[APWG] Sudden Oak Death (SOD) - infecting many important native species

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

>>Passing along an article (see below) about Sudden Oak Death (SOD), a 
fungal disease that was first ascribed to oak tree deaths in 1995 and is 
now widespread in California and southern Oregon. 
>>SOD is ravaging many of our native species on the West Coast, including: 
tanoaks (Lithocarpus densiflorus), coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia), 
California black oaks (Quercus kelloggii), Rhododendron spp., huckleberry 
(Vaccinium ovatum), bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), madrone (
Arbutus menziesii), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), manzanita (
Arctostaphylos manzanita), and California buckeye (Aesculus californica). 
>>Nearly every one of the above-mentioned plants are used as food by 
California native Americans or are otherwise significant in Native 
American culture (See: 
http://www.fourdir.com/central_california_culture.htm). 
>>Because these species are such important food sources, it is a mixed 
blessing that there is no known pesticide "registered by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency that will eradicate the organism that 
causes sudden oak death. The only way to stop the disease is to cut down 
and burn infected plants or trees." 
http://agr.wa.gov/PlantsInsects/Diseases/SOD/default.htm
See the attached document for more information.
-Patricia
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Outlook is dire for oak disease
Congress set to OK funds to combat a pathogen experts say is here to stay.
By Michael Doyle -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, May 24, 2006 
Story appeared on Page A4 of The Bee 
Story appeared on Page A4 of The Bee
Print | E-Mail | Comments (0)
WASHINGTON -- Experts now fear they've lost hope of eliminating sudden oak 
death, but that's not stopping Congress from putting money into the fight 
to contain the devastating disease. 
With tens of thousands of California oak trees already laid low, the House 
on Tuesday was set to approve some $7.5 million for research, eradication 
and control of the pathogen Phytopthera ramorum.
The money, including funds for scientists at the University of California, 
Davis, is part of a much larger Agriculture Department spending bill on 
track for approval late Tuesday night.
 
"I'd love to know how we can do a better job of saving these precious 
trees," said House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Dennis Cardoza, 
D-Merced. 
Even as the lawmakers invest in the fight, though, front-line researchers 
concede there will be no final victory. Only one day before the House took 
up the $93.6 billion Agriculture Department funding package, federal 
investigators reported the consensus view that the disease is here to 
stay.
"None of the 16 stakeholders we interviewed believed that P. ramorum could 
be eradicated from California's natural environment because of the current 
size of the infestation, its potential for spread, and the lack of 
effective management tools," Government Accountability Office auditors 
noted.
The auditors elaborated that the disease is "likely to continue to infest 
and damage forest ecosystems indefinitely despite efforts to control" it. 
This is a conclusion with consequence, as it shapes what preventive steps 
are taken, and at what cost.
The state of Oregon, for instance, has maintained a policy of eradicating 
the disease in the wild. The aggressive stance has not met with complete 
success.
"They keep having new finds," noted Katie Palmieri, public information 
officer for the California Oak Mortality Task Force. "We would be thrilled 
if we could eradicate it, but I don't think that is the expectation."
The pathogen that causes sudden oak death was first identified by a UC 
Davis researcher in 2000. It has been found in 14 California counties, and 
one county in southern Oregon. The disease kills oak trees, and can kill 
or disfigure such commercially valuable ornamental plants as 
rhododendrons.
Control measures have seemingly worked to limit the spread of the disease. 
In 2005, inspectors found 90 infected plants in seven states.
That was an improvement over 2004, the GAO noted, when inspectors found 
176 infected plants in 22 states.
But with an estimated 19,000 square miles in California already exposed, 
federal investigators found state and local officials to be unanimous in 
their dire assessment. In March alone, infected plants were found in 
nurseries in Sacramento, Solano and Alameda counties.
The pathogen appears to flourish in cool, moist conditions, and it has not 
been found in any Sierra Nevada or San Joaquin Valley forest.
"Definitely, we need money to support research and control, and those 
needs are not being met," Palmieri said, "but, certainly, any funding that 
we do get, we appreciate."
The Agriculture Department's strategy for California calls for control of 
the disease in the natural environment but does not insist on eradication. 
Some officials do believe, however, that the disease can be eliminated in 
nurseries.
In 2004, lawmakers ordered the Agriculture Department to prepare a 
national plan for the control and management of sudden oak death. The 
department did prepare a 19-page plan last year, declaring a goal of 
prohibiting or significantly reducing the introduction of the disease.
The federal plan, auditors noted, lacked any budget information or cost 
estimates. Palmieri said that "ideally, if we could have what we wanted," 
California officials would ask for $19 million for the coming year.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20060525/43f74ad6/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20060525/43f74ad6/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Sudden oak Death-May06.doc
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 39424 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20060525/43f74ad6/attachment.obj>