Dear forest pest mavens,
a document circulating
here indicates that the Trump Administration proposes to cut funds for the
current FY17) year.
The Administration
proposes to cut $50 million from appropriations to APHIS for a combination of 3
programs: "tree & wood pests", "specialty crops", and
wildlife services. Since the Fiscal Year is half over, these cuts would be
deeper even than this indicates.
This proposed
cut is most alarming. "Tree & wood pests" is currently
funded at ~$54 million; APHIS spends all of that on just 3 tree pests -
Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, & gypsy moth. The
"specialty crops" program is funded at $156 million; $3-4 million of
that goes to sudden oak death. So, already, APHIS has funding to deal with only
4 of the dozens of non-native insects & pathogens killing urban, rural, and
wildland trees.
OMB has sought for more
than a decade to shift response costs to the states - despite the legal
responsibility for preventing pest introductions lying with the federal
government (APHIS). In practice, relying on the states will mean piecemeal
programs - some states will fund aggressive programs, most will
not. This will undermine efficacy since these pests threaten trees across
wide swaths of the country, not just individual states.
It is somewhat unclear,
but APHIS might be negotiating with the states now about which ones
will accept how much of the responsibility for which pests.
... clearly any negotiations are shadowed by the abrupt cut-off sword
hanging over the process.
The proposals do not
appear to cut funding for USFS State & Private Forestry/Forest Health
Protection or Research; it would cut funds for forest landscape restoration
projects and the urban forestry program.
Contact your members of
Congress and senators and urge them to oppose this proposal when the bill to
fund government activities for the 2nd half of the fiscal year comes to a
vote. (The current continuing resolution expires at the end of April, so
the bills should be before Congress soon.)
Faith
