8 



mal species. Presently, the way the Federal Noxious Weeds Act is 

 applied is ineffective. For example, it took us 10 years to get 

 melaleuca listed as a Federal noxious weed, and the USDA refused 

 for a number of reasons, despite that we had the entire Florida 

 congressional delegation and the Governor of Florida who re- 

 quested the USDA to list this species as a Federal noxious weed. 

 If it was not for Congressman Clay Shaw from Fort Lauderdale, I 

 am sure melaleuca would never have been listed. 



Secondly, no one is in charge. We need a lead Federal agency. In 

 Florida, we have coordinated our efforts rather well. We have co- 

 ordinated between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National 

 Park Service, and State Eind county land management agencies, 

 and we have coordinated very well. But in our experience, if no one 

 has the responsibility for this, the work just ultimately does not get 

 done. 



Thirdly, the State of Florida endorses the proposed chamges to 

 the Federal Noxious Weeds Act that have been put forth by the 

 Weed Science Society of America and the Natural Resources De- 

 fense Council. 



In conclusion, billions of dollars have been spent in the United 

 States to buy environmentally sensitive areas to protect them from 

 pollution and development, yet the biological heritage to be pre- 

 served for future generations is being overrun and lost to non-in- 

 digenous species. This is especially true in Florida. 



Thank you. 



Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Schmitz, for your tes- 

 timony. 



I would like to call on Howard Singletary for your testimony at 

 this time. 



TESTIMONY OF HOWARD M. SDSTGLETARY, JR.,* DIRECTOR, 

 PLANT INDUSTRY DIVISION, NORTH CAROLINA DEPART- 

 MENT OF AGRICULTURE, RALEIGH, NC 



Mr. Singletary. Thank you, Senator Akaka. 



Before I get started, I had a phone call from Dr. Lyle Wong of 

 the Hawaii Department of Agriculture yesterday, and I told him 

 that I was going to be appearing here today. He had indicated that 

 they had sent testimony to be included in the record and asked me 

 to extend his greeting to you, sir. 



Senator Akaka. Thank you very much. 



Mr. Singletary. I would like to thank you for the opportunity 

 to appear here before you and testify about the significant impact 

 of the introduction of non-indigenous species, both plants and ani- 

 mals, to the United States and directly as it relates to North Caro- 

 lina. My comments today will represent the State of North Caro- 

 lina, the Weed Science Society of America of which I have been 

 chairman of the Federal Noxious Weeds Committee, the Inter- 

 mountain Noxious Weed Advisory Council, and the National Plant 

 Board. The Intermountain Noxious Weed Advisory Council is a vol- 

 untary organization with membership from public and private sec- 

 tors mainly representing Western States here in this country, 

 whose function is to serve as a liaison between States, Congress, 



^The prepared statement of Mr. Singletary appears on page 74. 



