Volume 3, Number 1 April 30, 1997
MOSQUITO WEBS!
The Northeast Mosquito Control Association is on-line at URL http://www.nmca.org
Announcing the NMCA Home page on the Internet! That's right, NMCA now has a presence on the Web in cyberspace. Surf on over to the site, check it out, and let us know what you think!! You'll find information about NMCA such as the current committee assignments (you'd better check to see if you're on one!!), the current Officers (congratulations and a big thank you to you all), the NMCA Constitution and By-laws, minutes of past meetings and upcoming events. Also, there is a 1997 program application and dues form, so you will always know where to find these important pieces of membership in NMCA. A current membership listing is on the site, and if anyone is interested in having their e-mail address or a short biography about themselves published on the site, e-mail us from the links on the site. Comments and suggestions about the website or it's contents are always welcome and gladly accepted. Check back to the site often to see changes, additions and important messages regarding NMCA, and upcoming meetings and events.
Timothy D. Deschamps, Assistant Superintendent
Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project
A Note on Set-up
One challenge in setting up this site was that, as a non-profit organization, NMCA should not have to spend a lot of money in setting up a Internet home page. With the help of PestWeb (http://www.pestweb.com), we were able to set up the site, register our URL (address), and create the pages at no cost to NMCA. PestWeb will host a site for free for non-profit organizations, and the web pages were created with Microsoft Word 6.0 with Internet Assistant (a free plug-in from Microsoft). This program does not allow too much flexibility, but with what it offers, and some creative programming thrown in, we are able to create a site that is informative and still be able to show what the Web has to offer.
Our Thanks for the Website go to...
Tim Deschamps and John Smith of Norfolk County Mosquito Control and John Kuschke, Webster Extrodinare, for their effort in putting together this site.
LOG ON, TAKE OFF!
Once you're on the net, of course, its fun to see what else is out there. A good place to start is:
http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/njmos.htm
This is the web site for the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association. They have lots of good information on mosquito control and an excellent links page to boot. John Kuschke is the powerhouse behind that site too so be sure to send him a kind E-Mail before you log off.
NEW EXCAVATOR AT NORFOLK COUNTY
NORWOOD, MASSACHUSETTS
The Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project recently purchased a model SK60 Kobelco excavator for both saltmarsh as well as upland water management. This brings the Projects inventory of excavators to three. The SK60 Kobelco was purchased from Norris Enterprises, Inc. who modified the excavators track base to bring the excavators ground pressure to approximately 2 lbs per square inch. Following receipt of the excavator project employees modified the vandal shields so that the over-motivated vandals commonly found in Norfolk County, Massachusetts would have a more difficult time conducting their own unauthorized modifications to the excavator. The Kobelco has been on several upland sites to date and, other than a few bent cleats has, performed flawlessly. Of course some credit must be given to our operator, Brian Moore, who has worked up a maintenance schedule which, hopefully, will keep the Kobelco operating in same fashion for many years to come. A special thanks to Paul Capotosto and his operator Buzz for their assistance during our investigative phase before purchasing this excavator. Thanks Paul and Buzz!! To see pictures of the Kobelco in action, click here.
COMPASS POINTS:
Paul Capotosto
At our last Executive Board meeting (held at the 1997 annual meeting site in Sturbridge, Massachusetts), the Board decide that the Annual Meeting would be held from Sunday, December 7th, through Wednesday, December 10th, 1997. The meeting will be held at the Sturbridge Host Hotel on Route 20. The cost of the hotel is $79.00 plus tax per night and includes a Breakfast Buffet.
We are planning a Sunday event at the Sturbridge Village with discount tickets for a Christmas theme event. We are planning to hold the silent auction again and hope each project or state can contribute something to the auction. Just a reminder, the silent auction is used to help fund our scholarships. In 1996 we were so successful that the Daniel M. Jobbins Scholarship offered this year will be $1,000. The John McColgan Grant-in-Aid will be $500.
The Board of Directors is looking ahead for our next annual meeting location and we were thinking about holding a joint meeting with the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association in February 1999 in Atlantic City. We would hold a one-day event for the NMCA and field staff in the fall of 1998 in Massachusetts. The AMCA meeting will be in New Jersey in the year 2000 in Atlantic City. Please call (860-642-7239) me if you have any ideas about this issue. Otherwise we need a location for our annual meeting in 1998 in Massachusetts or elsewhere.
Massachusetts Mosquito Control Generic Environmental Impact Report
The rough (revised) draft of the GEIR for Mosquito Control in Massachusetts is finally complete and will be (or already has) been sent out for review. Those of you who work in mosquito Control in Massachusetts know that completely this monumental task is important for maintaining mosquito control on a steady pace in the state. Please check it out and get your comments to John Kenney.
ENDANGERED SPECIES AND MOSQUITO CONTROL
The summer 1996 issue of Wing Beats had an article on the salt marsh snake (Nerodia clarkii taeniata), an endangered snake in an open marsh water management site in the Volusia Mosquito Control District in Daytona Beach, Florida. I would be interested in receiving any information people may have on other rare or endangered species in mosquito-control areas, and their effects on control efforts. Obviously I'd like to focus on the northeast, but information from around the country would be welcome.
George Christie (401) 885-7055
FAX (401) 885-8077
E-Mail: chripest@ids.net
PAPERS FOR THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE MYSTIC MEETING
If you have not yet sent your paper from your presentation in Mystic, please do so. The Proceedings of the Northeastern Mosquito Control Association is an important benefit of membership in the Association and the quality of the Proceedings is directly influenced by the percentage of talks for which papers are submitted. Papers should be sent to:
John Smith
Norfolk County MCP
Building #34
Endicott Street
Norwood, MA 02062
DON'T FORGET:
This newsletter relies on you for articles, notes of interest and whatever else you'd like to see put in. Send items to me, George, at the numbers listed above under the endangered species blurb and I'll be glad to put them in.