- Summary
- Support for more funding to protect America's forests from pests and pathogens
- National parks get help with invasives
Summary
Non-native plants and animals can severely damage the environment, endanger native species, and place a significant financial burden on affected communities. UCS activists played an important role in setting the stage for funding to eradicate and manage these dangerous invaders by making more than 2,100 phone calls urging their senators to push for additional funding.
Support for More Funding to Protect America’s Forests from Pests and Pathogens
The budget of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is not keeping up with the arrival and spread of new forest pests. Critical pests—like the Asian long-horned beetle, the emerald ash borer, and sudden oak death—are poised to spread and threaten America’s forests. Left unchecked, these foreign insects and diseases could easily cost forest managers, nurseries, the wood industry, homeowners, and municipalities billions of dollars.
Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) recently submitted a letter to the Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee calling for increased funding for the USDA programs that eradicate and manage some of these most serious threats to America’s forests. To help build support, UCS activists generated more than 2,100 phone calls to their senators’ offices urging them to sign onto this letter. Senator Durbin’s staff praised UCS activists for significantly strengthening the letter by helping more than double the number of final signers to 24 senators.
National Parks Get Help With Invasives
In March, the Natural Resource Protection Cooperative Agreement Act (H.R. 658) passed overwhelmingly in the House. If enacted, the bill would authorize the National Parks Service to enter into cooperative agreements with a broad range of partners to protect the natural resources within the park – especially from invasive species. As invasive species spread with no regard to borders, this common-sense bill will greatly help our national parks take stronger action to curb and manage the spread of invasive species.
UCS will monitor this important measure as action moves in the Senate. Look for possible actions on this critical bill in the months ahead. |
