Category: funding

Thank Your Senators!!!

 

Congress is now considering funding for various agencies and programs for Fiscal Year 2018 – which begins on October 1, 2017. Both the House and Senate Appropriations committees have adopted bills to fund APHIS (in the agriculture appropriations bill) and USFS (in the interior appropriations bill). Once these are passed – I expect with little change – by the appropriate chambers, the two very different bills will be reconciled by a Conference Committee made up of members of both the House and Senate and then passed in final form.

Please thank the Senators on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee for their strong support for APHIS’ programs targeting tree pests. Ask them to maintain this support during the Conference – where the House members will be pushing for cuts.

To read the bills and accompanying reports, go here for the House appropriations bill for USDA, (including APHIS); here for the House Interior bill (including the USFS).  Go here for the Senate appropriation bill for USDA.  (Links to the bills and reports are at the end of each press release.) The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet acted on the Interior bill.

 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Appropriators are working under severe pressure given the large spending reductions proposed by the President in the Administration’s budget sent to the Congress earlier in the Spring.

The House appropriated $906 million for APHIS. This is $40 million less than in FY17 but $96.4 million more for APHIS than the Administration requested. The House agriculture appropriations bill made significant cuts in the Tree and Wood Pests program in order to stay within its overall total while maintaining or expanding other programs. The result would devastate the Tree and Wood Pests program. The House bill cuts funding for this program by 30% from the level provided in recent years – from $54 million to $38 million.

The Senate bill, in contrast, increases funding for the Tree and Wood Pests program by $2 million – from $54 million to $56 million. The Senate was able to do this because its bill provided significantly more money for APHIS than did the House: the Senate bill appropriated $953.2 million for APHIS, $7 million above the FY17 funding level; $143.2 million above the Administration’s budget request; and $47 million above the House funding level.

I have blogged often about the necessity of maintaining the Tree and Wood Pest program. In recent years, APHIS’ Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) eradication program has cost $35 – $40 million per year. The program has succeeded in shrinking the New York infestation by 85% and the Massachusetts infestation by 34%. The Ohio infestation has also been reduced – although by considerably less. In its FY2016 annual report, APHIS said the infestation area had been cut by 15%. However, earlier in July APHIS announced that the Ohio infestation is larger than previously known. The quarantine zone was expanded from 61 to 62 square miles. Now is not the time to abandon the 21-year old ALB eradication effort. For a reminder of the threat this insect poses to our hardwood trees, see the write-up here.

The report from the Senate Committee link says that it is “essential” to complete eradication of the ALB.

APHIS and the states have already agreed to cut back the agency’s efforts to regulate movement of ash wood in order to slow the spread of the emerald ash borer (EAB). I am unhappy about this retreat. Still, APHIS planned to continue to survey for EAB in unregulated areas, to educate appropriate publics, to coordinate with affected states, and to produce and disperse biocontrol agents. The Senate funding level – unlike the House funding level – would allow APHIS to maintain these vitally important activities aimed at protecting America’s urban and wildland forests from EAB (For a reminder of that threat, see the write-up here).

Finally, states and stakeholders will expect APHIS to continue its program to slow the spread of the gypsy moth – a program which has received from the Tree and Wood Pest program $5 – $6 million per year in recent years. APHIS must also be prepared to eradicate any newly detected outbreaks, especially of the Asian gypsy moth on the West coast.

I have repeatedly argued that APHIS should expand its program so as to address the many additional tree-killing pests introduced in recent years, including

  • Redbay ambrosia beetle / laurel wilt disease
  • Sirex woodwasp
  • Goldspotted oak borer
  • Walnut twig beetle and thousand cankers disease
  • Soapberry borer
  • Polyphagous & Kuroshio shot hole borers
  • Velvet longhorned beetle
  • Spotted lanternfly

Therefore, I rejoice to see that the Senate report link says: “The Secretary is directed to report to the Committee regarding the steps being taken to eradicate the Asian long-horned beetle and spotted lanternfly and to minimize the spread of other pests such as the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers (emphasis added).

The Senate report also calls on APHIS to continue efforts to control the coconut rhinoceros beetle in Hawai`i and Ceratocystis disease  That latter is presumably the pathogen causing rapid `ohi`a death in Hawai`i.

The other APHIS program which has supported programs targetting tree-killing pests is the Specialty Crops program. The House bill increased funding for the Specialty Crops program from $156 million to $160 million for FY18. However, $152.3 million of this total – 95% — is allocated to specified agricultural pests, including fruit flies, diseases of citrus trees, glassy winged sharpshooter and European grape vine moth, pale cyst nematode, and light brown apple moth. This means that little is left for addressing sudden oak death or tree-killing pests next year.

Strangely, APHIS said, in its FY16 Annual Report, that the European grape vine moth had been eradicated. So why does the FY18 House appropriations bill allocate $5 million for this pest? It might be for continued surveillance to verify that eradication has been successful.

The Senate bill provides even more – $166 million – for the Specialty Crops program.  The Senate Committee report instructs APHIS to spend “no less than the fiscal year 2017 level of funding” to manage potential movement of sudden oak death in the nursery trade – without specifying the amount.

The House committee did expand overall funding for plant pests to a total of $294 million. The House report says that this total includes an increase of $12.5 million for a Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program. This funding explicitly can be spent on tree and wood pest surveillance as well as the clean plant network and citrus health. This increase is welcome, but it does not make up for the 30% cut in specific funding for the tree and wood pest program. The increased surveillance is of doubtful value if it does not result in eradication or containment efforts!

Again, the Senate bill is more generous; it provides $320,308,000 for plant health.

The decisions made by the House Appropriations Committee clearly show the importance of lobbying by traditional agricultural interests in defending funding for programs of interest to them. Several programs targetting diseases of livestock and poultry were maintained at the FY17 funding level. As noted above, the “specialty crop pests” account was increased.

 

Those of us who care about protecting our trees must become more visible advocates for these programs.

 

As in the past, both the House and Senate reports support APHIS’ access to emergency funding to be obtained as transfers from the Commodity Credit Corporation for the “arrest” and eradication of animal and plant pests and diseases that threaten American agriculture. The House language appears to be less restrictive.

Unfortunately, it has been years since APHIS sought – much less received – funding through the emergency provision to address tree-killing pests. This is why CISP and others are proposing to amend the Farm Bill to broaden APHIS’ authority to access these funds when appropriated funds are insufficient to counter tree-killing pests. (See my blog from early July for information about these proposed amendments and how you can support them.)

The House also follows the Administration in calling for greater cost-sharing with States and other cooperators. The Houe report states: “The Committee directs APHIS to maximize the use of cost-sharing agreements or matching requirements with states, territories, producers, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and any other recipient of services in order to reduce the cost burden on the agency.”

The President’s budget request called for even more severe cuts and justified these cuts by saying that the programs could be maintained if the states, localities, and industries benefitting from eradication or containment of the ALB and EAB helped pay for the containment program. The budget called for beneficiaries to pay 50% of program costs. However, states, localities, and industries are very unlikely to make up such severe cuts in funding. Already, local governments across the country are spending more than $3 billion each year to remove trees on city property killed by non-native pests. Homeowners are spending $1 billion to remove and replace trees on their properties and are absorbing an additional $1.5 billion in reduced property values and reducing the quality of their neighborhoods (Aukema et al. 2011; full reference at end of blog.)

Remember: thank your senators for their generosity to APHIS’ tree pest programs – especially if they are members of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations subcommittee (members listed below).

John Hoeven, North Dakota

Thad Cochran, Mississippi

Mitch McConnell, Kentucky

Susan Collins, Maine

Roy Blunt, Missouri

Jerry Moran, Kansas,

Marco Rubio, Florida

Jeff Merkley, Oregon

Diane Feinstein, California

Jon Tester, Montana

Tom Udall, New Mexico

Patrick Leahy, Vermont

Tammy Baldwin, Illinois

 

 

 

US Forest Service

The House Interior Committee provided $92,084,000 for Forest Health Management, $2,416,000 below the FY17 funding level but $1,694,000 above the budget request. The Report does not specify the amounts for federal v. non-federal lands, but the Administration’s request specified $54 million for federal lands and $36 million for cooperative programs managing forests on non-federal lands. (As recently as FY2014, the forest health program received more than $100 million per year.)

The House Interior Committee recommends $278,368,000 for Forest and Rangeland Research, $10,146,000 below the FY 2017 funding level and $19,368,000 above the budget request. $75 million  of this total is allocated to the Forest Inventory and Analysis program. The Report says that the Committee does not accept the proposed reduction for invasive species research. This is gratifying. However, I have been unable to find the proposed reduction, and there has never been a “line” specifically for invasive species research. Therefore, I am unclear about what level of funding has been retained. (In past years, the total allocated to research on non-native tree-killing pests averaged about $5 million.)

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet acted on the Interior Appropriations bill so I cannot tell you how much money that body will provide for these programs.

 

SOURCE

 

Aukema, J.E., B. Leung, K. Kovacs, C. Chivers, K. O. Britton, J. Englin, S.J. Frankel, R. G. Haight, T. P. Holmes, A. Liebhold, D.G. McCullough, B. Von Holle.. 2011. Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States PLoS One September 2011 (Volume 6 Issue 9)

 

 

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

Posted by Faith Campbell

 

How we can strengthen programs to protect trees from invasive pests

USDA; photo by F.T. Campbell

Every five years, Congress adopts a new Farm Bill. The House and Senate Agriculture committees are  holding hearings and considering proposals for the Farm Bill due to be adopted in 2019. Now is the time for people concerned about the continuing introductions of forest pests and weakness of our government’s response to pests that have become established to ask their Representative and Senators to adopt legislative language to strengthen relevant USDA programs. I suggest specific proposals below – which I hope you will urge your representatives to support.

The Farm Bill supports our Nation’s largest soil and water conservation programs. The Farm Bill can also be used to create new programs that address other issues – such as pest prevention and response.

The Farm Bill already has been used to strengthen APHIS’ phytosanitary programs. For example, Section 10007 of the 2014 Farm Bill provides more than $50 million annually for the Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program. These funds have supported numerous vitally important research and management programs targetting polyphagous shot hole borer, spotted lanternfly, velvet longhorned borer, thousand cankers disease, emerald ash borer, as well as more general goals such as improving traps for detecting wood-borers and outreach about emerald ash borer to Native American tribes. With APHIS’ annual appropriations falling far short of the resources needed to respond to invasions by numerous plant pests, Section 10007 has provided essential supplements to the agency’s programs.

The new Farm Bill to be adopted by the Congress offers opportunities to strengthen other components of USDA programs with the goal of protecting the tree species comprising our wildland, rural, and urban forests.

The Center for Invasive Species Prevention and Vermont Woodland Owners Association have developed several proposals that we hope will be incorporated into the 2019 Farm Bill. These proposals have been endorsed by the Reduce Risk from Invasive Species Coalition.  The amendments have also been endorsed by the Weed Science Society of America. CISP submitted testimony summarizing these proposals to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry in early July, when the Committee held a hearing on the Farm Bill’s conservation and forestry programs. (For a copy of our testimony, contact us using the “contact us” button.)

You can help by contacting your Representative and Senators and asking them to support these proposed amendments to the 2019 Farm Bill.

These proposed amendments seek to address the following needs.

  • Do you wish to strengthen APHIS’ commitment to pest prevention in the face of a competing mandate to facilitate trade?

Then you might want to support a proposed amendment to Section 3 of the Plant Protection Act. The new language would read as follows:

“(3) It is the responsibility of the Secretary to facilitate exports, imports and interstate commerce in agricultural products and other commodities that pose a risk of harboring plant pests or noxious weeds in ways that will reduce prevent, to the greatest extent practicable feasible, as determined by the Secretary, the risk of dissemination of plant pests and noxious weeds.”

  • Do you wish to increase funding for APHIS’ programs responding to recently-detected plant pests?

Then you might want to support a proposed amendment that would expand APHIS’ access to emergency funds by enacting a broad definition of “emergency”. Under the new definition, “emergency” would mean “any outbreak of a plant pest or noxious weed which directly or indirectly threatens any segment of the agricultural production of the United States and for which the then available appropriated funds are determined by the Secretary to be insufficient to timely achieve the arrest, control, eradication, or prevention of the spread of such plant pest or noxious weed.”

This amendment would help APHIS evade the downward push of its declining annual appropriation and enable the agency to tackle more of the tree-killing pest that have entered the U.S.

Customs inspecting wood packaging

  • Do you wish to promote stronger measures aimed at minimizing the presence of pests in wood packaging material? (I have blogged repeatedly about the continuing pest risk associated with the wood packaging pathway.)

Then you might want to support a proposed amendment that would establish a non-governmental Center for Agriculture-Trade Partnership Against Invasive Species. That Center would promote industry best practices, encourage information-sharing, and create an industry certification program under which importers would voluntarily implement pest-prevention actions that are more stringent than current regulations (ISPM#15) Link require.

American Chestnut Foundation chestnut in experimental planting in Fairfax County, Virginia; photo F.T. Campbell

  • Do you wish to strengthen efforts to develop programs that would provide long-term funding to support 1) research and development of long-term pest-control strategies such as biological control and breeding of trees resistant to insects or pathogens and 2) testing, development, and implementation of strategies to restore to the forest native tree species that have been severely depleted by non-native pests?

Then you might want to support a pair of proposed amendments that would:

  1. Establish a fund, to be managed by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, to provide grants under which eligible institutions would carry out research intended to test and develop strategies aimed at restoring such tree species. Such strategies might include finding, testing, and deploying biological control agents or breeding of trees resistant to pests.
  2. Amend the McIntyre-Stennis Act to establish a fund to provide grants to support programs to eligible institutions to conduct experimental plantings aimed at restoring such tree species to the forest.

You can obtain copies of the proposed amendments, in legislative language, by contacting us using the “contact us” button.

Your efforts will be valuable in any case … but if your Representative or Senator is on the agriculture committee, contacting that Member will be most important!

Members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry:

Republicans (majority):

  • Pat Roberts, KS, Chairman
  • Thad Cochran, MS
  • Mitch McConnell, KY
  • John Boozman, AR
  • John Hoeven, ND
  • Joni Ernst, IA.
  • Chuck Grassley, IA
  • John Thune, SD.
  • Steve Daines, MT
  • David Perdue, GA
  • Luther Strange, AL

Democrats (minority):

Members of the House Committee on Agriculture

Republicans (majority):

Democrats (minority):

 

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

Posted by Faith Campbell

Lobby House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees in support of increasing funding for two crucial APHIS programs

 

On May 19 I posted a blog asking you to lobby Congress in support of maintaining current funding levels for two programs aimed to eradicating or containing tree-killing pests.  These are the “tree and wood pest” and “specialty crop” programs operated by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

At the time, I had not seen the President’s budget proposal. Now I have seen the President’s budget – and, as anticipated, it calls for steep cuts in the “tree and wood pest” program. The President calls for cutting this program by 44% — from $54 million to $30 million. Specifically, the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) eradication program would be cut by approximately 50% — $20.770. The emerald ash borer (EAB) containment program would also be cut by half — $3.127 million.

The President’s budget justifies these severe cuts by saying that states, localities, and industries benefit from eradication or containment of the ALB and EAB, so they should help pay for the containment program.  The Office of Management and Budget states that other beneficiaries should pay 50% of program costs.

For whatever reason, the budget does not propose to cut APHIS’ efforts to prevent spread of the European gypsy moth.

In reality, states, localities, and industries are very unlikely to make up the difference in funding. We should remind the Congress that already, local governments across the country are spending more than $3 billion each year to remove trees on city property killed by non-native pests. Homeowners are spending $1 billion to remove and replace trees on their properties and are absorbing an additional $1.5 billion in reduced property values and reducing the quality of their neighborhoods. (See Aukema et al. article listed below.)

ash tree killed by EAB; Ann Arbor, MI; courtesy of Major Hefje

 

Cuts of the size proposed by the President’s budget will undermine the programs completely. Such a result is particularly alarming given the record of success in eradicating ALB populations – when resources are sufficient; and the urgent need to complete eradication programs in Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. As I said in May, the ALB program has succeeded in eradicating 85% of the infestation in New York. (APHIS has just announced that a section of the borough of Queens is free of ALB.) However, the infestation in Massachusetts has been only 34% eradicated; that in Ohio has been only 15% eradicated. Crippling the program now will expose urban and rural forests throughout the Northeast to severe damage by this insect, which attacks a wide range of species.

The importance of continuing the EAB containment program has been re-emphasized by scientists’ recent determination that EAB can attack commercial olive trees as well as all species of ash.

The budget also does not recognize the need for APHIS to expand its program to address other tree-killing pests, including the spotted lanternfly, and polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers.The shot hole borers attack hundreds of tree species, including California sycamore, cottonwoods, and several oaks. Many known hosts are either found across the Southeast, or belong to genera that are found across the Southeast – so the threat is national. The spotted lanternfly – now established in Pennsylvania — threatens agriculture – especially grapes, apples, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds; as well as oak, walnut, poplar, and pine trees.

More than 30 tree-attacking pests have been introduced in recent years. Additional species from these introductions might also require APHIS-led programs; one example is the velvet longhorned beetle.

velvet longhorned beetle; bugwood.org

The budget calls also for a 6% cut on the “specialty crops” program – from $158 million to $148 million.  It is not clear how such a reduction would affect APHIS’ program to prevent spread of the sudden oak death (SOD) via movement of nursery stock [link to earlier blogs & Gallery]. The SOD program has been funded at approximately $5 million in recent years.

Finally, additional challenges lie ahead because it is likely that new tree-killing pests will be introduced with rising import volumes. Each year, border inspectors detect more than 800 import shipments with pests infesting the crates and pallets. These represent a small proportion of the actual risk; one analysis estimated that 13,000 shipments with infested packaging enter the country each year. APHIS must have sufficient resources to respond when the inevitable newly introduced pests are detected.

CBP agriculture specialists in Laredo, Texas, examine a wooden pallet for signs of insect infestation. [Note presence of an apparent ISPM stamp on the side of the pallet] Photo by Rick Pauza
SOURCE

Aukema, J.E., B. Leung, K. Kovacs, C. Chivers, K. O. Britton, J. Englin, S.J. Frankel, R. G. Haight, T. P. Holmes, A. Liebhold, D.G. McCullough, B. Von Holle.. 2011. Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States PLoS One September 2011 (Volume 6 Issue 9)

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

Support Adequate Funding for APHIS Tree-Pest Programs

 

Congress is now considering funding for various agencies and programs for Fiscal Year 2018 – which begins on October 1. Please contact your Representative and Senators and urge them to support adequate funding for key programs managed by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). These are essential for keeping the nation’s forests healthy by preventing introduction and spread of invasive pests. While I would much prefer to increase funding for these programs, that is impossible at this time. So I suggest that you support maintaining last year’s  funding levels for two  budget“lines” under the USDA APHIS Plant Health program: $54 million for the “Tree and Wood Pests” line and $156 million for the “Specialty Crops” line.

 

I have blogged often about the impacts of non-native insects and pathogens inthe United States — which are enormous. (See Lovett et al. 2016 for a summery.)  As new pests are introduced and established pests spread, these costs will only continue to rise.

 

Moreover, since 1975, U.S. imports (excluding petroleum products) have risen almost six times faster than APHIS and Customs and Border Protection’s staff capability to inspect  them. As a result of this and other prevention failures, such as insufficiently protective regulations, more than a dozen new plant pests are detected in the United States each year. Since the beginning of the 21st Century, at least 20 wood–boring beetles have been detected here, including:

  • Redbay ambrosia beetle / laurel wilt disease;
  • Sirex woodwasp;
  • Goldspotted oak borer;
  • Walnut twig beetle and thousand cankers disease ;
  • Soapberry borer;
  • Polyphagous & Kuroshio shot hole borers; and
  • Velvet longhorned beetle.

 

Another dozen tree-killing pests that are not wood borers have also been detected, including Spotted lanternfly.

 

 

APHIS Programs Target only a Few of the Damaging Pests in the Country

 

At least in part because of inadequate funding, APHIS currently funds comprehensive programs targeting only four of the  dozens of already- or potentially-serious tree-killing pests already in the country: gyspy moth (both European and Asian); Asian longhorned beetle; emerald ash borer; and sudden oak death.

 

APHIS also provides limited assistance to programs on  other pests through grants  under the Section 10007 of the 2014 Farm Bill. One example is research to determine host ranges and possible control method for the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers. However, these funds have not been sufficient to support comprehensive suppression or eradication programs despite the threat posed by these two shot-hole borers. They threaten to kill 26 million trees – more than a third of the trees growing in urban areas in California’s Inland Empire, Coastal Southern California, and Southwest Desert. Absent an active APHIS program to develop effective control measures, the municipalities and homeowners of these regions will be forced to absorb an estimated $36.2 billion (the costs of removing and replacing dead and dying trees) if they want to maintain valuable urban forest canopy.

willow killed by Kuroshio shot hole borer

in Tijuana River estuary, California

photo by John Boland

The shot-hole borers might also threaten trees across the American South. Box elder, sweetgum, and tree of heaven are reproductive hosts for the polyphagous shot hole borer; all are widespread in southern forests. California species of sycamore, oak, and willow are also reproductive hosts; other trees in these genera, which grow widely across the U.S., might also be vulnerable to the shot hole borers.

 

APHIS also has devoted Section 10007 funds to the spotted lanternfly, which is found in southeastern Pennsylvania. This insect feeds on several crop trees as well as oak, walnut, poplar, and pine trees. Pennsylvania authorities cannot complete eradication of this pest without additional federal funding – which so far is uncertain.

 

APHIS has helped with trace-forwards to find furniture infested by the velvet longhorned beetle, but has not adopted a program targetting this species in the several states where it appears to be established.

 

As these examples illustrate, even maintaining current funding levels means that several damaging non-native insects and pathogens continue to spread without a meaningful federal response. Any cuts would only exacerbate the failure of APHIS’ program to protect our forests from non-native insects and pathogens.

 

Remember, too, that additional introductions are likely in coming years. According to one study, perhaps 35 shipping containers entering the country each day carry damaging pests.

Unloading largest container ship to visit a U.S. East Coast port – “Cosco Development”; Savannah, GA  May 12, 2017; F.T. Campbell

At the same time, we cannot afford for APHIS to reduce its ongoing programs in order to address the other invaders. The  Asian longhorned beetle eradication program, at a cost of $35 – $40 million per year, has succeeded in eradicating 85% of the infestation in New York. (APHIS has just announced that a section of the borough of Queens is free of ALB.) However, the infestations in Massachusetts and Ohio still threaten to spread further into the forests. The $5 – $6 million per year allocated to the gypsy moth appears to be adequate, but APHIS must be prepared to eradicate any newly detected outbreaks, especially of the Asian gypsy moth on the west coast.

 

APHIS’ emerald ash borer program has received $7 million per year. To reduce future costs, the agency has cut back its regulatory program, so that it enforces regulations only at the infestation’s leading edge. In affected states, APHIS will continue surveys in unregulated areas, outreach, and coordination. These changes, taken together, undermine efforts to prevent the beetle’s spread to the vulnerable rural and urban forests in North Dakota, Oregon, and other states. APHIS is emphasizing production and dispersal of biocontrol agentsrather than regulatory measures

The sudden oak death program – targeting the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum — is under the “Specialty Crops” funding line. This must also be maintained at current levels because SOD threatens such important eastern forest tree species as northern red, chestnut, white, and pin oaks; sugar maple; and black walnut. APHIS regulates movement of nursery stock which could transport this pathogen from the West coast to vulnerable areas in the East. It was learned recently that APHIS needs to add the genus Magnolia to the “filthy five” group which is subject to the most careful regulation.

Whom to Contact

Please ask your Senators and Representative to support maintaining – or even increasing – funding for these APHIS programs. Your contact is especially important if you are represented by one of the members of the House or Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittees on

Agriculture:

House:

* Robert Aderholt, Alabama, Chairman

* Kevin Yoder, Kansas

* Tom Rooney, Florida

* David Valadao, California

* Andy Harris, Maryland

* David Young, Iowa

* Steven Palazzo, Mississippi

* Sanford Bishop, Georgia, Ranking Member

* Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut

* Chellie Pingree, Maine

* Mark Pocan, Wisconsin

 

Senate:

John Hoeven, North Dakota

Thad Cochran, Mississippi

Mitch McConnell, Kentucky

Susan Collins, Maine

Roy Blunt, Missouri

Jerry Moran, Kansas,

Marco Rubio, Florida

Jeff Merkley, Oregon

Diane Feinstein, California

Jon Tester, Montana

Tom Udall, New Mexico

Patrick Leahy, Vermont

Tammy Baldwin, Illinois

 

Sources

 

Lovett, G.M., M. Weiss, A.M. Liebhold, T.P. Holmes, B. Leung, K.F. Lambert, D.A. Orwig , F.T. Campbell, J. Rosenthal, D.G. McCullough, R. Wildova, M.P. Ayres, C.D. Canham, D.R. Foster, S.L. LaDeau, and T. Weldy. 2016. Nonnative forest insects and pathogens in the United States: Impacts and policy options. Ecological Applications, 0(0), 2016, pp. 1–19. DOI 10.1890/15-1176.1  available at

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/15-1176/full

 

Additional recent sources of information on tree-killing pests not being addressed by APHIS:

Article about the damage caused by the goldspotted oak borer:

http://westernipm.org/index.cfm/ipm-in-the-west/natural-areas/gold-spotted-oak-borer-threatens-oak-woodlands-and-ecosystems-across-southern-california/?keywords=GSOB

Videos:

GSOB at Irvine Regional Park in OC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCRVmP5KmW0&feature=youtu.be

Goldspotted Oak Borer video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In2e5atd3ZY&feature=youtu.be#t=13.3989831

The Los Angeles Times has published two recent articles about the shot hole borers at

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-dying-urban-trees-20170403-story.html

and

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-trees-change-20170427-story.html

 

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

 

Posted by Faith Campbell

 

Using politics to protect our trees from non-native insects & pathogens

 

As we know, North America’s trees are under severe threat from a growing number of non-native insects, pathogens, nematodes, etc. (For lengthy descriptions of the threat, substantiated by source citations, read the Fading Forests reports here; or check out a recent policy brief here; or short descriptions; or from my earlier blogs.)

I hope we all agree on broad goals in our efforts to counter this threat. I suggest those goals – broadly speaking, can be summarized as

  • Preventing additional introductions to the greatest extent possible
  • Detecting new introductions quickly, initiating rapid & effective eradication or containment actions
  • Minimizing the risk of pest spreading from one state to others
  • Implementing programs aimed at restoring pest-depleted tree species to forests

 

America decides what issues government agencies will address through politics – the squeaky wheel gets the grease. We care about the pest threat to trees … so it is up to us to persuade political players to support programs structured to achieve these goals.

There are several approaches to engaging politicians. These should be pursued simultaneously and in a coordinated way. And we must persevere — asking politely but persistently for specific actions. Success is not achieved by one-time actions, but by continuing effort.

 

What Can We Do?

 

We can ask our state’s Governor to

Immediate actions

  • Communicate to the USDA Secretary the need to amend policies & regulations
  • Communicate with governors of other states with severe tree pest issues to ask them to support approaches to USDA & Congress
  • Put forest pest issue on the agenda of National Governors’ Association
  • Communicate with our state’s Congressional delegation and ask them to pressure USDA Secretary to amend policies and regulations
  • Communicate to the media both his/her concern about tree pest threats and proposed solutions.

Longer-term actions

  • Ask our state’s Congressional delegation to support proposed amendments to the 2019 Farm bill (see below)

 

We can ask our state’s agricultural and forestry agency heads to

  • Ask their national associations to support proposals to USDA Secretary & Congress. These associations include
    • National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA)
    • National Association of State Foresters (NASF) or its 3 regional groups – Northeastern Area Association of State Foresters, Southern Group of State Foresters, Council of Western State Foresters
  • Communicate to the media both the agency’s concern about tree pest threats and proposed solutions.

learning about forest pests (laurel wilt)

We can also act directly.

Ask mayors and officials of affected towns and counties to

  • Push proposals at regional or National Conference of Mayors or National Association of Counties
  • Instruct local forestry staff to seek support of local citizen tree care associations, regional and national associations of arborists, Arbor Day & “Tree City” organizations, Sustainable Urban Forest Coalition, etc.
  • Reach out to local media with a message that includes descriptions of policy actions intended to protect trees — not just damage caused by the pests
  • Ask stakeholder organizations of which we are a member or with whom we have contacts to speak up on the issue and support proposed solutions:
    • USDA Forest Service
    • State forestry divisions
    • Professional/scientific associations
    • Wood products industry
    • State departments of agriculture
    • State phytosanitary officials
    • Forest landowners
    • Environmental NGOs
    • Urban tree advocacy & support organizations

 

  • Encourage like-minded colleagues in other states to press the agenda with their state & federal political players, agencies, & media.
  • Communicate to the media both your concern about tree pest threats and proposed solutions.

 

Our goal is to create a “parade” – the impression of a groundswell demanding action that politicians will want to join. (Usually, they like to appear to “lead” the parade!). Note what was said by a real “Washington insider”, Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute. “If you want to influence leaders, sometimes you have to start a parade.” Quoted in the Washington Post 2/10/17

 

What Should We Tell All These People, Specifically?

What should be the content of our message to these potential allies? I suggest a coordinated package.  However, you might feel more comfortable selecting a few to address each time you communicate with a policymaker. Just choose those you think are most urgent, those you feel most passionate about, or those on which you have the most expertise. There is something for everyone below!

  • Make specific proposals, not vague ideas (see below for suggestions)
  • Always include information about how the pests arrive/spread (pathways such as imports of crates & pallets, or woody plants for ornamental horticulture) and what we can do to clean up those pathways (Don’t just describe the “freak of the week”)
  • Always point out that the burden of pest-related losses and costs falls on ordinary people and their communities. (Aukema et al. 2011 provides backup for this at the national level; try to get information about your state or city.)
  • We need to restore a sense of crisis to prompt action – but not leave people feeling helpless! We need also to bolster understanding that we have been and can again be successful in combatting tree pests.

 

Specific actions that will reduce risk that pests pose to our trees:

  • Importers switch from packaging made from solid wood (e.g., boards and 4”x4”s) to packaging made from other materials, e.g., particle boards, plastic, metal …
    This can be done by

— Persuading APHIS to initiate a rulemaking to require importers to make the shift. This can be done – although international trade agreements require preparation of a risk assessment that justifies the action because it addresses an identified risk (see my earlier blogs about wood packaging).

— Creating voluntary certification programs and persuade major importers to join them. One option is to incorporate non-wood packaging into the Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) existing Customs-Trade Partnership Against terrorism (C-TPAT) program.

 

  • Tighten enforcement by penalizing shipments in packaging that does not comply with the current regulations

— Persuade CBP and/or USDA to end current policy under which no financial penalty is imposed until a specific importer has been caught five times in a single year with non-compliant wood packaging. APHIS has plenty of authority to penalize violators.

The Plant Protection Act [U.S.C. §7734 (b) (1)] provides for fines ranging from $50,000 for an individual up to $1 million for multiple, willful violations. These penalties can be imposed by the Secretary of Agriculture after a hearing – but without going through a trial. So far, the Secretary has not used this power to deter violations.

 

  • Restrict imports of woody plants that are more likely to transport pests that threaten our trees

— In 2011, APHIS adopted regulations giving it the power to temporarily prohibit importation of designated high-risk plants until the agency has carried out a risk assessment and implemented stronger phytosanitary measures to address those risks. Plants deserving such additional scrutiny can be declared “not authorized for importation pending pest risk assessment,” or “NAPPRA”. APHIS has proposed two lists of plant species under this authority. The second list was proposed nearly 4 years ago, but it has not been finalized so imports continue. APHIS should revive the NAPPRA process and utilize prompt listing of plants under this authority to minimize the risk that new pests will be introduced.

— APHIS should finalize amendments to the “Q-37” regulation (proposed nearly 4 years ago) that would establish APHIS’ authority to require foreign suppliers to implement integrated programs to minimize pest risk. Once this regulation is finalized, APHIS could begin negotiating agreements with individual countries to adopt systems intended to ensure pest-free status of those plant types, species, and origins currently considered to pose a medium to high risk.

— APHIS & USDA Foreign Agricultural Service should strengthen surveillance in foreign source countries for pests likely to attack North American trees, using such strategies as “sentinel trees” planted in botanical gardens.

 

  • Strengthen early detection/rapid response programs by

— Providing adequate funds to federal & state detection and rapid response programs. The funds must be available for the length of the eradication program – which often requires a decade or more. The current “emergency” funds available as transfers from the Commodity Credit Corporation usually are cut off after only 1 – 2 years.

— Better coordinate APHIS, USFS, state, & tribal surveillance programs.

— Engage tree professionals & citizen scientists more effectively in surveillance programs.

 

  • Enact Amendments to the 2019 Farm Bill to strengthen programs aimed at protecting North American trees from non-native insects and pathogens

— Stakeholders meeting under the auspices of several coalitions are considering what amendments to the Farm Bill could be advocated for the purpose of protecting our trees from non-native pests. Proposals under consideration would address such issues as

>> Strengthening APHIS’ pest-prevention mandate (which currently is conflated with a competing mandate to facilitate trade)

>> Providing increased and more reliable funding for detection, rapid response, and long-term restoration efforts

>> Providing incentives to importers to adopt pest-prevention programs beyond current legal requirements governing wood packaging materials

I will provide additional information about these proposals in coming weeks.

 

SOURCES

Aukema, J.E., B. Leung, K. Kovacs, C. Chivers, K. O. Britton, J. Englin, S.J. Frankel, R. G. Haight, T. P. Holmes, A. Liebhold, D.G. McCullough, B. Von Holle.. 2011. Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States PLoS One September 2011 (Volume 6 Issue 9)

Posted by Faith Campbell

 

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

 

Collapse of funding for ALL aspects of EAB management (except biocontrol)

dead ash, Fairfax VA; FT Campbell

In the 25 years or more since it was introduced to North America, the emerald ash borer (EAB) has spread to portions of 27 states. and more widely across Quebec and Ontario. The U.S. quarantine area now covers 682,000 square miles. This has happened despite USDA APHIS spending more than $310 million (U.S.) and Canadian Food Inspection Service spending $25.7 million (Canadian).

The emerald ash borer has been a difficult insect to manage – it is cryptic, developing detection tools and management strategies required years of research and trial-and-error, it is easily transported to new areas in firewood. The beetle’s spread has been discouraging. However, now is not the time to give up! Large areas in which ash trees play significant roles in natural systems and planted areas are still outside the infested area. The tools and strategies can now be more effective in slowing further spread. Yet APHIS is now cutting funding for virtually all program components except biological control.

See the APHIS funding history below.

USDA APHIS Funding History for Emerald Ash Borer, FY 2003-2015
 ALLOCATION
Fiscal Year appropriation Emergency funds from Commodity Credit Corporation Carryover (funds not spent in previous years) TOTAL
2003 0 $12,442,000 $0 $12,442,000
2004 $1,208,000 $39,879,000 $0 $41,087,000
2005 $4,937,000 $30,140,000 $0 $35,077,000
2006 $10,000,000 $15,000,000 $0 $25,000,000
2007 $6,777,149 $21,185,670 $0 $27,962,819
2008 $22,863,672 $8,884,802 $0 $31,748,474
2009 $34,625,000 $0 $0 $34,625,000
2010 $37,205,000 $0 $0 $37,205,000
2011 37,130,590 $0 $0 $37,130,590
2012 $9,727,000 $0 $15,000,000 $24,727,000
2013 $10,095,570 $0 $0 $10,095,570
2014 $8,999,000 $0 $0 $8,999,000
2015 $7,849,000 $0 $0 $7,849,000
TOTAL $207,166,000 $103,084,000   $310,200,000

 

Obviously, funding for the EAB program has fallen significantly. Nevertheless, funding for EAB continues to absorb a significant proportion of funding available for countering the full range of tree-killing pests. APHIS’ total funding for “tree and wood pests” is $54 million. Funding for this program is expected to decrease in the coming years – at the same time as the number of introduced pests continues to rise.

(Other programs funded under the “tree and wood pest” line item are the Asian longhorned beetle – which receives $35-40 million; and European gypsy moth – which receives $5-6 million. [Paul Chaloux, USDA APHIS, pers. comm. February 2017)

APHIS is actively considering ending the EAB regulatory program – which would allow the agency to reduce its costs significantly. (It is unclear whether APHIS would apply the money thus “saved” to other tree-killing pests. I have blogged frequently about pests that APHIS is not addressing.) APHIS would continue to support the biocontrol program.

Ending the regulatory program would probably speed up EAB’s arrival in those western states with significant ash resources. These include the northern Great Plains; the coastal mountains of Washington, Oregon, and California; and riparian areas of Utah and Arizona. For example, North Dakota has 78 million ash trees, which constitute half of trees in riparian woodlands and 60% of planted shelterbreaks.

A map showing areas of Oregon at risk is contained in my blog linked to above.  The APHIS website contains a continental map showing areas with significant ash tree populations.

APHIS has already cut funding for EAB provided through the Farm Bill Section 100007 program. In Fiscal Year 2016, EAB programs received $285,000 through this program. Half went to academics for study of oviposition hosts or attractants. This funding dropped to $91,000 in FY17. This year, the funding is almost exclusively to academics studying the effect of EAB density and tree condition on parasitism by one of the biocontrol agents.

APHIS has pledged to continue supporting work on biocontrol programs targetting emerald ash borer.

USFS

 

The USDA Forest Service is also reducing its engagement on EAB: Forest Health Protection allocated only $240,000 in 2016; Research allocated a little under $1.2 million. USFS funding history is provided in the table below. It can be argued that the USFS has provided the necessary guidance to state, city, and local officials in preparing for EAB decimation of ash trees under their jurisdiction.

However, it is important that USFS Research funding be maintained to support such long-term restoration strategies as resistance breeding.

 

USFS Funding on Emerald Ash Borer, FY 2009-2016

FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16
EAB $3.9 M $6.4 M $6.4M $4.1 M $2.8M $1.8M $1.7M 1.4M

 

Important projects are already not being funded; I blogged last year about the loss of funding for Dr. Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello and others at Ohio State and Wright State University, who are trying to understand how Manchurian ash trees resist EAB attack.

Impact of EAB Deregulation — Whither Firewood Regulation?

If the federal EAB quarantine is eliminated, what will be the impact on federal and state efforts to discourage movement of firewood so as to protect the Nation from this and other pests?

EAB remains a threat to urban, rural, and wildland forests across the continent (including in Mexico) – and EAB continues to be moved in firewood. Furthermore, many other damaging insects and some pathogens can be transported in firewood.

Most of the state firewood regulations require a tie to specific pests – and EAB has been the principal species invoked. Can states maintain their regulations by anchoring them to other pests? Or based on the general threat? I hope so!

Deregulation of EAB seems likely to be the death knell for the APHIS effort to erect a nation-wide industry certification program for firewood. Certification already appears unlikely to be adopted; as I described in my blog in November), the costs of a certification program are higher than retailers are willing to support.

The educational messages recently placed on the Reservation.gov website are likely to remain. These  alert campers making reservations at most National parks and many National forests to avoid moving firewood to slow the spread of tree-killing pests. These areas deserve continued protection. A full range of pests put them at risk, many of which are not regulated by APHIS, e.g., hemlock woolly adelgid and walnut twig beetle,

 

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

 

Lack of Regulation and Funding Shortfalls Raise Probability of Pests’ Spread

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Photo by John Boland – willows killed by Kuroshio shot hole borer, Tijuana River, California

 

The polyphagous (PSHB) and Kuroshio (KSHB) shot hole borers are causing havoc in riparian and planted landscapes in four counties in southern California and are spreading north. (For current information go here or here .

As I described in a blog last July, the two insects are known to attack hundreds of tree species; at least 40 are reproductive hosts. Trees known to support PSHB include box elder, big leaf maple, California sycamore, willows, cottonwoods, and several California oaks. The insect-fungi combinations threaten more than a third of trees in the urban forests in southern California, with a cost for the trees’ removal and replacement estimated at $36 billion. Costs and hosts are discussed more fully in the July blog linked to above.

 

The High Cost of Management

 Already, UC Irvine has spent close to $2 million to manage trees on campus that have been attacked.

Orange County has both polyphygous and Kuroshio shot hole borers. One agency – Orange County parks – has spent $1.7 million on shot hole borer surveys, tree inventory, public outreach materials, staff training, and some research. The parks agency is trying to engage other county agencies, such as Public Works and Waste & Recycling to get their help. For example, Public Works is putting together a tree ordinance with enforceable provisions.

 

While scientists have not yet published their analysis of the vulnerability of forest areas in other parts of the country, we do know that some reproductive hosts are widespread across the country — box elder, sweet gum, Japanese wisteria, and tree of heaven. Less is known about the hosts for Kuroshio shot hole borer. For a full list of known hosts, visit the two sources linked to in the first paragraph.

 

How Agencies Should Respond to this Threat

The shot hole borers and associated fungi clearly represent serious threats to urban, rural, and wildland forests across California and probably much of the rest of the country. Clearly it is important that we:

  • Increase our understanding of these insects and their associated fungi – including their possible geographic and host ranges;
  • Use this evolving understanding to develop detection tools; and
  • Use this evolving understanding to develop methods to slow their spread or to protect trees.

 

So what is being done? Individuals – academics; staff of local, state, and federal agencies; and concerned conservationists – are working hard. But they get little support from state or federal phytosanitary agencies.

 

The Need for New State and Federal Regulations

I have written earlier about the refusal of California Department of Food and Agriculture to either designate the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers as quarantine pests [] or to regulate movement of firewood – one of the major pathways for spread of the insects.

 

Nor has USDA APHIS designated the insects and their fungi as quarantine pests. The apparent explanation for the agency’s inaction is the considerable taxonomic confusion about the beetles and the possibility that the insects are already established elsewhere in the U.S. In addition, since the two shot hole borers are currently known only from California, APHIS is unlikely to take action unless California does.  However, there is no legal requirement that APHIS defer to the state on this matter.

 

The Results of Funding and Regulatory Shortfalls

 Both CDFA and APHIS are providing some funds to support research and development. Research on  detection, spread, and possible biocontrols — for the insects or fungi — have received a total of $385,000 in FY16 and $419,549 in FY17 from a grant program operated under the USDA Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program (Farm Bill Sec. 10007). Still, the principal investigators and affected county, state, and federal agencies are scrambling to fill funding gaps – projects that will improve our understanding and put forward practical advice.

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and Natural Communities Coalition (NCC) of Orange County are supporting research by Akif Eskalen and Shannon Lynch of UC Riverside on both (a) biocontrol using endophytes naturally occurring in various host tree species and (b) models to predict the disease’ behavior in native vegetation. Dr. Eskalen and Dr. John Kabashima of Orange County Cooperative Extension are seeking funds to support additional work on outreach and extension for advisors, land managers, master gardeners and homeowners.

Santa Barbara County officials – where at least one of the shot hole borer species was recently detected – are struggling to fund an expanded trap program to detect the insects. The CDFA does have traps deployed but UC Santa Barbara is considering launching a trapping program in riparian areas (where many of the host trees play especially important ecological roles). Officials are still not certain which species of insect is present (they think it is KSHB) and whether the beetles are carrying the typical fungal complex or something novel.

In the past, some of the work on the shot hole borers has been funded by associations of avocado growers. However, it is now clear that the beetle attacks only avocado tree branches, so it does not kill the tree. No longer facing a dire threat to their industry, the avocado commission is no longer funding research work on this pest-disease complex.

The experts – Dr. Eskalen for the fungi and his colleague Dr. Richard Stouthamer for the insects – have no funds to process samples sent to their laboratories for the confirmation of the beetles and fungi. They might soon have to charge fees for each sample – thereby discouraging collections that track each species’ spread and find new introductions.

In the absence of CDFA designation of the shot hole borers as regulated pests, neither state nor county agencies have a firm foundation on which to base regulations to curtail movement of firewood, green waste, or other pathways by which these pests can be spread to new areas.

 

Conservation Agencies are Cobbling Together Responses As Best They Can

Southern California staff of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife agency, responding to the damage caused by the Kuroshio shot hole borer in the Tijuana River estuary (described here and here), have formed a coalition to develop strategies for natural resource and urban forestry settings and ensure coordination. Natural resource agencies have access to some funding sources, such as Natural Communities Coalition (NCC) grants and funding for management of invasive species in protected habitats.

Southern California staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking grants from internal agency sources – citing the threat to riparian-dependent wildlife, especially the endangered Least Bell’s vireo.

Santa Monica National Recreation Area and the three National forests in the vicinity – the Angeles, Cleveland, and San Bernardino National forests – have taken actions that should help prevent the shot hole borers’ introduction via firewood.  Santa Monica Recreation Area does not allow wood fires, only charcoal (this action probably is in response to the high fire danger in the area rather than the pests specifically). The National forests’ webpages on camping include a graphic with the statements “Buy It Where You Burn It” and “Be aware that firewood can harbor insects and diseases; transporting it can move these pests to new locations.”  (See my earlier blog about firewood alerts on National forests, parks, etc. here).

 

What You Can Do

 

Many Californians are pushing for action … they need our help! If you live in California, contact your state legislators. If you live elsewhere, your forests are also at risk from California’s failure to act. So, if you know someone who lives there, ask that person to contact his/her legislators. Ask the legislators to (a) demand state designation of PSHB, KSHB, and GSOB as quarantine pests and adoption of state firewood regulations and (b) support funding for these programs.

Capitol

The U.S. Congress has a role in convincing APHIS to play a bigger role. Contact your federal Senators and Member of Congress and urge them to ask USDA APHIS to regulate movement of firewood, green waste, and nursery stock from areas infested by the polyphagous or Kuroshio shot hole borers and goldspotted oak borer.

President Trump will soon propose funding levels for government programs, including APHIS’ “tree and wood pest” program. Please keep informed about these proposals – and contact your Congressional representative to express support for adequate funding. Contact me using the “Contact us” button on our website if you wish to receive informative alerts about the upcoming appropriations process.

 

Posted by Faith Campbell

 

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

The New Year – Where We Are & What Needs to be Done

ash-braddock-rd

dying ash tree, Fairfax County, Virginia; photo by F.T. Campbell

According to Aukema et al. 2010 (see references at the end of this blog), by the first decade of the 21st Century, the number of non-native insects and pathogens damaging our forests had risen to at least 475.  Sixty-two of the insects, and all of the 17 pathogens, were judged to have “high impact”, with both economic and ecological ramifications. More than 181 exotic insects that feed on woody plants are established in Canada (USDA APHIS 2009). Especially hard-hit is the eastern deciduous broadleaf forest — there is an exotic pest threat to nearly every dominant tree species in this ecosystem type.

The situation is actually worse than this article and others based on it depict. Aukema et al. 2010 did not include several highly damaging forest pests that are native to regions of North America (e.g., goldspotted oak borer, thousand cankers disease); nor did they include pests on U.S. islands, such as `ohi`a rust and Erythrina gall wasp in Hawai`i. Aukema et al. 2010 also did not include pests that attack palms or cycads – which are significant components of some ecosystems on the continent as well as on America’s tropical islands. Finally, some invaders have come to our attention since the database on which these authors relied was compiled, e.g., polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers and the rapid ohia death pathogen. (For a list of pests detected since 2003, see page 7 of Fading Forests III, available here; this list was compiled in 2014, so it does not include the most recently detected pests, such as rapid ohia death. For descriptions of most invaders discussed in this blog, go here.)

Of course, more important than numbers are impacts. Lovett et al. 2016 provide a summary of those impacts … but let’s get specific. Note that some of these species occupy wide ranges; it is not only the narrow endemics that are under threat.

  • Several tree species are severely depleted throughout their ranges: American chestnut, Fraser fir, Port-Orford cedar, butternut, Carolina hemlock, redbay and swamp bay, cycads on Guam
  • Other species or genera are already severely reduced in significant portions of their ranges and the causal agents are spreading to the remaining sanctuaries: whitebark pine.
  • In some cases, the causal agent has not yet spread, but threatens to: `ohi`a.
  • Some tree or shrub taxa are under severe attack across much of their ranges: ashes, eastern hemlock, American beech, dogwoods, tanoak, viburnums …

Many of America’s 300 species of oak face a variety of threats:

  • in the East, European gypsy moth, oak wilt, and – in some areas – winter moth;
  • in the South, oak wilt and Diplodia;
  • on the West coast, sudden oak death, goldspotted oak borer, the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, Diplodia, and foamy bark canker.

(For more about threats to oaks, see my blog from last April.)

Other threats are – so far – confined to relatively small areas, but they could break out. These include the multi-host insects Asian longhorned beetle; polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers; and spotted lanternfly. Tree genera containing species at risk to one or more of these insects include maple, elm, willow, birch, sycamore, cottonwood and poplar, sweet gum, oak. Only ALB and the lanternfly currently are the focus of federal and state programs aimed at eradication or containment. The widespread invasive tree, Ailanthus or tree of heaven, could support spread of at least the polyphagous shot hole borer and spotted lanternfly.

Of course, additional pests are likely to be introduced (or detected) in the future. Known threats include the various Asian subspecies of gypsy moth and ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus – previously  called Chalara fraxinea). If history is any guide, we are likely to be surprised by a highly destructive invader that we have either never heard of or dismissed based on its behavior elsewhere. See my earlier blogs for discussions of what should be done to reduce the introduction risk associated with wood packaging and imports of living plants.

 

What Should We Do?

2017 brings a new Administration and a new Congress. At a minimum, we need to educate all these decision-makers about both the high costs imposed by tree-killing insects and pathogens and effective strategies to minimize those costs. How will our concerns be received? We don’t know yet.

We might have opportunities arising from the skeptical attitude toward trade voiced during the campaign. Will newly elected or appointed agency and Congressional staffers be open to re-considering the plant health threats associated with international trade? On the other hand, will mainstream agriculture’s traditional strong support for exports continue to overwhelm calls to strengthen phytosanitary measures? Even if our message about risks associated with trade gains a hearing, will officials be willing to consider more rigorous regulations? Or higher funding levels for agencies responsible for plant pest prevention and response?

I hope you will join the Center for Invasive Species Prevention and others in coordinated efforts to take these messages to the next Secretary of Agriculture (who has not yet been named!) and key members of the Senate and House of Representatives. Opportunities in the Congress include Senate confirmation of the new Secretary and the three Under Secretaries that oversee APHIS, USFS, and ARS; annual appropriations bills; and early consideration of possible amendments to the Farm Bill (which is due for renewal in 2019).

See my post from a week ago for more suggestions for how Congress could improve U.S. invasive species management programs.

Expect to hear from me often in the coming year!

 

SOURCES

Aukema, J.E., D.G. McCullough, B. Von Holle, A.M. Liebhold, K. Britton, & S.J. Frankel. 2010. Historical Accumulation of Nonindigenous Forest Pests in the Continental United States. Bioscience. December 2010 / Vol. 60 No. 11

Lovett, G.M., M. Weiss, A.M. Liebhold, T.P. Holmes, B. Leung, K.F. Lambert, D.A. Orwig , F.T. Campbell, J. Rosenthal, D.G. McCullough, R. Wildova, M.P. Ayres, C.D. Canham, D.R. Foster, S.L. LaDeau, and T. Weldy. 2016. Nonnative forest insects and pathogens in the United States: Impacts and policy options. Ecological Applications, 0(0), 2016, pp. 1–19. DOI 10.1890/15-1176.1

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.  2009.  Risk analysis for the movement of SWPM (WPM) from Canada into the US.

 

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

 

What the new President & Congress Can Do re: Invasive Species

 White House

 

A new President and Congress take office in January.  And outgoing President Obama recently amended the Executive Order on invasive species.

What might the new leaders do to improve America’s invasive species programs?

Here are a group of actions that I think would improve programs significantly:

  • amend the Lacey Act to strengthen controls over introduction and spread of invasive animals and animal diseases;
  • raise the political profile of invasive species issues by holding more frequent oversight hearings;
  • increase funding for invasive species prevention, containment, and control programs;
  • support proposals to amend the 2019 Farm Bill to strengthen on-the-ground programs, policies, and research aimed at minimizing invasive species introduction, spread, and damage;
  • during the confirmation process, Senators should ask President Trump’s nominees to leadership positions in the Departments of Agriculture and Interior about how they will address invasive species challenges.

Do we need new legislation mandating that federal land-managing agencies do X or Y with regard to invasive species? This was the focus of a hearing in May at which I testified.

Federal land-managing agencies are already authorized and – in some cases required – to act to control invasive species on lands and waters under their jurisdiction.  Some of the existing statutes even authorize the agencies to apply fees paid by people who use the public lands for some purpose (e.g., livestock grazing, recreation) to management of invasive species.

Most of the statutes authorizing invasive species management incorporate that activity into the agency’s broader management goals for protection of wildlife, habitat, natural resources, historic or cultural sites, etc.  For example, the USFS Manual §2900 lists 21 laws and 6 regulations or policies that govern the USFS’ management of invasive species.  Some of these laws apply to all federal land-managing agencies, including:

  • Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 (16 U.S.C. §§1531 et seq.)
  • Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201, 1201 (note), 1236, 1272, 1305). §515
  • North American Wetland Conservation Act 1989 (16 U.S.C. 4401 (note), 4401-4413, 16 U.S.C. 669b (note)). §9 [U.S.C. 4408]
  • Sikes Act (Fish and Wildlife Conservation) of September 15, 1960 (16 U.S.C. 670g-670l, 670o, P.L. 86-797), as amended. §201
  • National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 [16 U.S.C. §§470 et seq.]
  • Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. §§1131 et seq.

Other statutes apply only to resource management authorities of the USDA Forest Service; these include:

  • Organic Administration Act of 1897 (16 U.S.C. §§ 473 et seq.).
  • Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. § 661 et seq.).
  • Knutson-Vandenberg Act of June 9, 1930 (16 U.S.C. 576, 576a-576b). §3 [16 U.S.C. 576b]
  • Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 (7 U.S.C. §§1010 et seq.)
  • Anderson-Mansfield Reforestation and Revegetation Act of October 11, 1949 (16 U.S.C. 581j (note), 581j, 581k)
  • Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 U.S.C. §§528 et seq.)
  • Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974 as amended by the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976. §6
  • International Forestry Cooperation Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. § 4501)
  • Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (H.R. 1904), [16 U.S.C. 6501-6502, 6511-18, 6541-42, 6571-78]
  • Wyden Amendment (P.L. 109-54, Section 434).
For brief descriptions of all these statutes, see the references and links at the end of this blog posting.

Advocates have tried before to legislate a specific requirement that federal agencies combat invasive species.  The Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974 (7 U.S.C. § 2801 note; 7 U.S.C. § 2814) was amended in 1990 to add §15, “Management of Undesirable Plants on Federal Lands”.  This section requires each federal agency to

1) designate an office or person adequately trained to develop and coordinate an undesirable plants management program for control of undesirable plants on federal lands under the agency’s jurisdiction, and

2) establish and adequately fund an undesirable plants management program through the agency’s budgetary process,

3) complete and implement cooperative agreements with state agencies regarding the management of undesirable plant species on federal lands, and

4) establish integrated management systems to control or contain undesirable plant species targeted under cooperative agreements.

This approach hasn’t worked – no one is satisfied by the federal agencies’ “weed” management efforts.

 

Capitol

What is missing is a political demand for action – and support for necessary staff and funding. Agencies under the secretaries of Agriculture and Interior bear most of the responsibility for managing invasive species.  As long as these officials are not being pressed by key Congressional committees, the media, and key stakeholders to take more aggressive and effective action to curtail species introductions and suppress established populations of bioinvaders, they will continue to focus their attention on issues that do generate these kinds of political pressure.

I am not saying that the principal statutes governing invasive species management could not be improved.  As noted above, several proposals have been put forward to strengthen laws which are the foundation for preventing introduction of invasive species.  I will blog about specific proposals in the new year.

 

Sources

USFS Invasive Species Manual

ANSTF/NISC report “Federal Policy Options Addressing the Movement of Aquatic Invasive Species Onto and Off of Federal Lands and Waters. 2015.  Committee on the Movement of Aquatic Invasive Species both onto and off of Federal Lands and Waters.

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

Support Effort to Declare UN “International Year of Plant Health”

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Officials who carry out plant health programs around the world are trying to build public understanding and support for such programs by organizing an “International Year of Plant Health”. Such “international years” are designated by the United Nations General Assembly – so – as you can imagine – years of planning go into the effort.

So far, the proposal has been approved by the Council of Agricultural Ministers and will be considered by the Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in June 2017. If approved by the FAO, the proposal will then be put to the full United Nations by sponsoring nations’ diplomats.  The General Assembly meeting in 2018 would consider the proposal – assuming FAO does forward it.

The goal of the proposed Year is to persuade decision-makers and the public that protecting plants by preventing and containing pests is an essential foundation for countries’ efforts to achieve food security, economic development, and environmental protection. Organizers also want people to know that plant protection is also a necessary component of policies to facilitate trade.

The events associated with the “International Year of Plant Health” will recognize plant health disciplines and the many people and organizations who contribute at the global, regional and national levels. It is not intended to celebrate specifically the International Plant Protection Convention, or the standards and other measures it has adopted.

Plant health professionals are concerned that funds and other resources dedicated to plant protection services are shrinking despite the growing threat to agricultural and natural resources from the spread of pests. Without more attention, they fear that resources will fall even farther behind the need as agencies confront demands from other global challenges. They intend to make the case that healthy plants help solve — rather than compete with – such other big problems as climate change, changing migration patterns, biosecurity concerns, and economic development.

The proponents specific objectives are to:

  1. Raise awareness among political decision makers at global, regional, and national levels.
  2. Build up plant health efforts and resources at all levels to better match growing needs linked to increasing trade and the new pest risks caused by climate change.
  3. Educate the broader public so it better understands the importance of protecting plant health.
  4. Enhance dialogue and stakeholder involvement in plant health.
  5. Increase information about the state of plant protection in the world.
  6. Promote partnerships on national, regional, and global levels.

It is hoped that success in raising awareness and understanding will result in sustainable funding of national plant health systems that will, in turn, enable

  • Improved capacity to take on more plant health related projects and programs
  • More effective collaboration and solutions at the global level
  • Better plant health situation in all countries.

I assume that readers of this blog are stakeholders in the global plant protection network. Most of you are professionally engaged in forest or nature conservation (perhaps through research), or are active conservation advocates. Some of you might be affiliated with trade and grower associations. Please consider how you can help educate political decision makers about the importance of protecting plants from non-native organisms that potentially threaten native ecosystems or agricultural and horticultural production. The first task is to ensure that the incoming Secretary of Agriculture actively supports the proposal both among his colleagues (e.g., with the Department of State) and at the FAO Conference in June. Please use your contacts in the government – including the Congress – and with other stakeholders to promote the idea.

Assuming that the International Year of Plant Health is approved, there will be many opportunities to lead or collaborate in the planned outreach efforts. Our engagement might help shape the message. For example, we need to ensure attention to the many challenges currently hindering plant health protection,  as discussed in my blogs and in numerous peer-reviewed articles and reports. Also, we need to make certain that the environmental and biodiversity aspects of plant protection are prominent among considerations.

And if the Year is not approved?  In my mind, that action would prove even more that we need to educate those who do not yet see why healthy trees and other plants matter!

Let me know what you think we might do – by sending me an email using the “contact us” button. Together, we can use this proposal to join coalitions with the goal of promoting stronger, more effective protection for our forests and other natural resources!

 

Posed by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be uncivil or inflammatory.