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ms 



Natural Resources 

 Defense Council 



1350 New York Ave., NW 

 Wiifhiiiglon. DC 20005 

 202 7S3-7S00 

 Fax 202 783-5917 



Testimony of the 



Natural Resources Defense Council 



Regarding 



Introductions of Exotic Pests of North American Tree Species 



Prepared by 

 Faith Thompson Campbell, Ph.D. 



Submitted to the 



Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Natural Resources 



Committee on Agriculture 



U.S. House of Representatives 



29 June, 1994 * 



The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) congratulates the Subcommittee on Specialty 

 Crops and Natural Resources for holding hearings on the significant threat to North America's 

 forest resources posed by the potential introduction of exotic pests of North American tree 

 species. We ask that this additional material be included in the record of these hearings. 



NRDC is a public interest environmental organization with 170,000 members and supporters 

 Nation-wide. We have studied the impacts of exotic tree pests on the economic and ecological 

 values of our forests since 1991. We attach a copy of a recent report, Fading Forests , which 

 summarizes the damage caused by past introductions and the threat posed by new or potential 

 invasive organisms. We ask that, if possible, this report be included in the record. 



To date, the damage has been most serious in the East. More than 60% of the 165 million 

 forested acres in the Northeast have been seriously damaged by introduced insects or pathogens 

 (Burkman, el al. 1992.). The American chestnut and American elm are now virtually absent from 

 that forest. Butternut, flowering dogwood, and Canadian hemlock are dead in much of their 

 range. In parts of their ranges, oaks and American beech have also suffered reduced populations. 

 Serious ecological impacts are probable from the loss of wildlife food (nuts, berries, and high- 

 calcium leaves), stream-side shade, and soil building properties of these trees. 



In the West, the trees suffering the most damage have included some of the white pine group 

 (nntds, subgenus Stmbus) and the Port-Orford-cedar. Eighty to ninety per cent of the whitebark 

 pine trees in Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness are infected by white pine 

 blister rust (Kendal! and Arno 1989.). Whitebark pine seeds are a major food source for the 

 grizzly and black bears, red squirrel, and Clark's nutcracker. 



