55 



education programs certainly could be used to raise awareness of 

 the economic loss and the environmental harm that can result if 

 prohibited plants, injurious animals, pests and diseases enter our 

 country. 



The Department has been and will continue to be closely in- 

 volved with activities to protect against harmful non-indigenous 

 species. With the U.S. Forest Service, APHIS has worked together 

 to resolve issues related to the importation of unmanufactured 

 wood products, and continues to work together in the control of the 

 Asian gypsy moth which is a recent introduction into the U.S. 



As noted earlier, APHIS is a member of the Aquatic Nuisance 

 Species Task Force, and we will continue to work with the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior and the Department of Commerce, the co- 

 chairs of that task force. Other members of the task force are EPA, 

 Coast Guard, Department of State, Army Corps of Engineers. Our 

 Animal Damage Control Unit of APHIS cooperates with the De- 

 partment of Defense and with the government of Guam and the 

 Department of the Interior to control the brown tree snake in 

 Guam. 



These are but a few examples, and the Department is very will- 

 ing to cooperate with the various agencies in developing a com- 

 prehensive strategy to impede the movement and invasion of harm- 

 ful non-indigenous species into our country. 



Mr. Chairman, we appreciate the opportunity to appear before 

 the Committee and are open to questions that you might have. 



Senator Akaka. Thank you very much, Mr. Lee. 



Now, we will hear from Wilham McCleese, Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM L. McCLEESE,i ACTING ASSOCIATE 

 DEPUTY CHIEF, FOREST SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AG- 

 RICULTURE 



Mr. McCleese. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are very pleased 

 to be here to offer our views on this most important subject. I am 

 accompanied here today by Dr. Jerry Sesco, the Forest Service Dep- 

 uty Chief for Research. 



Non-indigenous plant and animal species are a very serious 

 threat to the integrity of our forests and rangeland ecosystems. 

 Chestnut blight, white pine blister rust, Dutch elm disease and 

 leafy spurge are the more commonly known introduced pests in the 

 United States. They are examples of exotic pests that completely 

 changed our forest and rangeland ecosystems by eliminating sig- 

 nificant species such as the American Chestnut, the Eastern White 

 Pine and American Elm over much of their range. 



Not only did they change our forests, but they resulted in serious 

 economic losses as well. The costs of trying to control these pests, 

 the cost of research, the loss of forest products and wildlife habitat, 

 and the dcunage to local economies have been in the billions of dol- 

 lars. 



There have been over 200 forest insect pests, 20 major diseases, 

 and over 100 exotic plant species introduced into this country over 

 the past two centuries. The rate of introduction is increasing be- 



^ The prepared statement of Mr. McCleese appears on page 109. 



