1. Caring for the land and serving people
Invasive Species A Threat to the Health of the Nation’s Forests and Grasslands
This document is part of the Non-Native Invasive Plants Toolbox on
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Caring for the land and serving people

2. Invasive Species
Non-native species displace natives and cause ecological, biological, and economic losses. In 2002, invasives cost U.S. taxpayers $137 billion in damages.
Most invasive species found in the U.S. were originally imported for food, fiber, or as ornamental plants.
Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity.

3. Healthy Forests Make for a Healthy Nation
The Forest Service is looking forward to its Next Century of Service, carrying on its mission of “sustaining the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.”
We in the Forest Service believe that one of the Agency’s primary role is to ensure the health of our forests. We believe that healthy forests are critically important to the health of all Americans by providing a constant supply of clean air and pure water, as well as by safeguarding habitats for fish, plants and wildlife.
The health of our citizens depend on our forests to:
Keep the air clean by removing carbon dioxide, ozone, and dust particles from the atmosphere
Keep our water supply unpolluted by acting as filters, protect our watersheds, and prevent contaminants from entering our water system. By the way, roughly two-thirds of our watershed and 80% of freshwater supply in the United States originate from federal forestlands.
Protect habitats for safe wildlife, the precious plants and animals that are included in the threatened and endangered species (TES).

4. Invasive Species
The leadership of the Forest Service determined that nothing short of a collaborative effort across deputy areas and in partnership with external organizations is required for an effective and proactive strategy against invasive species.
This approach is spelled out in the National Strategy and Implementation Plan for Invasive Species Management.

5. Invasive Species Guiding Principles of the National Strategy
Science-based prioritization of invasive species problems.
Enhanced collaboration on the solutions to those problems.
An improved system of accountability that ensures the most efficient use of limited resources at all levels of the Forest Service.

6. Invasive Species Common Themes of the National Strategy
Partnerships and Collaboration
Scientific Basis
Communication and Education
Organizing for Success

7. Invasive Species Elements of the National Strategy
Prevention – Keep out invasive species.
Early Detection and Rapid Response – Detect and eradicate invasive species to stop them from spreading.
Control and Management – Apply integrated control techniques to manage the problem.
Rehabilitation and Restoration – Heal, minimize, or reverse the harmful effects from invasive species

8. Invasive Species
Forest Service programs to fight invasives will focus on:
Internally - stopping invasive species from becoming widespread in the National Forest system
Externally – supporting stewardship work on State, Tribal, and private partner lands
Implementing an agency-wide invasive species program includes science-based priority-setting, closer collaboration on the solutions, and ensuring efficient use of limited resources.

9. Invasive Species Distribution Maps of Invasive Species
The map at left shows the distribution of selected invasive insects and pathogens including Asian longhorned beetle, Emerald ash borer, Sudden oak death, Gypsy moth, Hemlock woolly adelgid, and White pine blister rust. Nationwide, 70 million acres are at serious risk from 26 different insects and diseases.
The second map at right shows the potential distributions of invasive plants including kudzu, leafy spurge, and other invasives.
As you can see, the coverage of invasive species is quite broad, and spreading at a fast rate.

10. Invasive Species Major Invasive Insects
Asian longhorned beetle
Hemlock woolly adelgid
Gypsy moth
Emerald ash borer
Major
Invasive
Insects
The next four slides show pictures of the major invasive insect pest, diseases and pathogens afflicting forest trees, land and aquatic plants weeds,
Asian longhorned beetle is a problem in Chicago, Illinois, and New York City. The beetle prefers maple species.
Hemlock woolly adelgid, believed to be a native of Asia, is a serious pest of eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock. In the eastern United States, it is present from the Smoky Mountains, north to the mid-Hudson River Valley and southern New England. Its presence in Pennsylvania has recently been reported.
Gypsy moth is generally prevalent in the East and spreading westward and southward.
Emerald ash borer is an emerging problem in Michigan and surrounding areas.

11. Invasive Species Diseases and pathogens
White pine blister rust
Sudden Oak Death (SOD) canker
Port–Orford cedar root disease
Sudden Oak Death, Phytophtera ramorum, is confined to oak trees in California and southern Oregon, for now.
White pine blister rust and Port-Orford Cedar root disease occur also in the West.

12. Invasive Species Plants (including aquatics and wetland) Leafy spurge
Saltcedar
Kudzu
Mile-a-Minute
Leafy spurge displaces native vegetation in prairie habitats and fields through shading and by usurping available water and nutrients and through plant toxins that prevent the growth of other plants underneath it. Leafy spurge is an aggressive invader and, once present, can completely overtake large areas of open land.
Kudzu was originally imported from Japan in 1876 to landscape a garden at the Japanese Pavilion of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. It was later planted as forage for cows, pigs, and goats in the South. It was also promoted as cover for erosion control in gullies. The distribution of kudzu in the United States today extends from Connecticut to Missouri and Oklahoma, south to Texas and Florida.
Saltcedar, also known as tamarisk, is a fire-adapted species with long tap roots that allow them to intercept deep water tables and interfere with natural aquatic systems. Saltcedar occurs in the intermountain region of the western United States, throughout the Great Basin, and California and Texas.
Mile-a-minute weed is currently found in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, New York, Virginia, Ohio and Washington, D.C.

13. Invasive Species Plants (including aquatics and wetland)
Purple loosestrife
Yellow starthistle
Spotted knapweed
Purple loosestrife chokes up rivers, lakes and streams.
Thistles and knapweeds turn grazing lands into “NO-EAT” zones. Cattle just don’t like these weeds.
Over the years, the Forest Service has been taking an aggressive stance against invasive species through a combination of natural or biological control (e.g., by pitting beetles against the hemlock woolly adelgid) and chemical agents (e.g., application of GypChek, developed and patented by the Forest Service Research & Development, against the gypsy moth).

14. Conclusion
The National Strategy and Implementation Plan for Invasive Species Management is a significant milestone in the effort of the Forest Service to stem the tide of nonnative invasive species.
A key to this effort is the two Environmental Threat Assessment Centers established in Prineville, Oregon and Asheville, North Carolina.