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So I think it is important. When I say a lead Government agen- 

 cy, I am not expecting someone who is going to have tremendous 

 authority over everything that is done in this country to manage 

 invasive alien plant and animal species, but someone at least you 

 can go to who can be a depository for information and can tell you 

 what the best management practices are, can give advice to States, 

 and also where States can apply for funding to go out and manage 

 invasive exotics. 



I understand, with the many agencies that we have there, that 

 certainly none of them will want to surrender responsibilities from 

 the lands that they manage. But it would be nice if there were at 

 least some central area that we can go to, from the State of Florida 

 perspective, that we could maybe get funding or something from 

 them to go out and manage or conduct long-term research. 



Mr. Carlton. I might just comment for a moment. Senator. 



Senator Akaka. Mr. Carlton? 



Mr. Carlton. I think that we certainly do not — I will agree with 

 the rest of the panel that we do not have to start from scratch, but 

 what we probably need is far more than just tinkering with what 

 we have, starting with a different philosophical foundation. We do 

 have a great amount of regulatory frameworks available, but what 

 they lack is a philosophical foundation, which would make a lot of 

 people seriously care about those regulations. 



Senator Akaka. Dr. Jensen? 



Ms. Jensen. As we have already learned, many resource man- 

 agers in our Federal agencies are not yet aware of the problem. 

 Some of the education effort has to be directed at state and Federal 

 agencies as well. 



While we have the beginning of a framework for a national pol- 

 icy, we do not have a coherent approach. There are a lot of dif- 

 ferent approaches that need to be taken, and we will not be able 

 to create — I would not support creating — a single entity or a single 

 approach because of the diversity of ecosystems and organisms we 

 are facing. I think that there are many steps that, together, can 

 create a policy that will work for all of us. 



Senator Akaka. Federal laws and regulations have been charac- 

 terized as "patchwork" and "disjointed". If we return to the chart 

 listing Federal agencies with alien species responsibility, perhaps 

 we can better understand why this is so. It is a very long list, and 

 it is easy to see why coordination — as several of you have men- 

 tioned, including Mr. Schmitz— among agencies is difficult, but 

 needed. 



In your opinion, should one Federal agency have the lead respon- 

 sibility for alien species control and eradication, or can this prob- 

 lem be managed through tighter coordination among agencies? 



Mr. Schmitz, do you propose a lead agency? 



Mr. Schmitz. Well, I think my last answer kind of gave an over- 

 view that we are not looking for an agency that is going to have 

 total jurisdiction over all the other agencies. What I am looking at 

 is something similar to like the Centers for Disease Control where 

 people can, maybe called Center for Exotic Pest Plant and Animal 

 Control, where people can go for information, where funds and 

 grants will be available to universities to conduct research into 

 what is the best way to manage these species at the lowest cost to 



77-812 0-94-2 



