Officials: New invasive species plan will help coordinate response to threats

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By MEGAN THOMAS
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Tuesday, Sept. 9) _ Arizona now has an official plan for fighting plant and animal invaders wreaking havoc on the environment.

Members of the Arizona Invasive Species Council said the plan, approved last month by Gov. Janet Napolitano after public hearings held around the state, coordinates the efforts of different public and private groups dealing with the threat.

“We do recognize this is a serious problem with wildlife and fishery,” said Tom McMahon, a council member and the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s invasive species coordinator. “Things like this we’ve got to address.”

The plan calls for Game and Fish and the Arizona Department of Agriculture to work together to research, identify, map and eradicate invaders. Those departments will work with other states to track species’ movements across the country.

“This isn’t just a city issue; this isn’t just an Arizona issue,” McMahon said. “It’s a national issue.”

Invasive species ranging from plants and animals to insects and viruses are established around Arizona. The plan notes that invasive species are particularly devastating here because Arizona has among the most diverse bird, reptile and mammal populations in the nation.

Quagga mussels, which have caused extensive environmental and property damage in the Great Lakes region, have established themselves along the Colorado River and have made it into central Arizona.

Tiger salamanders, introduced into waterways as bait, are suspected of spreading a fungal disease that has decimated native frog populations. Buffelgrass, imported from Africa as cattle forage, is spreading around southern and central Arizona and threatens native vegetation by spawning intensely hot fires that devastate the landscape.

Sandy Bahr, conservation outreach director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, said her group supports the plan.

“We were obviously very pleased that the governor has made dealing with invasive species a priority,” Bahr said.

Joanne Roberts, resource ecologist for Arizona State Parks and an author of the plan, said the state will need to put money behind efforts to prevent and eradicate invasive species. Given the current tight budget, leaders of the efforts are applying for grants and seeking federal funding for now.

“You cannot have a job completed and be long-term if you always depend on soft monies like grant monies,” Roberts said. “Some monies do, at some point, have to be provided to the state agencies on a consistent annual budget in order for it to be successful.”

For now, organizations involved in the effort will log and analyze staff time and money committed to invasive species to offer a firm idea of what is required to combat them, she said.

“A lot of folks think that dealing with the environmental issues is a luxury item, but it really isn’t,” Roberts said. “Maintaining a healthy environment around us also maintains our health. It would be really great if everybody recognized that.”

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Web Links:
_ Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council: www.governor.state.az.us/ais
_ Arizona Game & Fish Department: www.azgfd.gov
_ Arizona Department of Agriculture: www.azda.gov

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PHOTOS:

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CAPTION WITH BC-CNS-INVASIVE SPECIES: A tiger salamander is shown in this undated U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo. An invasive species introduced to Arizona waterways as bait, the tiger salamander is suspected of harboring chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease that has decimiated native frog populations. Gov. Janet Napolitano has approved a plan recommended by the Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council for responding to threats from introduced animals and plants. (Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-INVASIVE SPECIES: Buffelgrass blankets an area of the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson. The invasive plant species is so established in southern Arizona and is spreading north so rapidly that scientists are now talking less about eradication and more about protecting homes and people from the intensely hot fires it can support. Gov. Janet Napolitano’s Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council is seeking feedback beginning this week on its recommendations for providing a faster and more coordinated response to such threats. (Credit: Aaryn Olsson, University of Arizona, via Cronkite News Service)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-INVASIVE SPECIES: A quagga mussel discovered in Lake Mead is seen in this Jan. 9, 2007, photo by the National Park Service, with a ruler providing scale in centimeters. The quagga mussel, along with its cousin the zebra mussel, has caused widespread and expensive problems in the Midwest and Northeast. Gov. Janet Napolitano’s Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council is seeking feedback beginning this week on its recommendations for providing a faster and more coordinated response to such threats. (Photo Credit: National Park Service)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-INVASIVE SPECIES: This undated photo from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a crayfish, which is among the invasive species inhabiting Arizona. Gov. Janet Napolitano’s Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council is seeking feedback beginning this week on its recommendations for providing a faster and more coordinated response to such threats. (Photo Credit: Eric Engbretson, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)