PUBLICATIONS
MIPAG completed in 2005 two significant documents
which can be downloaded from this website:
1. The Evaluation
of Non-Native Plant Species for Invasiveness
in Massachusetts
2. Strategic Recommendations
for Managing Invasive Plants in Massachusetts
Legal status
of above publications
Click on the title below to download this
273kb PDF file:
The
Evaluation of Non-Native Plant Species for
Invasiveness in Massachusetts
[Please note that the above document is included
as an appendix in Strategic Recommendations
for Managing Invasive Plants in Massachusetts.]
The Evaluation of Non-Native Plant Species
for Invasiveness in Massachusetts (23 pages)
lists which plants are threatening or may
soon threaten the Commonwealth's natural heritage.
In this document, the 66 evaluated species
are divided into three categories: invasive
(33); likely invasive (29); and potentially
invasive (4). Over six years in preparation,
the list is based on scientific criteria utilizing
historic records and current data to establish
that certain species are causing a severe
present or possible severe future impact across
the Commonwealth or in local areas. Included
in the document are the criteria used to evaluate
the plants, definitions, a description of
the procedure and list of members. Annotations
are also included.
The documentation, references and worksheets
upon which the committee based its decisions
can be viewed at the Natural Heritage and
Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and Game
in Westborough, MA.
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Click on the title below to download this
656kb PDF file:
Strategic
Recommendations for Managing Invasive Plants
in Massachusetts
Strategic Recommendations for Managing Invasive
Plants in Massachusetts endorses nine strategic
recommendations for adoption by the Commonwealth's
public and private sectors. The recommendations
are based on regional and national best practices.
Key points include the development of an "early
detection and rapid response system,"
extensive education and outreach, prohibition
of state agencies planting or intentionally
introducing invasive plants, voluntary adoption
of the St. Louis Declaration's "Codes
of Conduct" for government, nursery professionals
and the gardening public, and the permanent
adoption of MIPAG standards, practices, and
recommendations for evaluating and managing
invasive plants in the Commonwealth.
[Note that this document includes The Evaluation
of Non-Native Plant Species for Invasiveness
in Massachusetts as an appendix.]
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Legal status
of publications
Though the Evaluation and the Strategic Recommendations are based on scientific criteria and best practices and have broad endorsement, they do not have legal standing in and of themselves. The professionals and scientists who developed the documents represent a broad diversity of nonprofit organizations, green industry businesses and corporations, and state and federal agencies. It is expected that because of this diversity of support the Evaluation will have broad value for everyone from homeowners to land managers, and that the Strategic Recommendations will encourage a cooperative effort among every organization, agency, and citizen concerned with the threat to the Commonwealth of invasive plants.
Prohibited Plants in Massachusetts:
Representatives of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR) served on the committees of MIPAG that developed the above documents. As of January 1st, 2006, the Department began a two-step ban on the importation and sale of more than 140 plants identified as either noxious and/or invasive in the Commonwealth. The list of plants has been in development for three years in collaboration with a number of agricultural organizations including Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA) and the Massachusetts Invasive Plants Advisory Group (MIPAG). The DAR list of species to ban in Massachusetts, as well as information about the ban, may be found at http://mass.gov/agr/farmproducts/proposed_prohibited_plant_list.htm
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