January 19, 2008
Herbicide Training and Testing Workshop

Interested in becoming certified and licensed to use herbicides on public lands? If so, The Nature Conservancy will be hosting the next herbicide training and testing workshop for volunteers on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at The Brookfield Zoo from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. All volunteers are invited to attend this annual one-day weekend clinic that includes General Standards training (for Operators license) in the morning and (Operator’s and Applicator’s license) testing in the afternoon.

• To be certified as an Operator (a person who uses herbicides and who is “sponsored” by a licensed Applicator), volunteers must pass the General Standards test.

• To be certified as an Applicator (the person in an organization who has responsibility for all Operators licensed under him/her with regard to the use of herbicides), volunteers must pass both the General Standards test and one or more Category exam. Those category exams most appropriate to VSN work are listed here; choose the one you think is the most applicable to the herbicide application you will be doing:

Right-of-way pest control: chemical weed control on noncrop sites such as parking lots, along roads, in access rights-of-way, and in fence lines. [This is the license that most volunteers acquire.] Aquatic pest control: herbicide use for weed control in standing or running water.

Please bring a photo ID and calculator for the testing session. The clinic is scheduled for Saturday, January 19, 2008, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Sign-in registration starts at 8:00am, the training will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (lunch on your own); the testing will run from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. For those interested in identifying and reporting new potential invasive species in northeastern Illinois, a training to participate in the New Invaders Watch Program will be offered during lunch.

The workshop is located at the Brookfield Zoo in the Discovery Center. Please register with Karen Tharp, VSN Coordinator, by phone at 866-VSN-LINE (876-5463) or email at ktharp@tnc.org by Monday, January 7, 2008. When registering, please relay the following information: your name and address, phone number, your landowner/sponsoring agency and/or volunteer site, your volunteer title (i.e. Steward, Co-Steward, volunteer, etc.), what test(s) you are taking (if just operator, who is your sponsoring applicator), and if you are planning on attending the morning training session or just the test in the afternoon.

NOTE: the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) will only offer weekend training and testing if we have at least 50 attendants at this workshop! So please avail yourself of this excellent opportunity and spread the word to other volunteers! Please note that this workshop is offered for volunteers of the VSN; this year it may be possible to open the workshop to agency staff, although volunteers will have first priority.

We recommend that you purchase and review the training materials BEFORE the workshop. Study materials are available by phone, fax, or mail order. Call 1-800-644-2123 for phone orders. Fax your order to 217-244-3469. To order by mail, write to the University of Illinois, PAT Program, 1201 S. Dorner Dr., Urbana, IL. 61801. Specify when ordering which study materials you would like (i.e., for the General Standards exam and/or for one of the Category tests). Allow 1-2 weeks for delivery.