**Team Tamarisk Continues -- Coordination and Cooperation Lead the Way**

Washington, D.C., May 3, 2005 --- Team Tamarisk continues to make
progress battling the invasive plant tamarisk (also know as salt cedar)
a little more than a year after over 300 representatives from federal,
state, local, tribal organizations and the private sector met to discuss
the challenges of controlling and managing the invasive weed tamarisk
and developing sustainable habitats in its place. The 2004 conference
had representatives from approximately 19 states, with the focus on the
southwestern states where the tamarisk problem and its impact on
watersheds and wetlands is particularly severe. The *Team Tamarisk:
Cooperating for Results* conference was sponsored by the U.S.
Departments of the Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA), the National
Invasive Species Council (NISC), and 11 other organizations (complete
list of sponsors below).

"Last year the sponsors and I knew that pulling together Team Tamarisk
for the conference meant that we already had the building blocks of a
powerful and effective partnership to produce results on the ground,"
said Scott Cameron, deputy assistant secretary for performance,
accountability and human resources at DOI. "I am pleased that about 14
months later, efforts continue, and even though the work is far from
complete, it is progressing and providing great examples of Interior
Secretary Norton's four C's: communication, consultation, and
cooperation, all in the service of conservation."

"USDA is pleased to see the important work of Team Tamarisk
progressing," said Chuck Lambert, USDA deputy undersecretary for
marketing and regulatory programs. "We were glad to take part in the
meeting and are impressed by the ongoing efforts of many Team Tamarisk
members including the biocontrol program, mapping efforts, economic
impact studies and others."

Based on the Team Tamarisk Guiding Principles developed at the
conference and consistent with Executive Order (EO) 13352 on Cooperative
Conservation and EO 13112 on Invasive Species, the work of Team Tamarisk
is continuing. This group of innovative and committed people has managed
to put the principles to work and have demonstrated the ability to "walk
the walk" of cooperative conservation. There are significant
accomplishments to report for both individual Team Tamarisk members and
groups.

"NISC congratulates all those so committed to meeting the challenges
presented by the invasive plant tamarisk," said Lori Williams, executive
director of NISC. "Team Tamarisk members continue to provide examples of
how important and inspirational cooperation and coordination can be in
the field and in Washington, D.C."

In several states, dense tamarisk stands cover large riparian areas
where they consume substantial amounts of water, increase wildfire
frequency and intensity, and alter wildlife habitat by crowding out
other vegetation. The battle against this aggressive invasive plant is
being fought on many fronts and many levels, but teamwork is a common
theme. Several federal agencies participate in the NISC Interagency
Performance-Based Crosscut Budget specific initiative on tamarisk that
outlines ongoing federal projects. See the NISC website (URL below) for
more information on the crosscut. Related to the NISC crosscut, DOI
programs have come together to outline a geographically focused
initiative to closely coordinate their efforts in the Middle Rio Grande
area.

\--MORE\--

A few highlights---not a comprehensive list---of Team Tamarisk partners'
efforts from the front lines include:

-   Officials in Colorado are implementing a 10-year Strategic Plan for
    tamarisk control with several major watersheds developing
    cooperative approaches for control and inventory mapping on the
    Arkansas and Colorado River drainages. New Mexico officials
    completed their Strategic Plan for Non-native Phreatophyte/Watershed
    management and adopted the Guiding Principles of Team Tamarisk.
    Kansas officials are embarking on a 10-year strategic plan for
    tamarisk control and revegetation. Texas officials are also engaged
    in tamarisk activities, as is the Nature Conservancy, especially
    along the Colorado River.

-   Arizona officials have been involved in an interagency effort to put
    together a plan for woody invasive plant management patterned after
    a similar plan in New Mexico. Several people are currently working
    on a pilot study to remove tamarisk from a desert stream north of
    Phoenix, before it increases its canopy coverage and range.

-   The National Park Service has three mobile exotic plant management
    strike teams, hosted at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Carlsbad
    Caverns National Park (NP) and Petrified Forest NP, and working in
    southwestern parks to control tamarisk and other species. Initial
    control of tamarisk has occurred in numerous parks such as: Zion NP,
    Joshua Tree NP, Mojave NP, Hubbell Trading Post National Historical
    Site, Mesa Verde NP, and Colorado National Monument. Additionally
    teams are working in concert with partners such as USFWS, U.S.
    Bureau of Land Management (BLM), state and local governments, as
    well as volunteers, on a variety of tamarisk management projects.

-   NISC established a team of economists, ecologists, biologists, and
    engineers from the public and private sectors to conduct an economic
    analysis of alternative management strategies for tamarisk in the
    Rio Grande-Pecos and Colorado River Basins. This work will help
    policy makers guide region-wide tamarisk control efforts that
    "optimize resources and maximize local effectiveness" as called for
    in the Team Tamarisk Guiding Principles. Team members include
    representatives from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Tamarisk
    Coalition, University of California\--Santa Cruz, U. S. Army Corps
    of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of
    Reclamation (BOR), USFWS, Environmental Protection Agency, and NISC.
    Experts from several land and resource management agencies and
    economists have provided detailed data on tamarisk cover in the Rio
    Grande and Colorado River Basins, for economic and geographic
    assessments.

-   On the legislative front, legislation (S.177) was reintroduced by
    Senator Pete Domenici with companion legislation (H.R.489) from
    Congressman Steve Pearce to provide approximately \$100 million over
    five years for large scale tamarisk demonstration projects and
    research. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the
    House Committee on Agriculture are working out the bills'
    differences.

-   Locations of thousands of tamarisk populations across the United
    States are being continuously plotted into a central web-based
    mapping database, with major contributions from agencies, tribes,
    local and state governments and non-government organizations. The
    data are available to all online at http://www.NIISS.org.

-   Resource managers (USACE, USFWS, BOR, BLM, and Arizona State) and
    scientists (USGS) implemented a managed streamflow release on the
    Bill Williams River in Arizona, which was designed to favor native
    riparian plant regeneration, while inhibiting tamarisk regeneration.

> \--MORE\--

-   Scientists at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center, the National
    Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight
    Center and Colorado State University have modeled habitat
    suitability of tamarisk in the western United States based on the
    ground sample data and habitat analysis from MODIS satellite data
    products. The output from the modeling will assist managers estimate
    the current and potential range of tamarisk and guide early
    detection and rapid response efforts and long-term control
    strategies.

-   Resource managers (USACE, USFWS, BOR, BLM, and Arizona State) and
    scientists (USGS) implemented a managed streamflow release on the
    Bill Williams River in Arizona, which was designed to favor native
    riparian plant regeneration, while inhibiting tamarisk regeneration.

-   Researchers from the USGS, the University of Denver, and BOR have
    initiated greenhouse experiments to test the salinity and drought
    tolerance of various plants native to the Rio Grande, in order to
    determine their suitability for revegetation efforts that follow
    tamarisk control. Experiments are also being conducted to determine
    the effect of mycorrhizal fungi on the growth of these native
    plants.

-   USDA's Agriculture Research Service scientists at Albany,
    California; Reno, Nevada; Sidney, Montana; and Temple and Weslaco,
    Texas, are developing a biologically based integrated weed
    management program for tamarisk. The first biological control agent
    for tamarisk, the leaf-feeding beetle, *Diorhabda elongata* was
    initially released in secure field cages in 1999 at ten sites in six
    states (California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Wyoming).
    Cages were removed at these sites in 2001. The original few hundred
    beetles released have produced millions of offspring. Additional
    release sites were added in Montana, Oregon and New Mexico in 2003.
    The beetles have spread over 100 miles from the original point of
    release, and are significantly impacting tamarisk at most of the
    release sites.

The highlights listed above are a sample of the wide variety of efforts
being undertaken to control, manage and restore critical areas infested
with tamarisk. There are many individuals and organizations---at all
levels and from both the private and public sectors---engaged in
projects related to this invasive plant.

NISC is a cabinet level council established by Executive Order in 1999
to provide leadership and to ensure complimentary, cost-efficient and
effective federal activities regarding invasive species. Council members
include three co-chairs: the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture,
Commerce; and the Secretaries of State, Defense, Homeland Security,
Treasury, Transportation, Health and Human Services, as well as the
Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Agency
for International Development, NASA and the U.S Trade Representative.
More information on NISC is online at http://www.invasivespecies.gov.
More information on the Team Tamarisk can be found at
<http://www.invasivespecies.gov/teamtam/>

The 11 other sponsoring organizations of the 2004 Team Tamarisk
Conference are: the Center for Invasive Plant Management (Montana),
Coachella Valley Water District, Los Alamos National Laboratory,
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Mission Springs
Water District, National Association of Counties, National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, Tamarisk Coalition,
The Nature Conservancy, and WERC: A Consortium for Environmental
Education and Technology Development.

-END-

***[Note to Stakeholders:]{.underline}*** NISC Stakeholder announcements
are available on the Internet at <http://www.invasivespecies.gov/>. For
additional information on this topic, contact Anna Cherry at (202)
354-1891 or <anna_cherry@ios.doi.gov>