59 



tion requirement for wildlife and plants entering Hawaii. I will 

 place a copy of the letter in the hearing record, i 



Senator Akaka. Would you explain in detail why you support an 

 inspection program to protect wildlife and plants in Hawaii? 



Dr Davison Hawaii has a very rich flora and fauna which is 

 tound only in Hawau, in large part because it is an island. Those 

 native endemic species are very vulnerable to introduction of non- 

 indigenous species and a strong inspection program is, I think, an 

 effective way, as New Zealand has found, to prevent those introduc- 

 tions. 



Senator Akaka. Have you, Mr. Davison, raised the issue of insti- 



-.J^^^tFt^^F^™ ^ protect Hawaiian plants and wildlife directly 

 with APHIS? "^ 



Dr. Davison. Yes, we have had those discussions. That is in 



1 qWo ^^^' ^^' ^^^™^an, due to the legislation that you passed in 



5®Sr^jv^^^^^- ^^- S"^i**^'s letter goes on to state that the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service supports providing more general authority to 

 UbDA to inspect for any biological entity, not just agricultural 

 pests. Please describe on the additional authority that is needed to 

 inspect for any biological substance. 



Dr. Davison. Certainly our interest here is in strengthening in- 

 spection. One option there would be to extend APHIS' authority to 

 inspect not only for agricultural pests but for any biological entity 

 but I would defer to APHIS for their views about that. There may 

 be other options as well to strengthen inspection. 



Senator Akaka. Hawaii is very serious about the potential threat 

 of browTi tree snakes mentioned here today. These pests have deci- 

 mated Guam's bird population. Twenty years ago, Guam's forests 

 were hlled with sounds of native birds, but today there is only si- 

 lence. Six brown tree snakes have arrived in Hawaii on military 

 and commercial aircraft. If the brown tree snake became estab- 

 lished in Hawaii, it would mean the demise of Hawaii's endangered 

 forest birds. 



Will the Department of the Interior develop an emergency re- 

 sponse plan to be implemented in the event that a brown tree 

 snake infestation is discovered in Hawaii? 



Dr. Davison. The answer to that is yes. We have currently a 

 brown tree snake network. We would work very closely with the 

 Department of Agriculture's animal damage control program, the 

 Department of Defense, and others. In addition, as I mentioned in 

 my testimony, the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force has a com- 

 mittee now on brown tree snake that has developed a program for 

 brown tree snake control if that becomes necessary. That program 

 is nearly complete and ready to be put into place. 



Senator Akaka. In your testimony, the Non-Indigenous Aquatic 

 Nuisance Prevention and Control Act is discussed at great length. 

 You State that this program could serve as a model for developing 

 a comprehensive national strategy to address the introduction of all 

 harmful non-indigenous species. 



Have you discussed this proposal with other Federal agencies? 

 Do any of the other Federal witnesses consider the Non-Indigenous 



^ See page 192. 



