With Farm Bill funding provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine, the Washington Invasive Species Council started a new collaborative project to improve response readiness for detections of new urban forest pests.
A multi-agency work group has been convened to develop a Washington State readiness plan. The plan focuses on building relationships and formalizing a network and response framework between cities and responding state and federal agencies.
Urban Forest Pest Readiness Playbook
Playbook
The playbook is a tool to prepare communities for potential pest outbreaks through self-assessments and recommended actions. The purpose is to close the gap in readiness and response capabilities between community leaders managing urban forests and state and federal responders.
Online Playbook Resources
The playbook contains different online resources such as a readiness contact list and planning templates. These resources are in process and will be posted when available.
Past Meetings and Webinars
Webinar
The council hosted a Webinar on “Improving Statewide Readiness and Response to Washington Forest Pest Risks” on October 29, 2019. The webinar provided an overview of Washington’s new Urban Forest Pest Readiness Playbook.
Planning Meetings
This past summer the project team held three stakeholder meetings around the state to gather feedback from municipalities and tree and forestry management professionals on what will be most useful in this statewide plan.
- An east Cascades planning meeting took place on June 28, 2019 in Spokane.
- A southwest Washington planning meeting took place on June 11, 2019 in Vancouver.
- The “Getting Washington Urban Forest Pest Ready” collaborative advisory meeting took place on April 15, 2019 in Tukwila.
Thanks to all who attended!
Questions?
Interested in Getting Notifications and Updates about the Project?
E-mail the Washington Invasive Species Council to get answers and become involved.