What’s the issue? In short, the Farm Services Agency is accepting public comments on the environmental impact of two possible policy alternatives for the Conservation Reserve Program, an important mechanism for protection of wildlife habitat and biodiversity on working farms.

Here’s a little background.  The CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) is a land retirement program administered by the Farm Services Agency (FSA), and implemented by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  Basically, the government pays eligible farmers an annual rental rate for taking cropland or certain marginal pastureland out of production and keeping it that way for the life of the CRP contract (10-15 years).  In addition, farmers receive a cost-share assistance payment for “practices” they install on the enrolled acres, including wildlife habitat plantings, erosion control, riparian buffers, etc.

With more than 33 million acres enrolled in CRP nationwide, the program has become an important tool for conservation of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.  Grassland birds, insect pollinators, quail and other upland game birds, and many additional species use CRP land.

Now, however, the number of acres enrolled in CRP is likely to be threatened by the economic reality of our times.  With corn and cellulosic biofuel production receiving considerable economic and political support, CRP rental rates are unlikely to be high enough for farmers to maintain land in the program.  The “opportunity costs” of CRP, i.e. the potential earnings for biofuel production, are increasing.  I wrote about this issue in a previous post, Biofuels and Habitat Loss, which also provides further background on CRP for those of you who are unfamiliar with the program.

At the same time that biofuels are threatening to reduce CRP acreage via economic competition, FSA is considering (see Alternative 2 below) reducing the CRP acreage enrollment cap from 32 million acres (the cap authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill) to 24 million acres, a full 25% reduction.  Alternative 2 also cuts the acreage cap for so-called targeted enrollment programs by a combined 50%.  These programs include state partnerships like the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and State Acres for Wildlife (SAFE), as well as Continuous CRP, as well as special initiatives.  All of these programs are enhanced versions of CRP that allow targeted enrollment for particular wildlife species or habitats, including species of conservation concern.

Alternative 2 would also nix plans for a separate pollinator habitat practice under CRP.  This is challenging because it means that standard cost-share rates for existing practices would have to be used for pollinator habitat creation, a practice that is generally significantly more expensive (due to high plant materials costs) than other traditional conservation practices.

You can review the public meeting slide presentation prepared by GeoMarine, Inc. here. The following comparison of alternatives is taken from this presentation.

I just spoke with an FSA representative who informed me that, while the two alternatives are currently being presented as two discrete alternatives covering all the provisions, those providing comments should feel free to voice support for either alternative in each provision.  In other words, if you agree with Alternative 1 for several provisions, but Alternative 2 for a few other provisions, you can state that in your comments.

Please take a few minutes to provide your comments on this important issue at the comment page on the GeoMarine, Inc. web site.  Wildlife that depends on our agricultural landscapes is depending on you to make your voice heard.

The Moth and Me is a carnival that provides a place for bloggers, moth-curious and moth-obsessed alike, to gather and share photos and stories of our adventures.  Despite the interest expressed by several bloggers with respect to the carnival, the response to Seabrooke’s photo quiz in the last edition was, well, underwhelming.  That, and the fact that she’s been involved in a move this summer has meant a slight delay in the publication  the 5th instar, er, installment, of The Moth and Me.  I wanted to help by hosting this brand new edition, complete with a plea for submissions from all of you closet moth photographers hiding out there in the new moon night of the nature blogosphere.  Check out the sweet banner you could have on your site right now!

Barefootheart at the Willow House Chronicles helped promote the last edition of this carnival (The Moth and Me #4) with a post that featured an observation of Virginia Ctenucha.  It would be great if more nature bloggers followed suit and took up the cause!

You see, if you don’t submit your posts, Seabrooke and I have to hunt you down and feature your post anyway.  And we don’t like doing that (we’d rather be mothing and we’re afraid we’ll miss some great posts).  If moths are a new interest, the first step is taking some pictures of them and getting a post up.  If Mike at 10,000 Birds could take a break from blogging about birds (and incinerating a giant fowl) to post some excellent photos of the Moths of Chicken Inferno 2009, you can surely post some pictures of moths from your porch light!

One of the great reasons to study moths is the thrill of seeing new species on a regular basis.  Natural Notes saw a striking Clymene Moth for the first time and posted a nice photo here.  The number of species of moths that most of us can find at our back porch light far exceeds the number of species of birds that come to our feeder or visit our yard, so there’s seldom a shortage of beautiful new species for those willing to look.

John at A DC Birding Blog took the time to look at (and photograph) some Assorted Recent Moths.  Tom at The Ohio Nature Blog did too, in his post titled The Biodiversity of Moths.  Tom captured one of my favorite moths, the Arched Hooktip.  If you check lights regularly in the northeast, you’re likely to see this species.

Arched Hooktip by Tom Arbour at the Ohio Nature Blog

Doug at Gossamer Tapestry featured a late-night stakeout for the rare Leadplant Flower Moth and also shared with us a visit to that mecca of all things insect, the Magic Gas Station.  Keeping with the theme of looking for leps at other people’s lights, Susannah at Wanderin’ Weeta dared to explore the unknown reaches of the map outside of a country motel in Here be moths.  Her picture of a Glorious Habrosyne succeeded in shivering our lepidopterological timbers.

Glorious Habrosyne by Wanderin' Weeta

“Field guides? Field guides?  We don’t need no stinking field guides!”  Eric of Bug Eric (he of Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America fame) explores pelage for camouflage in More moth fashions.

As we move into September, Brian at Calderdale Moths, Butterflies and Dragonflies reminds us that September 18-19, 2009 is National Moth Night in Britain.  This event encourages moth enthusiasts to observe moths across the country!  For more information, check out the official National Moth Night site.  Those Brits are way ahead of us in their work on insect conservation, and moths are no exception!  Martin’s Moths has featured lots of great moth posts lately, including this Rosy Rustic and a moth-related beer he discovered!  Jim at Norfolk Moths recently tested a unique method of transporting his trapping gear (and beer) to the field site.

Jim Wheeler's Mothing by Bike setup at the Norfolk Moths Blog

Another Brit, Rob Laughton, has recently started a gorgeous moth blog called Urban Moths.  Go check out his latest, August Moth Trapping, Part II.  If you haven’t had enough UK moths yet, check out Ben’s Essex Moths, which features photo-illustrated trapping reports.  I’m sure I’ve missed some of the great blogs on the British mothing scene, but hopefully they’ll submit posts to the next edition.

Now, for those of you who think that mothing requires late nights of sitting up bleary-eyed in front of a glorified tanning bed lamp, or roaming the  dark woods trying to figure out exactly which tree you painted the rotten banana-and-beer slurry onto at dusk, you’re only partially right.  Some moths are day-fliers!  Among the coolest of these are the hummingbird moths or clearwing sphinx moths of the genus Hemaris, featured at Robin’s Nesting Place.

Most caterpillars are moths in waiting (it takes some time and effort to eat that much), and you can find lots of them in broad daylight, when normal people are known to be awake.  In fact, rearing caterpillars in captivity is an important way to procure voucher specimens and establish hostplant relationships.  Nuthatch at Bootstrap Analysis takes us through raising silk moth and sphinx moth caterpillars in 100 hungry mouths to feed.  Martin of Nature in the Ozarks features a Cecropia Moth caterpillar and adult, while Seabrooke adds to the caterpillar frenzy with a nice image of a Banded Tussock Moth cat at The Marvelous in Nature.

Finally, I leave you with a photo of a stunning Sphinx moth caterpillar that I was lucky to encounter on my recent trip to South Carolina.  I’ll be featuring a few caterpillars, including another Sphinx species in an upcoming post right here at The Modern Naturalist.

Banded Sphinx (Eumorpha fasciatus) caterpillar on Ludwigia by Matthew Sarver

Thanks for reading The Moth and Me!

The upcoming edition: September 15, 2009
Submissions in by: September 13, 2009
Submissions to: sanderling [at] symbiotic [dot] ca or Host TBD

Interested in hosting the Moth and Me on your blog?  Sign up by contacting: sanderling [at] symbiotic [dot] ca

Happy Mothing!

The pinkish-violet blossom of spotted knapweed.

I first noticed knapweed blooming on our wildlife sanctuary property in Pennsylvania about five years ago, at the same time that I started to seriously consider the possibilities for habitat management on the site.  Knapweed control was one of my first projects on the property.  Since I knew that mowing was counter-productive (causing the plants to flower at a lower height), I decided to pull the knapweed by hand.  I’ve repeated the process for four years, and have eliminated spread of the plant while steadily reducing the seed bank at the main introduction site.  Because spotted knapweed seedlings assume a low-growing rosette form during their first year and don’t bolt and bloom until their second year or later, I’ve been able to track my success by noting a significant reduction in rosettes (a few dozen this year compared to countless hundreds during the first year of two of treatment).

Unfortunately, Spotted Knapweed is a highly favored bee plant, used heavily by native bumblebee species.  It’s always emotionally taxing for me to pull, bag and dispose of the knapweed with bumblebees crawling all over the blossoms as I work.  This brings me to one of my take-home messages in invasive species control and restoration: in degraded habitats, native species often rely heavily on invasive plants because the diversity of native plants has been reduced.  It is important to know what native insect and wildlife species rely on the invasive plant you are removing.  Then, when planning a restoration, try to plant (or enhance habitat for) native plants that provide resources at the same time of year as the invasive.  In my case, I’m working on restoring some meadows that will hopefully make up for (from a bee perspective) the eventual disappearance of my knapweed stand.

Spotted knapweed is an invasive plant, but is used extensively by native bumblebees

Since I’ve been working on this population for several years with a good deal of success, I thought I’d share a brief description of my spotted knapweed manual removal method.

Here are a few important points:

1. Get a good digging tool – I have tried various things – heavy clawhammers to grab and yank roots, various hand tiller/weeder/fork type things, etc.  I’ve recently settled on a well-balanced, heavy-duty, and inexpensive digging tool  (see the photo below) that I picked up at the friendly neighborhood home improvement warehouse.
2. Pull plants during their bloom period and before they’ve gone to seed.  Be sure to bag and dispose of the plants in a landfill, to avoid dispersing seed or root fragments.  A good rain just before (or even during) pulling makes the job much easier.
3. Be patient when pulling and learn to stop and dig more when you feel that the root is about to snap.  Pieces of root left in the ground will sprout the following year.
4. Don’t dig right at the base of the plant – you risk cutting through the root, which often twists to one side or another a few inches down.  Instead, loosen the soil about 5-6 inches from the base of the plant.

Here’s the process illustrated:

This is my tool of choice: a beveled, pointed blade on one end (used the most) and a straight blade on the other. The pointed blade sinks well into the shale soils where my infestation occurs.

Many stems usually radiate from a single root crown of older Spotted Knapweed plants. It's important to gather all the stems up to get a good grip on the plant for pulling.

Strike the ground about 5-6" from the base of the plant and loosen the soil, prying up with the tool while pulling straight up on the plant. Pulling at an angle makes it more likely that you'll break the root.

The root system should pull up cleanly if you loosen the soil enough and slowly pull upward on the plant.

The root crown can be quite broad on robust plants, or much smaller with fewer fibrous roots on stressed plants.

Please let me know if you have had success with other spotted knapweed control methods.  I have considered trying Milestone, a selective herbicide that is supposedly quite effective on both knapweed and thistles.  So far, I haven’t needed to resort to spraying though, since manual removal has been working well and at this point only takes me about a day each year to complete.  Now if only I could eliminate my crown vetch, smooth brome, and reed-canary grass this easily!