| April 22, 2009 |  |
Congress May Ban Dangerous Animal Imports
Hearing Set to Debate H.R. 669
Congress is considering a bill that would strengthen a 100-year-old law to better prevent imported non-native animals from escaping, proliferating, and threatening native ecosystems and local economies. A House hearing on the bill is scheduled for Thursday.On Thursday, April 23, the House Natural Resources Committee's Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee will hold a hearing to discuss H.R. 669, the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, introduced by subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam). The hearing is Thursday, April 23, at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth. You can watch the hearing on the committee's Web site. Witnesses will include David Lodge, a biologist at Notre Dame University and Simon Nemtzov, director of a successful Israeli Nature and Parks Authority program that prevents species invasions. Phyllis Windle, an ecologist and director of UCS's Invasive Species Project, will attend the hearing and is available for comment.
A coalition of groups will submit a statement tomorrow to the subcommittee asserting that the legislation "is urgently needed because hundreds of millions of non-native wild animals are imported and traded in the United States every year, with little oversight, despite potential harm to the economy, the environment, public health and safety, and animal welfare." The statement was written by Defenders of Wildlife, Humane Society International, Humane Society of the United States, National Audubon Society, Natural Areas Association, Nature Conservancy, and UCS.
BACKGROUND
A large number of non-native animals imported as pets or for other purposes have gained a foothold in the United States. Species invasions have occurred in every state.
In 2007, the Defenders of Wildlife released a report, "Broken Screens: The Regulation of Live Animal Imports," which catalogues the U.S. failure to prevent species invasions. Some notable examples include: several kinds of Asian carp, which escaped into the Mississippi River basin and now threaten Great Lakes fisheries and endangered species in the Southeast; the Indian mongoose, which threatens endangered species in Hawaii; Chinese snakehead fish, which have invaded the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.; and the Burmese python, which has invaded the Everglades in Florida. Additionally, imported animals have carried such invasive diseases as salmonella, monkeypox and avian influenza into the country.
Overall, more than 400 of the 1,352 native U.S. species protected under the Endangered Species Act are threatened directly or indirectly by invasive species.
Animal imports are governed by the Lacey Act, a 100-year-old law that requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to determine if species are potentially harmful and gives the agency the authority to ban them from entering the country or from being transported between states. This cumbersome system prevents FWS from responding quickly to species invasions. Too often, non-native animals have already overrun native ecosystems by the time FWS can take action.
H.R. 669 would update the Lacey Act to help FWS respond to species that move rapidly along global trade routes. The bill would require FWS to screen non-native animals before they can be imported. FWS scientists would review a species' eating habits, tolerance for domestic climates, and reproduction rate—as well as the potential frequency and volume of imports—to determine how risky importing it is or would be. Species could be imported only if FWS found that it posed little or no threat.
Screening species ahead of time would save local, state and federal agencies millions of dollars attempting to control and eradicate them after they get loose. And there are successful models to emulate. Australia, New Zealand and Israel, for example, have instituted successful screening programs for species imports.
The bill would have little impact on the pet industry or pet owners. It exempts domestic pets, including cats and dogs, from the FWS screening process. UCS and other groups have produced a list of common myths industry and hobby groups have been spreading about the bill.
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