COG program awarded National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for invasive species management

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded nearly $100,000 to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) to support invasive species management activities conducted by the National Capital Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (NatCap PRISM).

The funding was provided through new Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense (Chesapeake WILD) grant program, which supports efforts to sustain natural resources and human communities, build capacity to address shared restoration and conservation priorities, and implement projects that conserve, steward, and enhance fish and wildlife habitats and related values throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Through the grant, the NatCap PRISM program at COG will engage local communities across metropolitan Washington to create community-based invasive-species management plans. Project partners throughout the National Capital Region will collaborate to create invasive-species management work plans for imperiled species habitat at significant ecological sites, build invasives management capacity through learning and certification, and prevent future degradation by creating and maintaining an early detection and rapid response system for parks in each community.

NatCap PRISM is a cooperative group of local and federal agencies and non-profit conservation organizations serving metropolitan Washington. Together through COG, the partnership works to reduce the impact of invasive species on biodiversity in the National Capital Region. Activities of the PRISM program include organizing support for community-led invasive species detection (Invader Detectives) and species removal (Weed Warriors), as well as professional development and recertification opportunities for invasive species managers. Data collected through community detection is tracked by the PRISM project team to provide a dynamic and holistic view of invasive species management in the region.