Tomorrow starts Florida’s unofficial National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW). While the folks in DC have the dates from March 4-9, we in Florida decided we needed at least 4 extra days to celebrate.

Events in Florida range from workdays to potato pulls, pet amnesty day to steering committee meetings. All our activities serve to raise awareness of the threat of invasive species and serve to build camaraderie and cooperative efforts in our partnerships.

Here is a PDF calendar that shows events for the following 12 Florida Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas (CISMAs):

1. Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance CISMA

2. Central Florida CISMA

3. East Central Florida CISMA

4. Everglades CISMA

5. First Coast Invasive Working Group

6. Heartland CISMA

7. Lake County CISMA

8. Osceola County Cooperative Weed Management Area

9. Six Rivers CISMA

10. Suncoast CISMA

11. Southwest Florida CISMA

12. Treasure Coast CISMA

Here is an awesome one page handout on “What you can do” during NISAW that was created by Suncoast CISMA. Feel free to steal the idea and spread it wide and far – great message sent along with the flyer:

“National Invasive Species Awareness Week (NISAW) is once again upon us! We invite you to make an effort to participate in some way this week. Whether you surf the web to learn a new plant, make a commitment to participate in an upcoming workday, or simply talk to your neighbor, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. If you need ideas on what you can do to participate, see the attachment. It is full of ideas. Better yet, print the flyer and post it somewhere others will see it and that can be your contribution to NISAW!”