121 



Control or eradication are often too expensive to consider or just plain impossible; 

 in many instances the only action that has a reasonable chance of success is preven- 

 tion. Prevention, too, is difficult, but unlike after-the-fact measures it may oe gen- 

 erally achievable. The problem with prevention is that there are always special in- 

 terests that either want exemptions, or individuals that disagree with such policies 

 and unilaterally circumvent them. The professions of wildlife and fisheries manage- 

 ment have often elevated species introductions to the level of a cottage industry. 

 Some of the most serious exotic pests have been deliberately introduced by such pro- 

 fessionals. Some State and Federal agencies have reached a level where they per- 

 ceive the problems associated with exotics, some clearly have not. The horticulture 

 industry profits from the sale of non-native plants, many of which naturalize and 

 can be invasive. Without strict and uniform laws preventing introductions and the 

 ability to block introductions, they will continue unabated as long as the public re- 

 mains uneducated about the negative effects of exotics. 



An educated public is unlikely. Even a public in agreement about any environ- 

 mental or natural resource issue is unhkely. Perhaps a better target for education 

 is all the elected and appointed officials in Washington, D.C.; they have the capacity 

 to act on their knowledge, and Congress has already demonstrated its lack of under- 

 standing of the ecological implications of exotic organisms by the passage of Public 

 Law 92-195, The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. PL 92-195 

 directs that feral equids be considered "an integral part of the natural system of 

 public lands." Feral equids in North America are not natural. They were introduced 

 by Europeans and have had about 500,000 years of separate evolution from the 

 North American equids that went extinct at the close of the Pleistocene. One can 

 only presume that Congress was declaring invalid a half million years of separate 

 evolution, and was furthermore invalidating the extinction of North American 

 equids. Besides being ecologically irresponsible, it was a rather arrogant usurping 

 of powers that mortals simply do not have. Why not also declare the carp to be an 

 integral part of the natural system of public lands? 



The point of the above discussion is that for exotic organisms there are oft;en two 

 perspectives. Ecologically there can be no room for compromise. Invasive species are 

 detrimental to natural ecosystems. In one sense they are like time-bombs in that 

 one may not know if or how long it takes for an exotic species to generate a major 

 negative effect. In another sense they are like tickets in a lottery. Less than one 

 ticket in a million is a lottery winner; exotic organisms probably have a similar 

 chance of being of benefit to indigenous biotic communities. Similar to lotteries each 

 chance costs very little making it attractive to keep trying. The difference is that 

 with exotic organisms, each "losing ticket" affects the subsequent ability of all play- 

 ers to afford to olay the game. The costs of exotic organisms are a toll exacted on 

 all the players. It is a wonder that any exotic species are ever seriously considered 

 for introduction: it is a wonder that we haven't been protecting our biota and our- 

 selves from this menace. 



In summary, invasive exotic organisms carry a high probability of causing severe 

 economic damage to valuable biotic natural resources, reductions in biodiversity up 

 to and including species extinctions, foregone production and biomass of native 

 biota, and in some instances severe economic costs due to damage in human domi- 

 nated environments. This latter category includes a diversity of problems from dikes 

 and levees collapsing because of tunneling by nutria {Myocastor coypu) to clogging 

 intake pipes by zebra mussels. Since the costs associated with established exotics 

 are essentially forever, the costs associated with preventing their introduction 

 should logically be considerably less by comparison. Clearly, the preferred action 

 when dealing with exotics should be prevention, with control or eradication a sepa- 

 rate and secondary program to be employed where judged both essential and achiev- 

 able. 



Lastly, laws pertaining to exotic organisms must be Federal. Although various 

 State land and natural resource agencies have different opinions concerning exotics, 

 the organisms have little awareness or regard for jurisdictional boundaries. Again, 

 an ounce of prevention is preferable to a regularly applied, ad infinitum pound of 

 cure. 



PREPARED STATEMENT OF DUCKS UNLIMITED, INC. 



Ducks Unlimited (DU) is the largest wetland habitat conservation organization in 

 North America. Since 1937, DU has conserved or restored 6.2 million acres of wet- 

 lands or associated upland habitats. This restoration effort has largely been accom- 

 plished by emulating natural hydrological cycles in modified wetland complexes and 

 restoring native wetland plant communities. In addition, DU has been extensively 



