Bay Area Early Detection Network (BAEDN)
Location(s): Throughout the 9 county San Francisco Bay Area: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, and Marin counties
Website: www.baedn.org
Project Description: The Bay Area Early Detection Network (BAEDN) coordinates and organizes Early Detection and Rapid Response to plant invasions across the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. BAEDN works to proactively deal with the highest priority outbreaks before they grow into large and costly threats. Partners work together to develop a scientifically rigorous list of the most harmful invasive plants, train each other in detection techniques, make detections, report them to the shared database, and then prioritize individual patches so that the most dangerous outbreaks can be removed before they spread and cause harm. We remove the easiest and most harmful first, while removal is cost-effective and before ecosystems have been harmed. This “stitch-in-time” approach prevents the environmental and economic damage caused by these invaders; educates citizens regarding natural resource stewardship; and dramatically reduces the need for the planning and resources required to control large, established invasive plant populations.
A Brief History of the Project: The Bay Area Early Detection Network was formed in 2006 by a Memorandum of Understanding which brings together partners from across the nine county San Francisco Bay Area. Since its inception, BAEDN has expanded partnerships and increased its capacity. 2010 marks its first field season for piloting invasive plant early detection and rapid response across the region. Key steps for 2010 include development of a San Francisco Bay Area Early Detection species list, prioritization of target species populations, and treatments in the field with the goal of eradicating these populations. BAEDN will also continue outreach and education efforts.
Any highlighted benefit, public involvement, upcoming event, etc. you want to feature about the project: Reporting non-native species occurrences is a critical component to BAEDN’s ability to prioritize and treat populations of priority populations. Please report your sitings to the easy-to-use Calflora/BAEDN database. Instructions for reporting individual records as well as uploading entire datasets are posted at www.baedn.org/reporting.html.
There are a growing number of organized volunteer invasive plant detection programs or “Weedwatcher” programs throughout the area including at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin Municipal Water District, Audubon Canyon Ranch, and San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Contact information for Weedwatcher programs are posted on the BAEDN website: www.BAEDN.org.
To report invasive plant occurrences visit: http://www.baedn.org/reporting.html. Subscribe to the partners listserve at http://mail.baedn.org/mailman/listinfo/partners_baedn.org.
To join a BAEDN working group, register your organization as a BAEDN partner, or for additional information contact:
Contacts:
Aviva Rossi, Bay Area Early Detection Network Early Detection Coordinator, Aviva@Baedn.org
Mike Perlmutter, Bay Area Early Detection Network Rapid Response Coordinator, Mike@Baedn.org
