Causes.com
| 6.29.23
BILL: Should We Invest in Preventing Invasive Species? - Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act - H.R.3174
Should we invest in preventing invasive species?
The Bill
H.R.3174 - Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act
Bill Details
- Sponsored by Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) on May 10, 2023
- Committees: House - Agriculture
- Latest action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology on June 1, 2023
- House: Not yet voted
- Senate: Not yet voted
- President: Not yet signed
Bill Overview
- The bill is a companion to the Senate legislation introduced by Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
- Expands access to the U.S. Department of Agriculture emergency funding to combat the threat of non-native species to American forests.
- Mandates a study to overcome the lack of centralization and prioritization of non-native insect and pathogen research and response within the federal government. The legislation would develop national strategies for saving tree species.
What's in the Bill?
Expands the USDA’s access to emergency funding to combat invasive species
- Invasive species threaten the stability of American ecosystems, and the bill would earmark funds to keep forests healthy.
Establishes a grant program
- The grant program would support institutions focused on researching the restoration of native tree species that have been severely damaged by invasive pests.
Supports research
- Authorizes funding to implement promising research findings on the protection of native tree species.
- The research will focus on noxious plants, invasive weeds, pests, and bolstering resistance in native species.
What Sponsors are Saying
“I, like so many Vermonters, am concerned about the future of our natural resources and ecosystems. To protect our forests and the health of native species, it’s clear we need to take federal action. I’m proud to partner with Senator Welch to preserve our environment in the face of invasive species."
“This initiative will fund efforts to revitalize damaged forests and more swiftly stem future infestations of invasive pests in Vermont and across the country.”
Should we invest in preventing invasive species?
-Emma Kansiz
(Photo Credit: Canva)
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Where I live in white township NJ the invasive species is warehouses and they should be prevented!
May be too late, but worth a try to limit some damage.
Yes, although I fear it's too late for many of these invasive species. I don't know the long-term effects of having so many invasive species in our country, but when native plants and animals are losing the battle and being killed off, it's a serious problem for biodiversity and the ecosystems of this continent.
I would like to see our nation take this more seriously and find ways to protect our native ecosystems from being irreversibly harmed by invasive species.
Sadly, the invasive source is us, the homo sapiens. Nearly 8 billion people live on Earth. The answer is to regulate people. Therein lies the real difficulty to control invasive insects. There are approximately 195 countries in the world that do business with America and Europe (also the rest of the world as well), and many of them do not care if their insects invade us or not. They often unwittingly bring in unwelcome insects in their packages and thus the invasion of bugs will in time spread far and wide - damaging our precious vegetation.
Our American congressmen need to be aware of that and create regulations for the infiltration and egress of invasive and damaging insects. Regulations for inspecting all types of transportation, especially air crafts are much needed.
With the current political climate we have in the USA, I have little faith in seeing a viable solution preventing invasive insects from entering or preventing our invasive insects from going to other countries.
Gee, wouldn't that be a novel idea. Yes, of course we should invest in trying to decrease invasive species from doing harm to our crops/vegetation, but that would make too much sense for the GD Republicans to support.
Like those invasive species that are flowing over the southern boarder? (I can hear liberal panties bunching now!)
A study is appropriate as we need to distinguish between non-native species that cause harm versus those that are helpful, and also between accidental and planned occurrences.
When introduced species multiply too quickly and have no natural predators they may crowd out other species by eating all the food supply like zebra mussels that invaded the Great Lakes attacked to ships or lamphrey eels both of which decreased native fish populations in the Great Lakes. Growing up in Michigan we enjoyed white fish fries but the lamphrey eel destroyed the white fish population
On the other hand tomatoes, and many species of wheat and rice are introduced species and important to the food supply in the US.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/invasive-species/
A might bit late in coming. We now have various vegetation species that have over taken our native vegetation. We have species of reptiles, aquatic, insects that have been well routed in this country. It is late in coming, but it would sure help. I guess better late than never. The funding to eliminate all this will be more than our military budget.