74 



Btroying 75,000 acres of Florida's lakes, rivers, and streams. It continues to spread 

 and to infest new water bodies. Along the coastlines of southern and central Florida, 

 Australian pine trees {Casuarina spp.) heavily infest both the east and west coasts 

 of the undeveloped portions of barrier islands. Besides totally displacing native 

 beach plant communities, the dense shallow root systems of Australian pine trees 

 interfere with the ability of endangered and threatened sea turtles to excavate suit- 

 able nesting cavities. 



Since invasive alien species don't respect jurisdictional boundary lines, good co- 

 ordination is essential in managing these destructive species. The Florida Exotic 

 Pest Plant Council, a non-profit organization, was established in 1984 and has 

 helped coordinate what meager funding resources have been available in Florida to 

 combat this menace in wetland and upland forests on both State and Federal lands. 

 However, there is a desperate need for funds to manage and to find long-term solu- 

 tions to the environmental problems caused by these species. For example, we are 

 only capable of managing one half of the melaleuca populations in the Everglades 

 because of lack of funding. The U.S. Fish and Wilolire Service has no dedicated 

 funding source to manage its vast melaleuca populations (20,000 acres) in the 

 Loxahatchee National Wildlife Preserve, the northern headwaters of the Everglades. 

 Everglades National Park needs an additional $325,000 to establish an alien plant 

 control program within the park, and to continue support of a regional multi-agency 

 management and biocontrol effort. Funding for a long-term solution, such as finding 

 biological control agents to stop the spread of melaleuca, has been tenuous at best. 



The State of Florida applauds the efforts by the State of Hawaii in attempting 

 to protect their island State from the introduction of invasive alien plant and animal 

 species. However, this is not an exclusive environmental problem found only in Flor- 

 iaa and Hawaii. Large expanses of wetlands in the northeastern United States, 

 southeastern Canada, the midwest, and in scattered locations of the western United 

 States have been overrun and lost to a contaminant of European ship ballast, the 

 purple loosestrife plant (Lythrum salicaria). In the south, the oriental kudzu vine 

 IPueraria lobata), which was spread by the United States Soil Conservation Service 

 in the 19308 (government incentives were as much as $8 an acre for farmers to plant 

 it), has drastically decreased biological diversity in millions of acres of forested land. 



Now, what can the Federal Government do about this ecological catastrophe that 

 is slowly engulfing our Nation's remaining natural areas? Although the State of 

 Florida acknowledges its own responsibility to deal with this problem (a study was 

 recently initiated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that will 

 make recommendations to Florida's legislature for the establishment of a com- 

 prehensive program for the research into and control of alien plants and animals 

 that are invasive to public lands), there are things only the Federal Government can 

 do. It is imperative that we "turn off the spigot" of new invasive alien plant species. 

 Presently, there is no screening of plant or animal species by the USDA for their 



{)otential invasiveness in our Nation's natural areas. For example, unless they are 

 isted as Federal Noxious Weeds, foreign plants can easily be introduced. At least 

 750 weeds meeting the Act's definition remain unlisted. If it wasn't for the valiant 

 efforts by Congressman E. Clay Shaw fi-om Ft. Lauderdale, melaleuca would have 

 never been listed as a Federal Noxious Weed by the USDA. Secondly, no one is in 

 charge. It is imperative that a lead Federal agency be designated to identify problem 

 areas, and to provide general oversight and funding help in the development of 

 State and Federal management programs. The Florida Department of Environ- 

 mental Protection endorses the proposed changes to the Federal Noxious Weed Act 

 that have been made by the Weed Science Society of America, the National Plant 

 Board, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. 



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

 digenous species. This is especially true in Florida. 



PREPARED STATEMENT OF HOWARD M. SINGLETARY, JR. 



I would like to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and testify 

 about the significant impact of the introduction of non-indigenous plant and animal 

 species to the United States and directly to North Carolina. Since the major focus 

 of my 30 year career has been spent working in the area of plant pest exclusion 

 and regulatory agriculture, I possess a unique perspective that will hopefully be of 

 benefit to vou in your deliberations. My comments represent the views of the State 

 of North Carolina, the Weed Science Society of America (WSSA) of which I am a 

 member and have recently served as Chairman of the Federal Noxious and Invasive 



