Oregon deserves an A-minus for its efforts to limit and control the introduction of invasive plants, animals and pathogens into the state, according to the Oregon Invasive Species Council. The group issued its annual Invasive Species Report Card on Jan. 9. Some highlights pertaining to the nursery industry include the following:

• The Oregon Legislature passed a law preventing the introduction of wood boring pests and plant diseases via firewood. All firewood imported from outside the three Pacific Northwest states must be heat-treated and labeled. Pests and pathogens that can travel via firewood include the emerald ash borer, the Asian longhorned beetle, and Phytophthora ramorum.
• Gypsy moth detections continued to decline, as they have the past several years. Just one gypsy moth was detected in the state in 2012, near Eugene. The Oregon Department of Agriculture will keep monitoring for the pest.
• No new invasive plants were detected in the state during 2012.
• When a Japanese dock washed away during that country’s recent tsunami disaster turned up on an Oregon beach, officials from several agencies successfully teamed up to make sure that the several invasive plants and animals on the dock were contained.
• Officials trapped 36 Japanese beetles near Portland and Troutdale, indicating there are breeding populations present. Emergency funds ($32,000) from the Oregon Invasive Species Control Account were authorized to pay for eradication treatments. Monitoring and treatments will continue in 2013
• One of the major negatives on the report card was that the Invasive Species Control Account currently has $353,556, which is far below the goal of $5 million.

For more information read the press release (please check back for a link, which we expect to have shortly).