Transcript The Challenge of Protecting Natural Resources from Invasive Species Jim Reeves Deputy Chief, Forest Service Research and Development 22nd USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive.

The Challenge of Protecting Natural
Resources from Invasive Species
Jim Reeves
Deputy Chief, Forest Service Research and
Development
22nd USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species
Annapolis, MD—January 11, 2011
... to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of
the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of
present and future generations.
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The National Forests and Grasslands
193 million acres
Forest land
748 million acres
National Forest System
20 percent of U.S. forests and many rangelands
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America’s Forests
748 million acres
Through our State and Private Forestry staff,
the Forest Service contributes to sustainable
forest management nationwide.
National forest
Tribal/other
federal
20%
57%
State govt
13%
Local govt
9%
Private
1%
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A Century of Research
G. Arthaud 8/7/06
USDA Forest Service Experimental Areas
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research station
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Priest River
Entiat
Coram
Big Falls
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Deception Creek
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Wind River
Cascade Head
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Pike Bay
Tenderfoot Creek
Cutfoot Sioux
Penobscot
Kawishiwi
Marcell
Starkey
H. J. Andrews
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experimental
area
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Pringle Falls
South Umpqua
Blacks Mountain
Swain Mountain
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Caspar Creek
Challenge
Great Basin
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Black Hills
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Desert
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Coulee
Kane
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Silas Little
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Vinton Furnace
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Fraser
Paoli
Fernow
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Manitou
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Sinkin
San Dimas
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Kaskaskia
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Sierra Ancha
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Bent Creek
Sylamore
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North Mountain Long Valley
Coweeta
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Crossett
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Harrison
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Chipola
Olustee
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Alaska
Bonanza Creek
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U.S. Virgin Islands
Hawaii (proposed)
Young Bay
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Hawaii
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Puerto Rico
Maybeso
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Luquillo
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Estate Thomas
Massabesic
Lower Peninsula
Udell
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Fort Valley
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Hubbard Brook
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Teakettle
National Forest
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Bartlett
Glacier Lakes
Sagehen
Stanislaus-Tuolumne
San Joaquin
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Dukes
Argonne
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Boise Basin
Redwood
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McCormick
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Research Stations
Lands
Alaska
Pacific Southwest
Northern
Rocky Mountain
Pacific Northwest
Southern
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Experimental Area
National Forest
Global Forestry Partnerships
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National Forest System:
• 8.5% of America’s land area
• 18% of America’s runoff
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Signs of Stress …
Megafires, severe
fire seasons
Regional
drought
Mountain pine
beetle epidemic
Climate
change
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Oak/Chestnut Forest
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Damage to Eastern Forests
Gypsy moth damage
Butternut canker
Dutch elm disease
Hemlock woolly
adelgid
Dogwood anthracnose
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Damage to West Coast Forests
Sudden oak death
Feral pig damage
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Economic Impacts
?
Western
white pine
Sugar
maple
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Emerald Ash Borer
Estimated combined costs for
EAB:
> $1 Billion/yr over next 10 years
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Whitenose Bat Syndrome
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Social Impacts
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Safety
Water
Amenities
Cultural values
Fire in the
wildland/urban
interface
Sudden
oak
death
Saltcedar-infested waterway
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Ecological Impacts
Eastern hemlock
Whitebark pine
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Forest Service Invasive Species
Strategy
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Prevention of introductions
Early detection and rapid response
Control and management
Rehabilitation and restoration
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Prevention
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Offshore collaboration
Information sharing
Pest studies/risk assessments
Pathway research/mitigation
(ExFor)
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Prevention
• On the National Forest System:
– Weed-free materials
– Vehicle-washing stations
– Boat-cleaning facilities
– Water treatment for firefighting
– Special contracting requirements for timber,
firewood, etc.
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Prevention Challenges
• Knowledge barriers
• Multiple vectors
– Recreational vehicles
– Firewood
– Nurseries
– Pet shops
–…
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Only 7% of the world’s fungi are
known to science. We don’t
have a good baseline for what is
already in the United States.
Early Detection/Rapid Response
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Installing traps at likely points of entry
Developing control measures
Studying life cycles
National Forest System:
– Surveying for invasives
– Prioritizing management activities
EAB trap to
detect spread
Entomologists train
managers to recognize
invasive insects
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EDRR Challenges
• Environmental analysis
• Difficulty of detection
• Citizen engagement!!
Treatments for sudden oak
death in Oregon
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Control and Management
Gypsy moth:
Slow-theSpread
Program
1900
2007
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Control and Management
Emerald ash borer: Biological controls
“Hired assassins:
Government agencies draft
insects to combat a
growing list of invasive
species …”
Columbus Dispatch, 8/16/09
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Control and Management
Hemlock
Woolly
Adelgid
Initiative
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Control and Management
Invasive plants: Biological controls
Yellow starthistle
Spotted knapweed
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Cheatgrass
Control/Mgt Challenges
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Unintended consequences
Limited resources
Public acceptance of control measures
We need:
– more effective measures
– better public outreach
– science-based protocols to prioritize management
actions
– an all-lands approach across multiple ownerships
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Restoration and Rehabilitation
• Collecting and storing seeds, germplasm
• Identifying resistant trees
• Reforesting with resistant hybrids
Whitebark pine seeds
Planting blight-resistant American
chestnut on a national forest
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Restoration and Rehabilitation
Aquatic
example:
Native
trout
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Restoration Challenges
• Costs/scale
• Climate change
• Public values!!
Focus on restoring degraded landscapes …
African tulip tree colonizing oldfield
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El Yunque National
Forest
Overarching Challenges
• Need for partnerships
and collaboration!!
Flathead basin:
• Multiple ownerships
• Checkerboard patterns
• International boundary
• Issues: Aquatic invasive species, blister rust,
bark beetle, wildfire, TES, etc.
Montana
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Forest Service Challenges
• Better integration across the landscape
– Region to Region
– Station to Station
Forest Service Regions
(most are served by a different
research station)
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Forest Service Challenges
• Stronger partnerships with other agencies
and organizations
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Forest Service Challenges
• Better integration across disciplines
– Biologists working with economists and
managers to develop new tools
– Social scientists developing better
communication tools
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Stronger partnerships …
… for the benefit of generations to come.
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