MINNEAPOLIS, MN—The Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and the Superior National Forest are distributing a free booklet, Non-Native Invasive Species Identification Guide, to help recreationists and other forest users identify, locate and report the presence of the species to Forest Service plant ecologists.

A grant from Recreational Equipment, Inc., (REI) funded the publication.

Non-native invasive species (NNIS) include plants and animals—terrestrial and aquatic—that are not indigenous to an area. Once established, NNIS can cause harmful economic, environmental, or social impacts. Though just a fraction of non-native species are invasive, those that are reproduce rapidly. Their invasion costs $120 billion/year, according to estimates by Cornell University researchers, and today they have overrun 133 million acres across the U.S., an area the size of California and New York combined.

“Invasive species are second only to habitat loss as a threat to biodiversity,” says Jack Greenlee, Plant Ecologist with the Forest Service on the Superior National Forest (SNF). “Fortunately, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and SNF have relatively low levels of invasive species infestation. To keep it that way, every user has to care. This partnership with the Friends is an important step in that effort.”

The BWCAW occupies one-third of the Superior National Forest and it is the most heavily used wilderness area in the U.S., attracting more than 200,000 visitors each year. Outside the BWCAW, many varied uses, such as fishing, camping, hiking, biking, hunting, birding, logging, and ATV riding, attract even more people to the Forest. With each visitor comes the risk of unwanted hitchhikers, such as gypsy moth or emerald ash borer hidden in firewood, spiny water flea in bilge water or live wells, or spotted knapweed seeds stuck in muddy vehicle tires.

The Guide pictures and describes 18 of the NNIS. It is small enough to be carried easily in a backpack, tackle box, hunting vest or pants pocket. It provides two postcards stamped and addressed to Friends, with one side organized for a user to write the date, location (such as using numbers painted on a BWCAW campsite latrine, or names of roads and trails, or GPS coordinates), the type of species, and observations such as the size of an infested area. A 5 inch ruler is printed on the back page, making it easy to measure a species’ size. People may also report findings directly to the Superior National Forest by email at: r9_superior_NF@fs.fed.us.

“It’s not enough that users can identify a NNIS,” says Wever Weed, Friends’ communication director. “They need to be able to easily report the locations of those they find. We can then notify the Forest Service and thus help focus efforts to slow or stop the invasion.”

The Guide also urges forest users to check their clothes, equipment, and pets for seeds, and explains how to dispose of seeds and living invaders. It also describes in detail why every category of user—anglers and hunters, motorized users, hikers and paddlers, loggers and landowners, even gardeners—has a stake in control of non-native invasive species.

10,000 Guides and 200 display posters have been distributed to all Forest Service permitting stations and outfitting cooperators throughout the SNF. All BWCAW permit holders and other users of the SNF will be encouraged to read and use the Guides.

The Non-Native Invasive Species Identification Guide is available on the Friends’ website at www.friends-bwca.org. Additional information regarding NNIS on the Superior National Forest is posted on the Forest Service website at www.fs.fed.us/r9/superior.

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, based in Minneapolis, MN, is a non-profit organization founded in 1976. Its mission is to protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Quetico-Superior ecosystem. Friends has nearly 4,000 members and subscribers nationwide.

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