Text: Agriculture Secretary's Speech on Invasive Species
(Glickman announces new weapon in battle of the beetle)Addressing the first meeting of the President's Council on Invasive Species, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced July 22 that United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers have developed a new chemical attractant that may help combat the Asian longhorned beetle, a pest that has destroyed hardwood trees in Chicago and New York.
The attractant -- based on two synthetic pheromones -- is now being tried in field tests in China. If the attractant is effective, baited traps could be used to flush out undetected beetle infestations and monitor high-risk areas, such as import warehouses and ports, for new infestations. "Hopefully, we will be able to create a kind of Beetle Motel -- reservations guaranteed," Glickman said, "where, to paraphrase the old commercial, the beetles will check in but they won't check out."
Last year, USDA banned the import of all untreated solid wood packing material from China, source of the Asian longhorned beetle. USDA is currently considering broadening the ban to cover material from other countries as well.
Glickman also announced that USDA will prohibit any interstate movement of invasive plants, listed in the Federal Noxious Weed Act regulations, without a permit. Currently, a USDA permit is required only where a quarantine exists.
President Clinton established the Council on Invasive Species in February 1999 to coordinate and intensify federal, state, and local efforts to fight non-native plants and animals.
Following is the text of Glickman's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
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Remarks As Prepared for Delivery
by Secretary of Agriculture Dan GlickmanInvasive Species Council Meeting
Washington, DCJuly 22, 1999
Thank you very much, Secretary Babbitt, for the tremendous leadership you and your Department have shown on this important issue. Thank you, Secretary Daley, and the other representatives from the various agencies involved in this Council.
And thanks to all of you for being here and contributing to this effort. The ultimate success of the Invasive Species Council will depend on the degree to which it draws on the knowledge of local government, industry, non-profits, scientists, farmers, private citizens and the environmental community.
Invasive species can be devastating to American agriculture. And in a time like this, when our farmers and ranchers are already coping with some of the worst economic conditions they've faced in over a decade, destructive pests only add salt to the wound. They drive quality down and costs up. Every year, invasive species cost us 3 million acres the equivalent of two Delawares and billions upon billions of dollars in potential economic activity.
We work hard at USDA to combat the problem. We have a broad range of ongoing research efforts on everything from leafy spurge to melaleuca trees. But it starts at the border, where USDA inspectors confiscate prohibited agricultural products and keep pests out of the country. They work with a team of dogs the so-called Beagle Brigade who sniff out the pests and pest vectors. My wife and I have a beagle. And we've tried really hard to get Ruben into the Beagle Brigade. But they just won't allow it something about anti-nepotism rules.
Thanks to cutting-edge technology, we've added a new tool to upgrade our border patrol. The National Identification Digital Photo Project allows our inspectors to take a digital photograph of pests and immediately e-mail it to our identification specialists. In the past we've had to use overnight mail services, which are slower, more expensive, and occasionally lose or damage the pest. The new project is on display here, and I hope you'll have the opportunity to check it out.
Our safeguarding system has traditionally relied on a barrier approach, as we try to intercept pests at our borders. But as international trade traffic grows, our inspectors are often overwhelmed, and that method alone may not be enough.
Recently, we asked the National Plant Board and a group of other stakeholders to review our safeguarding system, and they recommended some new and innovative approaches for example, a move to off-shore mitigation, as well as some harmonization of standards with our neighbors in Canada and the Carribean Basin. We've looked closely at a preliminary draft of this Safeguarding Report, and we are pleased with the constructive advice it offers. I know that many of you here worked on the report, and I want to thank you for your contribution. The fact is that, despite our best efforts, some pests do sneak in. We do our best to control their spread. But just as modern transportation has improved our quality of life, they've also enhanced the traveling capability of invasive species.
Right now, believe it or not, with a gardening catalogue, you can get your very own mail-order invasive species ... as if it were an L.L. Bean sweater. But we plan to require a permit for the interstate transport of noxious weeds. We've drafted a new regulation to this effect, and we expect it to be published in the Federal Register for public comment within the next few weeks.
One of the most pernicious invasive species we're contending with is the Asian longhorned beetle. The name notwithstanding, it's actually quite a pretty bug. But there's nothing pretty about the damage it does. In a relatively short period of time, it's left quite a trail of destruction in the United States, having eaten away at treasured hardwood trees in Chicago and Brooklyn, New York neighborhoods. Eventually, we had no choice but to start cutting down these trees, at a steep cost to both state and local governments ... at a steep aesthetic cost to the communities in question ... and at a time when urban deforestation is becoming a major environmental concern.
We have tried to cut the beetle off at its source, with last year's import ban on all Chinese untreated solid wood packing material. But once it's here, the beetle is hard to eliminate. In Chicago, we thought it was confined to the Ravenswood neighborhood, but now we've discovered another infestation in another part of town. It's very difficult to pinpoint exactly where the bug is hiding.
But it might soon become less difficult. I'm pleased to announce today that USDA scientists have identified chemicals that the beetles may use to find each other in nature. This discovery could lead to a lure that would, in essence, bait the beetle into a trap. Lab tests were promising, and we began field tests in China late last week. Hopefully, we will be able to create a kind of Beetle Motel -- reservations guaranteed -- where, to paraphrase the old commercial, the beetles will check in but they won't check out.
Jeff Aldrich is on the team of scientists who have conducted this state-of-the-art research at our facility in Beltsville, Maryland. Thank you, Jeff, for all you've done. And please pass along our gratitude and appreciation to your partners.
All of the agencies represented on this Council are doing this kind of work. Our challenge is to work together, pooling our expertise and partnering with researchers and advocacy groups outside government. With the collective resources in this room, I have confidence that we will craft a strong plan that will help us cope with the problem of invasive species in the 21st century.
Thank you very much. And with that, let me turn it over to Secretary of Commerce, William Daley...
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