An ounce of prevention: How to stop invasive insects and diseases from devastating U.S. forests

Campbell, Faith; Lowenstein, Frank

This report covers the inadequacies of the existing U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's regulations and possible solutions to stop invasive species. Invasive insects and plant diseases are taking a disastrous toll on U.S. forests. From the spread of sudden oak death through California’s woodlands, to the fungus steadily killing eastern dogwoods, to the standing ghosts of dead Fraser fir on mountain peaks in North Carolina, infestations of our nation’s forests by invasive insects and diseases are widespread and on the rise. Imported nursery stock- trees, shrubs, garden plants, roots and cuttings brought in from other countries for sale to the U.S. consumer- is one of two chief pathways that bring invasive insects and diseases into American forests. Once the pests are established, their eradication is, at a minimum, costly and politically difficult. Often it is simply impossible. These infestations not only damage forests but also threaten to cost private landowners, state government, municipalities and a range of timber- and horticulture- related businesses billions of dollars. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is the primary agency tasked with preventing the entry of potentially invasive pests and pathogens via nursery plants and other pathways. Thanks to an emphasis in federal policy and international agreements on facilitating trade, combined with the globalization of the economy, however, the number of nursery plants imported into the United States has skyrocketed in recent years. The existing APHIS regulations governing plant imports date from more than a generation ago, and were crafted to deal with a much lower volume of imports from a much more limited set of exporting nations. They do not afford adequate protection in today’s changed economic environment. This report covers the inadequacies of the existing APHIS regulations and possible solutions to stop invasive species.