spread pests. Once you arrive at your destination, pests can emerge from the firewood and spread to the surrounding area. Invasive pests like the emerald ash borer, shothole borers, and goldspotted oak borer, kill millions of healthy trees every year and can be spread to new areas on firewood.
Buy firewood within 50 miles of where you plan to stay or buy firewood that is certified, heat treated. Be a good steward and protect the areas you love; buy it where you plan to burn it!
To learn more, visit https://www.dontmovefirewood.org/.
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
As vacation season begins, people will be traveling much more in the coming months. Whether you'll be staying at a hotel, hostel, motel, rental home, or summer camp, you should always be on the lookout for bed bugs. A bed bug check takes only a few minutes to complete and can give you and your family peace of mind when staying at new places.
Bed bugs are small insects, but big enough to see with the naked eye. They are oval shaped, wingless, and reddish brown. Bed bugs feed only on human blood, usually at nighttime while we are sleeping.
It's important to remember that bed bugs can occur anywhere and are not always an indication of poor hygiene or care. Bed bugs can be moved to new places on furniture, luggage, clothing, and bedding.
Follow these steps to do a simple bed bug check:
- Leave luggage in the lobby, hallway, outside the door, or bathtub while you inspect the room.
- Check the bed. Look for signs of live bed bugs, shed skins, blood stains, or eggs.
- If staying in a pre-made bed, pull back the sheets and look around mattress seams, the boxspring and headboard, and behind the nightstand. A flashlight can be helpful when doing this. If there is just a mattress, such as at camps and hostels, inspect the seams of the mattress pad and lift it up to also look underneath.
- Check other areas of the room. Inspect any upholstered furniture, behind picture frames, and along baseboards. Most bed bugs will be around the bed if they are present.
When you return home from your stay, inspect any luggage for bed bugs that may have hitched a ride. People can pick up bed bugs while traveling on buses, trains, airplanes or other locations with upholstered seats. Clothing from your trip can be laundered on the hottest setting to kill any bed bugs that may have gone unnoticed.
Don't let bed bugs ruin your summer fun!
- Watch this short video to learn how to do a bed bug inspection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWCc3Mngo7E&t=2s.
- Learn more about bed bug identification and control in UC IPM's Pest Notes: Bed Bugs https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7454.html.
The holiday season is fast approaching! With many people traveling and visiting new places during this time, it's important to understand how to check for bed bugs and prevent them from coming home with you.
Regardless of what type of lodging you choose–hotel, motel, cabin, or other type of rental–no place is immune to bed bug introductions or infestations. Follow these tips for a bed bug-free holiday.
When settling into your room
- Before putting your luggage down on the bed, couch, or floor, do a quick bed bug check. You can either leave the luggage in the hall or place it in the bathtub, where bed bugs are not likely to be.
- Thoroughly inspect the bed, nightstand, upholstered furniture, and closets. You can use a flashlight or a phone light to help you look for bed bugs, shed skins, or fecal spots. Look along mattress seams, under covers, around the box spring, behind headboards and picture frames, and along baseboards.
- Watch this video to learn how to do a bed bug inspection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWCc3Mngo7E&t=2s
After you return home
- Before bringing luggage inside your home, inspect it for any signs of bed bugs that may have hitched a ride. Store luggage away from the bedroom to prevent potential introductions.
- Launder all the clothes from your trip on the hottest settings to kill bed bugs or their eggs that may have gone unnoticed. For items that cannot be washed, freezing them for several days will also kill all stages of bed bugs.
To learn more about bed bug identification and management, see the UC IPM Pest Notes: Bed Bugs. Staying home for the holidays? Here are some tips to host a bed bug-free holiday!
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the United States and other nations have announced sanctions against Russia. These developments have heightened security measures in countries sharing borders with Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, impacting transportation and border crossing in those neighboring countries.
The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 — Do Not Travel Warning for Ukraine due to the conflict. As a result, and out of concern for the well-being and safety of the UC community, we are directing all members of the UC community to avoid all travel to Ukraine at this time. Additionally, travel to neighboring countries should be carefully evaluated.
Should travel abroad during this time be necessary, it is of utmost importance that all faculty, staff, and students take the following steps:
- Review the DOS Travel Advisories related to your destination(s) prior to making travel plans.
- Register your travel with the U.S. State Department's STEP Programto receive timely notifications of safety and security concerns.
- Register your travel with the UC Travel Insurance Program.
Thank you for your cooperation and partnership in keeping our UC community safe.
Sincerely,
Rachael Nava
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
- Author: Wendy Powers
I am traveling! Last week almost seemed normal, with back-to-back trips between Monday and Friday. This week was even more ‘normal' with a flight cancellation. I have more travel scheduled with a few days off with in-state travel over Veteran's Day week. By mid-November, I suspect I will be complaining about travel disruptions. I think it is human nature to complain about things even when we have longed for such circumstances. Traveling has changed a bit since I was last frequenting airports. I like that we no longer show our boarding passes at security; less fumbling around with ID plus my boarding pass. I have even applied for my Real ID, just in case leaving my garage becomes customary.
It is getting difficult to keep up with all of the new hires! What a great situation to be in! Curt Pierce started last week as the Area Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor, based in Orland, with programmatic responsibilities in Glenn, Tehama, Colusa, and Shasta Counties. Welcome, Curt! Please reach out to Curt to send your welcome.
While I try to keep up with new hires, I also try to stay on top of the successes of past colleagues. Take a look at this fantastic article about Lupita and her impressive story. Congratulations to Lupita and the CA 4-H team that will receive an award in a couple of weeks. I get confused with the various meetings, but this may be one of the awards I will virtually present to recipients on November 9. If so, that will be special for me.
Another great story appeared recently in the Morning Ag Clips. Be sure to read Laura's story. Her commitment and passion for her work are evident throughout. And, it was nice to see her faithful companion featured as well.
This week I have followed the rain from California to the East Coast. I am part of a committee interviewing advocacy firms for our national Cooperative Extension and Ag Experiment Station Sections. The firms are all located in D.C. so it is only committee members impacted by the intense rain. Hopefully the storms are past before I head back west on Thursday evening.
I hope everyone is starting to dry out. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sandhill Cranes back in our back yard. It will take some time for all of the water to drain. While the photo is of Mark and his wife paddling the delta, no doubt we could have used the kayaks to navigate our property after the rain we had on Sunday. Let's hope the 2021 fire season has ended as a result.