A Recap of SICIM's 2019 Annual Meeting

Thank you to all who joined us for this year’s SICIM Annual Meeting in Danville. Thanks also to attendees that gave donations to SICIM during the event as well as to our event lunch sponsor The Nature Conservancy. We are pleased to announce our Incoming SICIM officers Will Drews as the Chair and Troy Hinkle as Vice Chair, and we are ever thankful to our Outgoing Chair Ray Chattin. This year’s meeting was a celebration of the efforts and achievements for the Indiana Invasives Initiative and our critical CISMA partners at the county and regional level. During the meeting, SICIM awarded the Partner of the Year Award to The Sam Shine Foundation, and Ray Chattin presented Dawn Slack with the Chairman’s Award. Dawn shared inspiring updates for the Indiana Invasives Initiative, the Indiana Invasive Species Council, and the Invasive Plant Advisory Committee. In addition, each of the five Regional Specialists had the chance to introduce themselves and share news of accomplishments within their service regions. Will Drews introduced the Knox County Invasive Plant Ordinance, the first legislation of its kind at the county level in Indiana. Ellen Jacquart shared an insightful look into the Monroe County - Identify and Reduce Invasive Species (MC-IRIS) successful program that is working at the neighborhood level to address invasives. Landowners and CISMA partners took the opportunity to share stories of success with meeting attendees. Vicky Meretsky concluded the talks with a thoughtful dialog about engaging volunteers in invasive plant control during her experiences with Garlic Mustard management and monitoring. In closing, SICM awarded the following recipients with the Weed Warriors Recognition: Patti Fenio-Campbell, Ron Langleyand, Vicky Meretsky, and Richard & Margy Smith. Without a doubt, success against invasive species is linked to the efforts of committed individuals like these.