Category: forest pest insects

Funding – Appropriations – Crucial to Protecting Our Forests from Pests

Two USDA agencies lead efforts to protect U.S. wildland, rural, and urban forests from non-native insects and disease-causing pathogens:

  • USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has legal responsibility for preventing introduction of tree-killing pests, detecting newly introduced pests, and initiating eradication and containment programs intended to minimize the damage they cause.
  • USDA Forest Service (USFS)
    • Forest Health Management (FHM) program assists partner agencies to counter pests where they are first found – usually near cities – and when they spread. This work falls primarily to the Cooperative component of Forest Health Management program. The Federal lands component helps the USFS, National Park Service, and other federal agencies counter pests that have spread to more rural/wildland areas.
    • Research and Development (R&D) program supports research into pest-host relationships, introduction & spread pathways, management strategies (including biocontrol) and host resistance breeding

Since 2010, several new tree-killing pests have been detected in the US, including polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, spotted lanternfly, two rapid ʻōhiʻa death pathogens, and Mediterranean oak beetle. Over the same period. the Asian longhorned beetle has been detected in two new states – Ohio and South Carolina; the emerald ash borer expanded its range from 14 to 35 states; laurel wilt disease spread from five states to 11; a second strain of the sudden oak death fungus appeared in Oregon and California forests; and whitebark pine has been proposed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for listing as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. (I have blogged often about policy failures that have contributed to these introductions; today I am focused on agencies’ ability to respond.)

Funding agencies’ essential programs has fallen behind these calamities.  APHIS funding has been steady or has risen slowly – at least not dropping – but not enough to deal with the growing threat.

Meanwhile, the key USFS programs have been cut by half or more. In 2010, USFS FHP and Research, together, allocated $32 million to efforts to understand and manage a dozen introduced pests: Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, sudden oak death, hemlock woolly adelgid, goldspotted oak borer, laurel wilt, thousand cankers disease, European gypsy moth, Port-Orford cedar root disease, Sirex woodwasp, and white pine blister rust (especially on whitebark pine). By 2021, this total had fallen to about $10 million. There was no indication that any USFS R&D funding has been allocated to recently detected, highly damaging pests, i.e., rapid ʻōhiʻa death, the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, Mediterranean oak beetle, or beech leaf disease. USFS FHP has funded work on some of these pests through its “emerging pest” fund – but that fund is limited to $500,000 for the entire country.

At present, more than 228 tree species growing in the “lower 48” states are infested by an exotic pest. The 15 most damaging of the introduced species threaten 41.1% of the total live forest biomass in the 48 conterminous states. Additional trees on the Hawaiian and other Pacific islands are also being killed by non-native insects and pathogens. Non-native forest pests have caused a 5% increase in total mortality by tree volume nation-wide. The greatest increases in mortality rates have been a four-fold increase for redbay; and a three-fold increase each for ash, beech, and hemlock.

Introductions of tree-killing pests occur because we import things! The highly damaging wood-borers can arrive in crates, pallets, and other forms of packaging made of wood. Other pests – especially plant diseases – come here on imported plants. Gypsy moth and spotted lanternfly egg masses can be attached to virtually any hard surface, e.g., steel slabs, vehicles, stone, containers, or ship superstructures.

Imports from Asia pose a particularly high risk – illustrated by the Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, sudden oak death, and spotted lanternfly.

U.S. imports from Asia rose almost a third between 2019 and 2020. No part of the country is safe. While nearly half of imports from Asia enter via Los Angeles/Long Beach, California, another 21% entered via New York – New Jersey and Savannah. Other ports in the “Top 10” were the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma, Oakland, Norfolk, Houston, Charleston, Baltimore, and Mobile.

Pests don’t stay in the cities where they first arrive. Instead, they proliferate and spread to other vulnerable trees – often assisted by people moving firewood, plants or household goods. For example, less than 20 years after their first detections, the emerald ash borer has spread to 35 states, the redbay ambrosia beetle to 11.

[For more information, read my earlier blogs posted here or species-specific descriptions here.]

Please contact your Representative and Senators and urge them to push for increased funding for key programs managed by these two agencies.  I describe funding needs below.  I list members of the appropriate Congressional subcommittees at the end of this blog.

APHIS headquarters

USDA APHIS programs (all included under “Plant Protection and Quarantine”)

APHIS ProgramFY 2020 (millions)FY 2021 (millions)FY 2022 ask
Tree & Wood Pest$60.000$60.456$70 million
Specialty Crops$192.000$196.553$200 million
Pest Detection$27.446$27.733$30 million
Methods Development$20.686$20.844$25 million

APHIS’ “Tree & Wood Pests” account has traditionally supported eradication and control efforts targeting only three insects: the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), emerald ash borer (EAB), and gypsy moth. The program to eradicate the ALB has received about two-thirds of the funds — $40 million. There is encouraging progress in Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. Clearly, this program must be maintained until final success is achieved. Plus the program must now counter the Charleston, South Carolina, outbreak, where more than 4,000 infested trees have been detected in an area of 58 square miles. (See my blog here, which describes the difficult conditions arising from wetlands in South Carolina.)

APHIS has terminated its emerald ash borer regulatory program, which had previously been funded at about $7 million per year. (See my blog). APHIS has said it will now focus on production and release of biocontrol agents, although it has not indicated the funding level. It is probable that EAB will now spread more rapidly to the mountain and Pacific Coast states, threatening both riparian woodlands and urban forests.

APHIS’ “Specialty Crops” program funds APHIS’ regulation of nursery operations to prevent spread of the sudden oak death pathogen. APHIS must improve that program to avoid a repetition of the 2019 incident, in which plants infected by the SOD pathogen were shipped to 14 states.

This budget line also supports efforts to manage the spotted lanternfly, which has spread from Pennsylvania to seven other mid-Atlantic states.

The “Pest Detection” budget line supports the collaborative state –federal program that detects newly introduced pests. Successful eradication and containment programs depend on early detection.

The “Methods Development” program assists APHIS in developing detection and eradication tools essential for an effective response to new pests.

USDA Forest Service

USFS PROGRAMFY20FY21  FY 22  ask
FHP Coop Lands$32 M$30.747M$51 million (to cover both program work & personnel costs)
FHP Federal lands$19 M$15.485M$25 million (ditto)
    
Research & Develop$305 million$258.7 million; of which about $3.6 million allocated to invasive species$320 million; seek report language specifying $5 million for invasive species

The Mission of the USDA Forest Service is “To sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.” To achieve this mission, the Forest Service needs adequate funding to address the difficult challenge of containing the spread of introduced pests, protecting host tree species from mortality caused by those pests, and restoring decimated tree species to the forest. Meeting this challenge requires gaining scientific understanding of the pest’s and host’s biology and what motivates people to avoid activities that facilitate pests’ spread (e.g., transporting firewood that might harbor wood-boring insects).

Given the hundreds of damaging non-native pests, the Forest Service must set priorities. One attempt to do so is “Project CAPTURE” (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest Trees Under Risk of Extirpation). Priority species for forests on the continent are listed below. A separate study is under way for forests in Hawai`i, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

  • Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia)
  • American chestnut (Castanea dentata) 
  • Allegheny chinquapin (C. pumila)
  • Ozark chinquapin (C. pumila var. ozarkensis)
  • redbay (Persea borbonia)  
  • Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana)
  • pumpkin ash (F. profunda)
  • Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana)
  • Port-Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
  • tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus)
  • butternut (Juglans cinerea) 
  • eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
  • white ash (Fraxinus americana)
  • black ash (F. nigra)
  • green ash (F. pennsylvanica).

These 15 priority species should be the focus of both comprehensive gene conservation programs and tree breeding and restoration programs. Unfortunately, USFS programs do not reflect this recommendation.

Forest Health and Management Programs  (FHM)

Despite severe cuts (see above), FHM has continued its commitment to projects addressing Port-Orford-cedar root disease, threats to whitebark pine, and thousand cankers disease; plus it is support for managing “lingering” ash which appear to survive EAB attack. However, I am concerned about past reductions in programs targetting laurel wilt and sudden oak death. And as I noted above, several highly-damaging pests lack a “program” at all. I applaud establishment of an “emerging pest” line. However, competition will be fierce for the $500,000 – pitting the invasive shot hole borers in California against the coconut rhinoceros beetle and rapid ‘ōhi‘a death in Hawai`i, against beech leaf disease in Ohio to Massachusetts.

And where is federal leadership on managing continued spread of the emerald ash borer, now that the USDA APHIS has terminated its regulatory program?

USDA Forest Service Forest and Rangeland Research Program

Effective programs to prevent, suppress, and eradicate non-native pests depend on understanding of the pest-host relationship gained through research. In recent years, about 1.5% of the USFS Research budget has been allocated to the non-native pests listed above. Past reductions have hit programs targetting hemlock woolly adelgid, white pine blister rust, sudden oak death, and the Sirex woodwasp. Programs targetting several other high-impact pests, including the Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, goldspotted oak borer, thousand cankers disease, and laurel wilt have been funded at a steady rate. I could find no documentation of USDA Forest Service research into beech leaf disease, rapid ʻōhiʻa death, or other pests currently killing trees.

Members of Key Congressional Committees

Note that some Representatives or Senators are members of subcommittees that fund both APHIS and the USFS. It is especially important that they hear from their constituents!

APHIS is funded through the Agriculture appropriations bill. Members of the House Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development:

  • Sanford Bishop Jr., Chairman              GA
  • Chellie Pingree                                     ME
  • Mark Pocan                                         WI
  • Lauren Underwood                              IL
  • Barbara Lee                                         CA
  • Betty McCollum                                  MN
  • Debbie Wasserman Schultz                FL
  • Henry Cuellar                                      TX
  • Grace Meng                                         NY
  • Jeff Fortenberry, Ranking Member   NE
  • Robert Aderholt                                   AL
  • Andy Harris                                         MD
  • David Valadao                                     CA
  • John Moolenaar                                     MI
  • Dan Newhouse                                       WA

Members of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development:

  • Tammy Baldwin, Chair                                  WI
  • John Merkley                                                   OR
  • Dianne Feinstein                                             CA
  • Jon Tester                                                        MT
  • Patrick Leahy                                                   VT
  • Brian Schatz                                                    HI
  • Martin Heinrich                                                NM
  • Ranking Republican John Hoeven                ND      
  • Mitch McConnell                                             KY
  • Susan Collins                                                   ME
  • Roy Blunt                                                        MO
  • Jerry Moran                                                     KS
  • Cindy Hyde-Smith                                           MS
  • Mike Braun                                                      IN

The USFS is funded through the Interior appropriations bill. Members of the House Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies: add states

  • Chellie Pingree, Chair                          ME
  • Betty McCollum                                  MN
  • Derek Kilmer                                       WA
  • Josh Harder                                         CA
  • Susie Lee                                             NV
  • Marcy Kaptur                                      OH
  • Matt Cartwright                                   PA
  • David Joyce, Ranking Member         NC
  • Mike Simpson                                      ID
  • Chris Stewart                                       UT
  • Mark Amodei                                      NV

Members of the Senate Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies:

  • Jeff Merkley, chair                              OR
  • Dianne Feinstein                                  CA
  • Patrick Leahy                                       VT
  • Jack Reed                                            RI
  • Jon Tester                                            MT
  • Chris van Hollen                                  MD
  • Martin Heinrich                                      NM
  • Ranking Rep. Lisa Murkowski             AK
  • Roy Blunt                                            MO
  • Mitch McConnell                                 KY
  • Shelly Moore Capito                            WV
  • Cindy Hyde-Smith                               MS  
  • Bill Hagerty                                         TN
  • Marco Rubio                                        FL

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Asian longhorned beetle – Eradication in South Carolina will be Extremely Difficult

arrows indicate red maples in the swamps of ALB regulated site in South Carolina
photo by David Coyle

The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is one of the most threatening of the hundreds of non-native insects and pathogens introduced to American forests since European colonization began 400 years ago. The ALB attacks about 100 species of trees in 12 or 13 genera; it prefers maples, poplars, willows, and elms. Forests with substantial components of susceptible species constitute 10% of forests on the U.S. mainland and nearly all of Canada’s hardwoods.  Host trees species also make up a significant proportion of trees in urban areas.  A two-decade old estimate is that ALB could cause more than $1.2 billion in damage to urban trees [Coyle et al. 2021; full citation at the end of the blog]. The contemporary estimate would be higher.

The ALB began showing up in imports and in warehouses less than a dozen years after the U.S. opened trade with China [see Chapter 3 of Fading Forests II; url provided at the end of this blog]. Now there is a new infestation in South Carolina that threatens to be the most difficult to eradicate. Given the level of resources and extended commitment this will demand from APHIS and South Carolina, I worry that the agencies and Congress will give up. To find more money, will the agency take funds from other pests that also need to be addressed? Will it seek – and receive – emergency funding? Congress is currently considering funding for APHIS for the fiscal year that begins in October. Let’s inform them of the need to ensure adequate resources to carry forward necessary eradication efforts.  

ALB in the U.S.: 25 Years of Repeated Infestations and Eradications

The first established ALB population to be detected was that in Brooklyn, New York, in 1996. Since then, seven more outbreaks have been detected in the United States [Poland et al. 2021; South Carolina press release] plus two in Canada. Several populations have been eradicated: a single population in Illinois, several populations in New Jersey, three populations in New York; a small outlying population in Ohio (APHIS newsletter Feb 2021); and two Canadian outbreaks.

Despite the U.S. and Canada having adopted regulations requiring treatment of wood packaging from China effective January 1999, ALB larvae continue to be detected in wood packaging from that country.  Between 2012 and 2017, the ALB was intercepted six times in wood packaging made of Populus wood – each time originating from a single wood-treatment facility in China (Krishnankutty et al. 2020 – full citation at the end of the blog).

Port of Charleston; photo by Walter Lagrenne, South Carolina Port Authority

ALB Near Charleston, S.C.: Recently Detected; Must be Eradicated

The most recent detection is near Charleston, South Carolina. As usual, a beetle was found by a member of the public. Dendrological studies indicate that this infestation was seven years old at the time of its detection in May 2020, meaning it began about 2013 (Coyle et al. 2021). As the authors note, it has proved impossible to determine whether the South Carolina outbreak resulted from transport of infested wood from the Ohio outbreak or from China directly.  Lots of visitors travel from the Midwest to South Carolina every winter. The center of the primary area of infestation includes a railway and an RV park which might be utilized by such travelers. On the other hand, two ports that receive high volumes of incoming shipping containers including wood packaging are nearby — Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA (Coyle et al. 2021).  Charleston imported almost 666,000 containers (measured as 20-foot equivalents, or TEUs) in 2013.

Even under the best circumstances, eradicating an ALB infestation is difficult. Eradicating the Chicago outbreak took ten years [Poland et al. 2021]; eradicating the Brooklyn infestation took 23 years [APHIS ALB newsletter]. Massachusetts might be on the verge of eradicating the Worcester outbreak twelve years after it was detected because only one infested tree was found in 2020 [Felicia Hubacz at Northeast Forest Pest Council meeting, March 2021]

Eradication entails removing large numbers of trees – more than 171,000 in the Northeast and Midwest; and pesticide treatment of at least 800,000 [Poland et al. 2021]. Tens of thousands of trees must be inspected – especially in areas with significant woodland areas like the South Carolina site. In Clermont County, Ohio, 3,500,000 trees have been surveyed in the regulated area – which is 56 square miles [APHIS newsletter]

In South Carolina, APHIS and the state are already regulating 72.6 mi2 — and that is before the full extent of the infestation has been delimited. This regulated area is larger than the Ohio and New York regulated areas, although smaller than that in Massachusetts (110 mi2 Coyle et al.). As of February 2021, 4,425 infested trees have been identified (APHIS newsletter]. Ninety-eight percent are red maples; half of the others are willows (Coyle et al.) In May 2021, APHIS expanded the quarantine zone to 76.4 square miles (APHIS press release May 21, 2021).

So APHIS and South Carolina face a great deal of hard work. But acreage and numbers of trees affected don’t convey the real extent of the challenge.

The first challenge is anticipating the timing of events in the ALB life cycle. Scientists understand a great deal about the ALB life cycle. However, that knowledge all applies to areas with temperate climates such as the U.S. northeast, southern Canada, and Europe. South Carolina has a subtropical climate. How will the warmer climate affect the beetle’s speed of development, timing of emergence, etc. Already, dendrologial studies indicate that the ALB in South Carolina might complete development from egg to mature adult much faster – in less than a year rather than one to four years (Coyle et al.)

working conditions in the South Carolina swamps;
photo by David Coyle

An even bigger challenge will be trying to carry out searches for infested trees and standard responses. Removing infested trees and removing or applying pesticides to at-risk host trees is standard practice. Much of the regulated area has standing water and/or saturated soil. These conditions – plus the presence of venomous snakes and alligators – make visual surveys from the ground or by tree climbers difficult. Use of lifts and bucket trucks will be impossible. When infested trees are found, felling trees in swampy conditions presents a heighted risk for felling crews. And it will be impossible to operate the equipment needed to remove or chip infested trees (Coyle et al.). I believe it is impossible to use soil injection to treat at-risk trees under such conditions.

SOURCES

Coyle, D.R., R.T. Trotter, M.S. Bean, and S.E. Pfister. 2021. First Recorded Asian Longhorned Beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Infestation in the Southern United States.  Journal of Integrated Pest Management, (2021) 12(1): 10; 1–6

Krishnankutty,  S., H. Nadel, A.M. Taylor, M.C. Wiemann, Y. Wu, S.W. Lingafelter, S.W. Myers, and A.M. Ray. 2020b. Identification of Tree Genera Used in the Construction of Solid Wood-Packaging Materials That Arrived at U.S. Ports Infested With Live Wood-Boring Insects. Commodity Treatment and Quarantine Entomology

Poland, T.M., T. Patel-Weynand, D.M. Finch, C.F. Miniat, D.C. Hayes, V.M. Lopez. 2021. Invasive Species in Forests and Rangelands of the United States. Springer.

USDA APHIS Asian longhorned beetle monthly newsletter for March 2021. Sign up here https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/asian-longhorned-beetle/ALB-eNewsletter  

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Pests in Northeastern Forests: What’s Alarming, What’s Not

map showing spread of beech scale, which facilitates beech bark disease

I recently participated in the 2021 annual meeting of the Northeast Forest Pest Council (virtual, of course). Speakers – most of them from state forestry agencies, but including students – presented a disturbing picture. Numerous established insects and diseases continue to spread. In some cases, they are resurging after weather-caused slow-downs. There are also a few bright spots.

The Alarming

To me the most alarming situation is that for American beech – because all three threats continue to expand.

Beech bark disease  Since 2000, BBD has spread across southern Quebec into Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin; the Blue Ridge in Virginia; and central New Jersey.

Beech leaf disease  Originally discovered near Cleveland in 2012, BLD has been spreading, primarily eastward.

BLD was detected for the first time in Massachusetts, in Plymouth and Bristol counties (on the coast North of Cape Cod). It might also be in Worcester. Both American and European beech trees of all sizes are affected; some of the largest are “on the verge” of death. (Felicia Hubacz)

The first detections in New Jersey are in Bergen and Essex counties – bordering southern New York. Both detections were by members of the public. Rosa Yoo says there is confusion about which state agency has the lead, so no official notices have been published (although the detection is recorded on the map). She hopes to establish long-term monitoring plots.

West Virginia now says that BLD is present in Tomlinson Run State Park in Hancock County. Kristen Carrington plans to focus detection efforts on the state’s norther panhandle which rises along the Pennsylvania border. She has established seven long-term monitoring plots.

Meanwhile, states where BLD was detected earlier continue to add new counties to the list of those infested. In New York, five new counties have been recorded. All the New York State finds have been on public lands, so the map doesn’t present the full picture (Carlson). In Connecticut, the disease is in all coastal counties and is more scattered in inland areas. Connecticut has set up some long-term monitoring plots. (Stafford)

New York is also trying to identify insect species associated with beech trees and beech litter – as a first step in trying to determine whether any vector the nematode that is thought to cause the disease. I suggest that it is also useful to understand which arthropod species might be at risk as beech decline. Don’t folks often lament the lack of this information for chestnut? Aren’t scientists praised for compiling initial lists for insects associated with ash?

Beech leaf mining weevil According to Jeff Ogden of the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry, this weevil has defoliated trees on 5987 hectares. First detected near Halifax in 2012, the weevil is now found throughout Nova Scotia. Some trees near Halifax have died.  Ogden believes the weevil could be spread on movement of logs with bark and leaf litter. Camping is very popular in Nova Scotia, so the firewood risk appears real.

Also alarming is the resurgence of hemlock woolly adelgid across the region. HWA had been suppressed for a few years by harsh winters, but that reprieve is over.  HWA is in 52 of 55 West Virginia counties (Kristen Carrington). Newly detected outbreaks are found across Pennsylvania and in the Adirondacks of New York. HWA continues to spread north – slowly – in New Hampshire and Vermont. In Nova Scotia, the outbreak detected in 2018 is spreading slowly to the West (Jeff Ogden).

All states are releasing a variety of biocontrol agents, often Laricobius nigrinus but also L. osakensis.  Various agents have been released for decades — for example, Connecticut has released more than 125,000 agents over more than 20 years. I do hope the two Laricobius beetles prove to be more effective in controlling the agelgid.

Several states note that elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa) is now at least as damaging as the adelgid.

Pennsylvania is growing hemlocks for restoration purposes; New Jersey has begun a similar program. See my earlier blog about efforts to breed hemlocks resistant to the adelgid, available here.

Spotted lanternfly is now established in nine states — from Ohio and West Virginia to Connecticut. It continues to spread. In the longer-established infestation areas of southeastern Pennsylvania, black walnut has been severely damaged by early instar larvae. In New Jersey, eight counties are under quarantine, but the insect has been detected much more broadly. The newest state is Connecticut, which found populations in several counties and is drafting quarantine regulations. Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont have found some egg masses or evidence of infestation on goods entering from Pennsylvania, but not yet an established population.

The Not So Alarming — but Still Concerning

Asian Longhorned Beetle Massachusetts is consistently finding fewer trees infested by the ALB. In 2020, they found only one! It was isolated in the middle of a golf course. Intensive surveys and trapping in the vicinity found no other infested tree.

This is great news! However, I worry that resources will be withdrawn too soon – especially with APHIS’ need to fund an eradication program for the same pest in a swampy forest area in South Carolina where it will be difficult to work. Already Massachusetts reported that it has fewer traps and staff, and some difficulties accessing the lure.

Early Detection Efforts

New Jersey and West Virginia have carried out surveys of sassafras stands for the redbay ambrosia beetle (also here). West Virginia is also surveying for Phytophthora ramorum (the sudden oak death pathogen) and walnut twig beetle (vector of thousand cankers disease). Funding for surveys of the former probably came from USFS Forest Health Protection; for the latter, from APHIS. I applaud these “early detection” efforts.

Too Late for “Early Detection” but Getting Welcome the Attention

New Hampshire noted rising concern about Jumping worms. The state has received 48 complaints since 2017; 43 of these were in 2020. This led to a spirited discussion about invasive worms’ impacts. Don Eggen noted that concern focuses on soils in unglaciated regions. Non-native worms can destroy the duff layer. Most of the research has been carried out in the Midwest. See my earlier blogs about invasive earthworms here.

Tim Tomon reported that the USFS Morgantown WV research office has sampled the Allegheny NF. They have found other invasive earthworms but not jumping worms. Rosa Yoo of New Jersey alerted participants to the jumping worm research and management group – JWORM 

Other Updates

Beech leaf disease 

The USDA Forest Service has published a Pest Alert on BLD. Google it now. When a url becomes available I will update this notice. The flyer includes contact information for a site that provides both detection training and a place to record your finds.  

Sudden Oak Death

The EU1 strain was detected in forest trees in Del Norte County, California in autumn 2020. This detection was both the first officially confirmed detection of P. ramorum in Del Norte County and the first detection of the EU1 strain in forest trees in California. The source is unclear. The nearest infestation is 12 miles away, along the Winchuk River in Curry County, OR; those trees are infected with the NA1 strain. The nearest known EU1 infestation is about 35 miles away. The site of the California EU1 infestation has minimal California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica). This detection has led to designation of Del Norte County as officially infested; it becomes the 16th California county so designated. [Information from the California Oak Mortality Task Force newsletter for December 2020, available here.]

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Congressional Action to Protect Trees from Non-Native Pests

Representative Peter Welch (D-VT)

Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont has reintroduced his bill to improve programs intended to prevent introduction of non-native forest pests and enhance efforts to reduce their impacts. The latter provisions include support for breeding trees resistant (or tolerant) to the pest. I hope H.R. 1389 will be adopted – then spur new efforts to conserve and restore forest trees! Please follow my suggestion below.

The Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act H.R. 1389 is co-sponsored by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Annie Kuster & Chris Pappas (NH), and Elise Stefanik (NY).

For updates, visit https://www.congress.gov/search?q={%22congress%22:[%22117%22],%22source%22:%22all%22,%22search%22:%22HR%201389%22}&searchResultViewType=expande

When he introduced the bill, Rep. Welch said 

“Invasive species are devastating to forests which are a central part of Vermont’s economy and our way of life. This bill will fund efforts to revitalize damaged forests and highlight the need for making this a priority within the federal government.”

Major provisions of H.R. 1389:

  • Expands USDA APHIS’ access to emergency funding to combat invasive species when existing federal funds are insufficient and broadens the range of actives that these funds can support.
  • Establishes a grant program to support institutions focused on researching methods to restore native tree species that have been severely damaged by invasive pests.
  • Authorizes funding to implement promising research findings on how to protect native tree species.
  • Mandates a study to identify actions needed to overcome the lack of centralization and prioritization of non-native insect and pathogen research and response within the federal government, and develop national strategies for saving tree species.

As I have described in earlier blogs, the measures adopted by federal and state governments to prevent non-native pathogen and insect pest introductions – and the funding to support this work – have been insufficient to meet the growing challenges. In just the past decade, several new tree-killing pests have been detected: polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, spotted lanternfly, two rapid ʻōhiʻa death pathogens, Mediterranean oak beetle, velvet longhorned beetle. Over the same period, the Asian longhorned beetle has been detected in Ohio and South Carolina; the emerald ash borer expanded its range from 14 to 35 states; the redbay ambrosia beetle and its associated fungus spread from five states to 11; a second strain of the sudden oak death fungus appeared in Oregon forests; and whitebark pine has been proposed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for listing as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

During this same period, funding for the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection program has been cut by about 50%; funding for USFS Research projects targetting 10 high-profile non-native pests has been cut by about 70%.

One reason for this disconnect between need and resources is that the non-native tree pest problem is largely out of sight and therefore does not lend itself to the long-term public attention needed to remediate the threats. It is up to us to raise the political profile of these issues.

On the positive side, the passage of time has brought forth new solutions, a deeper understanding of the genetics of plants and animals, new measures for igniting public awareness and invasive identification, new technologies and strategies for helping trees adapt, and a recognition of what resources and organization it will take to mount a proper solution to the problem.

“Project CAPTURE” (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest Trees Under Risk of Extirpation) has proposed priority species for enhanced conservation efforts. Top priorities in the continental states are listed below. A separate study is under way for forests in Hawai`i, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

dead redbay on Jekyll Island, Georgia
  • Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia)
  • American chestnut (Castanea dentata) 
  • Allegheny chinquapin (C. pumila)
  • Ozark chinquapin (C. pumila var. ozarkensis)
  • redbay (Persea borbonia)  
  • Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana)
  • pumpkin ash (F. profunda)
  • Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana)
  • Port-Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
  • tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus)
  • butternut (Juglans cinerea) 
  • eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
  • white ash (Fraxinus americana)
  • black ash (F. nigra)
  • green ash (F. pennsylvanica).

For a brief explanation of Project CAPTURE, see my earlier blog here. For an in-depth description of the Project CAPTURE process and criteria for setting priorities, read Potter, K.M., M.E. Escanferla, R.M. Jetton, and G. Man. 2019. Important Insect and Disease Threats to United States Tree Species and Geographic Patterns of Their Potential Impacts. Forests 2019, 10. https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/58290

Please ask your representative to co-sponsor H.R. 1389. Please ask your senators to sponsor a companion bill. For more information, contact Alex Piper at Alex.Piper@mail.house.gov or 202-306-6569 .

H.R. 1389 is endorsed by Vermont Woodlands Association, American Forest Foundation, Center for Invasive Species Prevention, the Reduce Risk from Invasive Species Coalition,, Entomological Society of America, and North American Invasive Species Management Association.

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Ambrosia Beetles: Not All the Same (laurel wilt v. shot hole borers)

Horton House on Jekyll Island, Georgia – when the redbays were still alive!
photo by Faith Campbell

A recent USFS book on invasive species reports that at least 58 species of bark and ambrosia beetles have been established in the US.  Recent studies highlight very different situations due to two invasive ambrosia beetles. Here are summaries of each.

1. Laurel Wilt: Unmitigated Disaster in Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains – and Possibly More Widely

The disease laurel wilt, caused by the pathogen Raffaelea lauricola and vectored primarily by the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) presents a dire contrast. (For this section, see Olatinwo, Fraedrich & Mayfield. 2021; full reference at end of the blog.) In the nearly 20 years since its first detection near Savannah, Georgia in 2002, laurel wilt has spread across more than 100 counties and parishes in 11 states from North Carolina south through Florida, west to eastern Texas, and as far northward as Kentucky.

Laurel wilt has killed hundreds of millions of trees in the plant family Lauraceae. Approximately 13 Lauraceae species in eight genera (depending on taxonomic proclivities!) are indigenous to the U.S. Individual species’ vulnerability appears to depend largely on size; the beetle is attracted to vertical stems of a certain diameter. As a result, the native tree species redbay (Persea borbonia), swampbay (Persea borbonia var. pubescens or P. palustris), and more recently sassafras (Sassafras albidum) have experienced the most damaging attacks. Also heavily attacked has been the commercial avocado (Persea americana)  which is native to Central America.

sassafras photo by David Moynihan

While redbay is widespread in a defined geographic area – a long the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain from North Carolina to Texas, sassafras is subcontinental: it is found in 28 states, 53 ecoregions, and 69 forest types. Approximately 80% of sassafras in affected areas have been killed. In recent years, spread has proceeded by many “jumps” to disjunct areas where sassafras occurs in isolation from other hosts. At present, approximately 52% of the range of sassafras might experience winter temperatures sufficiently cold to cause significant mortality of the redbay ambrosia beetle. However, this temperature protection is likely to decline to about10% of sassafras’ range as a result of even modest climate change (a 1.4 °C increase in winter minimum temperatures).

The ecological impact of loss of redbay and sassafrass are not clear. Both are sources of wildlife food. The principal specialist on redbay is the Palamedes swallowtail butterfly (Papilio palamedes), which is also the primary pollinator of a rare plant, yellow-fringed orchid. The rapid loss of swampbay on tree islands in the Everglades could facilitate establishment of even more individuals of the already widespread invasive plant species Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) or Melaleuca quinquenervia.

Other U.S. native plant species in the Lauracea family are apparently partially protected by the small diameter of their stems, which the beetle doesn’t find acceptable. These include – in the Southeast — the federally listed pondberry (Lindera melissifolia), “species of interest” pondspice (Litsea aestivalis), bog spicebush (Lindera subcoriacea), pepperleaf sweetwood (Licaria trianda), lancewood (Ocotea coriacea), and love-vine (Cassytha filiformis). The common shrub spicebush (Lindera benzoin) might be protected by its possession oflower quantities of the primary host volatile attractant. On the other hand, the widespread Pacific state shrub California laurel or Oregon myrtle (Umbellularia californica) is considered highly vulnerable, should laurel wilt be moved there in wood, mulch, or nursery plants.

Laurel wilt poses an unknown threat to the many plant species in the Lauraceae in Central and South America (750 species), Australia (125 species), Madagascar (135 species), and the Macaronesian Islands off the coasts of Europe and Africa – the Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira. The commercial spice bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) is native to the Mediterranean region (and planted elsewhere, including in the US). However, its small size, discontinuous distribution and isolation from other lauraceous host species might prevent development of a widespread epidemic.

The authors note the absence of effective measures to manage laurel wilt 20 years after its detection. They recommend restricting long-distance movement of infested wood, associated public awareness efforts, development and deployment of resistant hosts, silviculture (sanitation), targeted application of preventive chemical treatments for protecting high-value trees, and severing root grafts in avocado orchards and sassafras clones. They note that success will be dependent on sustained funding and a commitment to long-term area-wide implementation.

[As I noted in past blogs about APHIS deregulating the emerald ash borer, it is now up to the states to regulate movement of firewood. The lead will continue to be the non-governmental “Don‘t Move Firewood” campaign. The message will continue to encourage the public to buy firewood where they burn it and to refrain from moving firewood from areas that are under Federal quarantine for other pests of firewood (e.g., Asian longhorned beetle). This campaign and the new National Plant Board guidelines stress that firewood is a high-risk pathway for many pests of national or regional concern; they do not focus on any particular species. Leigh Greenwood, director of Don’t Move Firewood, thinks this is a good approach.]

Mayfield adds that the spread northwards on sassafras means that state diagnostic pathology labs should familiarize themselves with protocols for isolating the laurel wilt pathogen.

As to developing resistant varieties of redbay, I note that Potter et al. 2019 ranked redbay as fifth species highest in priority for genetic conservation and restoration breeding efforts. However, it is my impression that few federal resources have been allocated to such an effort on behalf of redbay.

2. Ambrosia beetles in California

At least 22 of the recently-established ambrosia and bark beetles are in California. Heavily urbanized southern California appears to be particularly vulnerable to such introductions. The proximity of ship traffic and associated cargo, as well as the great diversity of potential hosts in the area’s urban forests, are likely to blame.

Two such pests are the polyphagous (PSHB) and Kuroshio (KSHB) shot hole borers [collectively, invasive shot hole borers (ISHB)]. John Boland has studied the KSHB outbreak in the Tijuana River estuary intensively since 2015. Two recent studies – 2019 and 2021– demonstrate the importance of ecological and tree-related factors in determining the severity of attack by this ambrosia beetle. See references at the end of the blog.

The most susceptible site is wet and nutrient enriched (in the case of the Tijuana River, due to pollution).

The most susceptible trees are young, fast growing, and have thin bark (allowing KSHB access) and wood of low density and high moisture content (providing ideal conditions for KSHB and associated fungi).

willows killed by KSHB in Tijuana River estuary; photo by John Boland

As Boland has noted, all of these conditions occurred in the “wet” forests close to perpetual streams in the Tijuana River delta in 2015. These factors led to dramatic levels of mortality, which have not been equaled in other southern California deltas. In the five years from 2015 to 2020, the beetle/fungus complex infested an estimate 350,000 willows and killed an estimated 123,000 in a boom-and-bust cycle. Since 2016, the trees in the Tijuana River estuary have regrown to almost pre-infestation dimensions.  (Boland is not certain why these new, fast-growing trees have not been attacked by the KSHB that remain in the area. He suggests that a local pathogen, parasite, parasitoid or predator is keeping the KSHB in check – although this has not been verified.)

Willows near the main river channel (“Wet Forest” units) cumulatively had a fatality rate of 39%. Strikingly, more distant “Dry Forest” units had a combined fatality rate of only 9%.

The 2019 study linked the higher rates of infestation, damage, and mortality that occurred in trees near the main river channel to the presence of year-round water that was often enriched by a heavy load of sewage. The trees respond by growing rapidly, resulting in thinner bark and less dense wood. The KSHB attacked in much higher numbers, impeding water transport and weakening the trees’ structure so that they were more easily broken during windstorms.

The 2021 study provided further detail. By comparing bark samples cut from 27 infested trees at the height of the infestation, in 2016 – 17, Boland and Woodward demonstrated thicker bark on the “Dry Forest” trees protected the trees by limiting the density of KSHB entry points. The fewer holes reduced internal structural damage to the trees, which allowed them to survive. Boland notes that the protection might arise from either the bark thickness itself, or higher quantities of protective chemicals.

Repercussions

  • The results suggest that a KSHB individual actively searches for a suitable tree and then searches for the thinnest bark on that tree in which to drill its hole. 
  • Trees can recover from KSHB attack, indicating that the fungal symbionts are only moderately pathogenic at worst.
  • The ISHB are likely to cause much less damage than indicated by the one early model developed before these factors were understood. We need new models for ISHB spread and impact that incorporate these factors of site characteristics and host tree condition.

SOURCES

Boland, J.M. 2019. The Ecology and Management of the Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer in the Tijuana River Valley Final Report. (Year 5) https://trnerr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/KSHB-TRValley2020.pdf

Boland J.M. and D.L. Woodward. 2021. Thick bark can protect trees from a severe ambrosia beetle attack. PeerJ 9:e10755 https://peerj.com/articles/10755/

[all of Boland’s reports and articles on the KSHB are available at: The Ecology and Management of the Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer in the Tijuana River Valley — Tijuana Estuary : TRNERR]

Olatinwo, R.O., S.W. Fraedrich & A.E. Mayfield III. 2021. Forests 2021, 12, 181.  Laurel Wilt: Current and Potential Impacts and Possibilities for Prevention and Management

Potter, K.M., Escanferla, M.E., Jetton, R.M., Man, G., Crane, B.S.  2019. Prioritizing the conservation needs of US tree spp: Evaluating vulnerability to forest P&P threats, Global Ecology and Conservation (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.gecco.2019.e00622.

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Bureau of Customs Strengthens Programs Aimed at Preventing Insect Introductions in Wood Packaging

This February marks 15 years since USDA began full implementation of ISPM#15. It is 22 years since the U.S. and Canada began requiring China to treat wood packaging (in response to introductions of the Asian longhorned beetle). Nevertheless, numerous shipments containing wood packaging that does not comply with the international regulations continue to arrive at our borders – and to bring pests. During Fiscal Years 2010 through 2019, CBP detected 7,900 shipments of wood packaging that harbored a pest significant enough to be in a regulated taxonomic group. In 2020, 16.6 million TEU from Asia entered the U.S. (Mongelluzzo Jan 21). If pest approach rates are the same now as 10 years ago, perhaps 6,000 or more of these containers bore wood packaging infested by tree-killing insects.

The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in the Department of Homeland Security, has taken steps to strengthen its programs aimed at getting insects out of the wood packaging pathway (described here).

I wish USDA APHIS took a similarly active stance. You can help by contacting your Congressperson and senators to urge their support effective actions, such as those I suggested in my blog in January.

CPB’s 2017 Improvement

Until November 1, 2017, CBD allowed importers to escape punishment until they had been caught using wood packaging that did not comply with ISPM#15 five times in one year.  On that date, CBD began issuing a penalty under Title 19 United States Code (USC) § 1595a(b) or under 19 USC § 1592 to any party responsible for a shipment with a documented wood packaging violation. At the time, I praised CBP’s action.  I have tried to find out how many times over the past three years CBP has used that new provision to issue penalties, but CBP staff have not replied to my question.   

CPB’s 2020 Improvement

CBD took another step forward in 2020. The agency incorporated measures to clean up solid wood packing material (SWPM) into its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program.  I had been urging this since 2016. It took a while – but CBP used that time to ensure that its action would be integrated into the program and so stay in effect.

CTPAT is a voluntary public-private sector partnership engaging the principle participants in international supply chains — importers, carriers, consolidators, licensed customs brokers, and manufacturers.

By signing on, they agree to help CBP ensure the highest level of cargo security. Specifically, when an entity joins CTPAT, it agrees to work with CBP to protect the supply chain, identify security gaps, and implement specific security measures and best practices.

CTPAT member companies receive several benefits in return. Because they are considered to be of low risk, their shipments are less likely to be examined and delayed at a U.S. port of entry. When they are subjected to inspection, they go to the front of the line – again, reducing costly delays. The CTPAT web-based Portal system provides a library of training materials. (Information from the CBP website; full citation at end of the blog.)

At present, more than 11,400 certified partners have joined the program. These include U.S./Canada highway and rail carriers and Canadian manufacturers – who are not subject to the U.S.’ wood packaging regulation per se. Thus, CBD’s action seems to extend pest-prevention protection to a group of suppliers previously exempted from this phytosanitary program. Inclusion of many Mexican carriers and manufacturers is also welcome, since Mexican suppliers have always ranked high in numbers of shipments that violate the ISPM#15 requirements.

Specific Minimum Security Criteria

CBP’s action took the form of adding a long list of critical new agricultural components to the Minimum Security Criteria (MSC) it already used. These include:

  • Having written procedures for both security and agricultural inspections.
  • Carrying out CTPAT approved security and agricultural inspections of all conveyances and empty Instruments of International Traffic (e.g., shipping tanks, lift vans) prior to loading. The inspection must ensure that they are not contaminated with visible agricultural pests. 
  • If visible pest contamination is found during the inspection, the partner business must wash or vacuum the conveyance to remove such contamination. The company must retain documentation demonstrating compliance for one year.
  • Vessels that visited Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) high-risk areas during periods when the moths are flying must present a pre-departure AGM inspection certificate from an approved entity stating that the vessel is free of AGM life stages. The AGM inspections must be performed at the regulated port as close to vessel departure time as possible. CTPAT sea carriers must provide CPB with two-year port-of-call data at least 96 hours before arrival at a U.S. port.
  • Cargo staging areas, and the immediate surrounding areas, must be inspected on a regular basis to ensure these areas remain free of visible pest contamination. 
  • CTPAT Members must have written procedures designed to prevent visible pest contamination to include compliance with ISPM#15 regulations. Visible pest prevention measures must be adhered to throughout the supply chain.
  • Members must establish and maintain a security training and awareness program to recognize and foster awareness of the security vulnerabilities to facilities, conveyances, and cargo at each point in the supply chain. The training program must be comprehensive and cover all of CTPAT’s security requirements. Personnel in sensitive positions must receive additional specialized training geared toward the responsibilities that the position holds.
  • Drivers and other personnel that conduct security and agricultural inspections of empty conveyances and Instruments of International Traffic (IIT) must be trained to inspect their conveyances/IIT for both security and agricultural purposes. 
  • Training must be provided to applicable personnel on preventing visible pest contamination. Training must encompass pest prevention measures, regulatory requirements applicable to wood packaging materials, and identification of infested wood.

The actual Minimum Security Criteria can be found here.

Training Powerpoints are here.

(The summary of these criteria was provided by Stephen Brady, Senior Agriculture Operations Manager, Agriculture Programs and Trade Liaison, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.)

Inclusion of wood packaging in the CTPAT program should result in more efficient efforts to detect infested wood packaging before shipment — before the insect can reach North America. I believe it is fair to importers in that it requires action based on visible pest presence or damage. I applaud Customs and Border Protection for making the effort – internally and with the shipping industry — to add this protection.

I think fairness would be further served by CBP and APHIS adopting a program to inform importers which foreign suppliers of wood packaging have a record of providing “clean” vs. “infested” wood packaging. The U.S. importers would then be better able to avoid both contributing to the pest risk and being exposed to violation-associated delays.

 SOURCES:

CBP website  

Mongelluzzo, B. US imports from Asia hit record December level. Jan 19, 2021

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

APHIS funding of programs targetting tree pests (& some others)

spotted lanternfly; photograph by Holly Ragusa, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Since Fiscal Year (FY)2009, APHIS has had access to a program that has permanent funding, not subject to the vagaries of annual budgeting and appropriations. The Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program established by 7 U.S.C. Section 7721. The program was initially funded at $12 million for FY2009; $45 million in FY2010; $62.5 million in 2014-2017; and $75 million since FY2018.

Funds are provided under a competitive grants program to universities, states, Federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, non-profits, and Tribal organizations “to conduct critical projects that keep U.S. crops, nurseries, and forests healthy, boost the marketability of agricultural products within the country and abroad, and help us do right and feed everyone.” [USDA press release “USDA Provides $66 Million in Fiscal Year 2019 to Protect Agriculture and Natural Resources from Plant Pests and Diseases” February 15, 2019]

By my calculation, total funding of tree pests projects during the period Fiscal Year (FY09) through FY20 was about $94 million. This represented 15.6% of nearly $600 million in total funding under the program during this period.

In the initial years, forest pest projects received about 10-12% of total funds. In later years, the proportion has been higher – e.g., 30% in FY19, 13.8% in FY20. The early years were dominated by management of the sudden oak death pathogen (SOD), Phytophthora ramorum. In FY09, SOD projects receive $7.5 million, or 8% of all tree pest funding. This funding helped set up the National Ornamental Nursery study center (NORS-DUC); later years paid for research projects on SOD management issues and nursery surveys. 

In the most recent years, funding has been dominated by detection, management, and research on spotted lanternfly – which is not primarily a forest pest. Thus, in FY 19, 56.8% ($10,339,126) of $18,195,000 allocated to tree pests; in FY20, 30% ($2,606,094) of the $8,705,920 allocated to all tree pests.  

The FY2019 program also provided $1,107,965 in 14 states and nationally for P. ramorum survey, diagnostics, mitigation, probability modeling, genetic analysis, and outreach (USDA press release 2019). This was appropriate considering the shipment of SOD-infected plants to nurseries in 18 states in spring 2019.

Current Year Funding

APHIS has released the list of projects funded under the Plant Protection Act Section 7721 in FY2021. Link to website APHIS funded 354 projects in 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, at a total cost of $63.225 million. APHIS is retaining ~ $14 million to allow responses to pest and plant health emergencies. Total funding for forest pests – by my calculation – was $8,715,046 (13.7% of the total).

My analysis finds that in FY21, 13 states had no funded projects that applied to tree pests: Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah.

Most commonly funded projects:

  • Surveys and other efforts addressing wood borers: 37 projects, including
    • Thousand cankers disease: 4 (all surveys)
    • Emerald ash borer: 6 projects (surveys and management, including biocontrol)
    • Asian longhorned beetle: 3, of which 2 are outreach
    • Laurel wilt disease: 1 project
    • Detection tools for wood-borers, including citrus longhorned beetle, Sirex noctilio, Agrilus biguttatus, and Australian Cerambycids
  • Phytophthora ramorum: 20 projects, primarily nursery surveys but including a few management projects. The projects were in 18 states.
  • Surveys for Asian defoliating moths in the Lymantra genus: 15 projects
  • Surveys and control efforts targetting spotted lanternfly: 13 projects in 6 states. These included research conducted by the APHIS Otis laboratory in Massachusetts. The grants totaled $2,788,010, or 32% of total forest pest funding.

APHIS funded 16 outreach projects (there is some overlap with above), including three specifically mentioning firewood. The latter included principal funding for the “Don’t Move firewood” national campaign.

Other projects that I find interesting:

  • 2 projects targetting hemlock woolly adelgid
  • 1 targetting red palm weevil
  • 4 projects targetting Asian giant hornet in Washington and Oregon and the APHIS Otis laboratory. California has a project relating to a wider range of hornets that was also funded in FY20.
  • Biocontrol of several invasive plant species in Florida – Australian pine/Casuarina, Brazilian pepper, and Ailanthus
Harrisia cactus attacked by the mealybug; photo by Yorelyz Rodríguez-Reyes

As readers of this blog know, I also care deeply about threats to our native cacti – especially flat-padded Opuntia and tubular cacti endemic to Puerto Rico. Over the 13 years of program, funded following projects for cacti:

  • FY11  $244,368 for efforts to develop sterile insect methodology to control cactus moth
  • FY17   develop biocontrol for Harissia cactus mealybug $210,000
  • FY19   Harissia cactus mealybug – $355,774; cactus moth $216,243
  • FY20   Harrisia cactus mealybug $301,930
  • FY 21 cactus moth biocontrol $175,659 and $352,236 for Harrisia cactus mealybug biocontrol

Clearly, having access to $75 million that is not subject to the limits imposed by Administration budget priorities or Congressional appropriations has allowed considerable freedom. The fund has allowed APHIS to support work on pests that have not been designated “quarantine pests,” e.g., walnut canker disease of walnut, the polyphagous and Kuroshio shot hole borers, hemlock woolly adelgid, and the cactus pests. The program also funded many projects targetting the spotted lanternfly (SLF) – both before and after the lanternfly became a formal APHIS program (which occurred after it was detected outside Pennsylvania). Now that SLF has been found in several states, funding has partially shifted to appropriated funds. The FY21 appropriation included an additional $4 million for management of SLF; this was incorporated in the “specialty crops” line item.

So far, there has been no funding for beech leaf disease through this program; I don’t know whether any of the people working on this disease had applied.

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Rising Pest Danger to New Regions Parallels Rise in Imports

container ship in Savannah harbor- capacity 6,188 containers; photo by F.T. Campbell

As I have blogged recently U.S. imports have soared since the summer. US imports from Asia during the first 11 months of 2020 were 2% higher than the figure from the first 11 months of 2019, despite the crash in imports in the spring.

The increased volume is not distributed evenly. Asian imports moving through the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles (LA/LB) were 26.5% higher in November 2020 compared to November 2019. As a result, the ports’ marine terminals, longshore labor force, drayage truckers, and import distribution centers cannot keep up. As of early January, 62 container ships were at LA/LB – 29 being offloaded and 33 ships at anchor awaiting berths. Nineteen additional arrivals were scheduled within a few days. This is the largest backup in Southern California since the disruptions associated with the 2014-15 West Coast longshore labor dispute (Mongelluzzo, B. January 4, 2021).

As a result of the long delays at LA/LB, plus port expansion under way at other ports, the volume of imports entering elsewhere is rising – with a commensurate increase in the pest risk associated with wood packaging material there.

Imports from Asia through the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) of Seattle and Tacoma increased 9.9% in November 2020 compared to November 2019.  Imports through Oakland were up 2.2% year over year (Mongelluzzo, B. January 4, 2021). These ports’ proportion of imports from Asia should rise even higher in the future. One company has begun a premium service from China directly to Oakland and Seattle. Shippers are expected to welcome this as an opportunity to avoid the congestion at LA/LB. Oakland also offers access to the large and affluent San Francisco Bay area, as well as rail transport to inland hubs such as Chicago, Memphis, Dallas, and Kansas City.

The principal disadvantage is that these ports can handle only ships carrying 3,500 to 6,500 TEU capacity [twenty-foot equivalent units; a standard measurement that counts incoming volume as though contained in twenty-foot-long containers] (Mongelluzzo, B. January 04, 2021). Other ports, e.g., LA/LB and Savannah, routinely handle ships carrying 10,000 or more TEUs.

As I have noted in earlier blogs, US Gulf Coast ports are expanding capacity significantly to handle vessels larger their current10,000 TEU limit. The Port of Houston is adding a new deepwater container berth and expanding its ship channel. At New Orleans, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the lower reaches of the Mississippi River. The Port of Mobile also has a dredging project under way. Tampa Bay plans to double its capacity over the next five years (Angell, January 4, 2021).

The Port of Savannah currently has 9 berths served by 36 cranes. The Port plans to increase capacity by 45% over the next decade – from 5.5 million TEUs to 8 million TEUs per year (https://gaports.com/facilities/port-of-savannah/). 

 Government Agencies’ Involvement

These port expansions are partially funded by U.S. government agencies. The Department of Transportation funds development of onshore facilities, while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carries out dredging of the waterways. We should insist that the environmental impact statements evaluating these projects include consideration of the invasive species risks associated with increased ship traffic. Potential harm comes from a wide range of organisms, which put an equally wide range of ecosystems at risk. For example, ship traffic has brought our country ruinous aquatic invertebrates in ballast water and sessile organisms on hulls; as well as costly Asian gypsy moths on ships’ superstructures and a series of tree-pest larvae in wooden dunnage and other packaging material (e.g., Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, redbay ambrosia beetle, possibly the invasive shot hole borers  …).

The surge in imports from Asia has continued through the first half of 2021. Over this period, imports from Asia to the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach totaled 9,523,959 TEU, up 24.5% from the 7,649,095 TEU in the same period of 2019 (Mongelluzzo, B. July 12, 2021).

SOURCES

Angell, M. Outlook 2021: US Gulf Coast ports moving forward with major capacity expansions. Journal of Commerce January 04, 2021 https://www.joc.com/port-news/us-ports/outlook-2021-us-gulf-coast-ports-moving-forward-major-capacity-expansions_20210104.html?utm_campaign=CL_JOC%20Port%20Newsletter%201%2F6%2F21__e-production_E-85987_TF_0106_0900&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Mongelluzzo, B. CMA CGM’s new Asia service to give Oakland long-sought first call.  Journal of Commerce January 04, 2021 https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/cma-cgm%E2%80%99s-new-asia-service-give-oakland-long-sought-first-call_20210104.html?utm_source=Eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CL_JOC%20Daily%201%2F5%2F21%20_JOC%20Daily%20Newswire_e-production_E-85981_TF_0105_0617

Mongelluzzo, B. Strong US imports from Asia in June point to a larger summer surge. July 12, 2021.

https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/container-lines/strong-us-imports-asia-june-point-larger-summer-surge_20210712.html?utm_source=Eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CL_JOC%20Daily%207%2F13%2F21_PC00000_e-production_E-106057_KB_0713_0617

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

APHIS Deregulates Emerald Ash Borer – Now it is up to the States

APHIS formally proposed to stop regulating movement of firewood, nursery stock, and other articles that can transport the emerald ash borer (EAB) in 2018; I blogged in opposition to this proposal at the time.  Now APHIS has evaluated the 2018 comments on its proposal and has decided to proceed with its plans.

I recently blogged about the current and probable future status of ash. A study confirmed that robust regeneration of ash seedlings and saplings seen in various invaded areas will not result in recovery of mature ashes that can perform their ecological role. 

APHIS received 146 comments on the proposal. Twenty-five supported the proposal as written; 121 raised concerns. Many of the latter were a few sentences without supporting information. These comments and the final rulemaking can be read here.

How has APHIS responded to the serious questions raised? Dismissively.

I certainly concede that EAB has been difficult to manage and has spread rapidly. However, I continue tobelieve that maintaining the quarantine serves important purposes and the analysis APHIS provides does not justify terminating of the regulatory program. I remain concerned.

Neither the proposal nor the final regulation tells us how much money and staff resources have been dedicated to detection or enforcement of the regulations in recent years. Therefore we don’t know how many resources are now available for supporting other activities that the agency thinks are more effective. APHIS also refuses to provide specific information on how it will allocate the freed-up resources among its (minimal) continuing efforts. For example, APHIS has supported resistance-breeding programs. Will it help them expand to additional species, e.g., black and Oregon ash?

How Does APHIS Propose to Curtail EAB Spread?

APHIS states in the final rule that it is ending the domestic quarantine regulation so that it can allocate resources to more effective strategies for managing and containing EAB. The agency wants to reallocate funds “to activities of greater long-term benefit to slowing the spread of EAB … These activities include further development and deployment of EAB biocontrol organisms; further research into integrated pest management of EAB that can be used at the local level to protect an ash population of significant importance to a community; and further research, in tandem with other Federal agencies, into the phenomenon of “lingering ash … ”

However, APHIS has not funded detection efforts since 2019. (Detection methods were only partially effective, but they gave us some information on where EAB had established.) APHIS is now ending regulation of the movement of vectors. APHIS concedes that biocontrol agents cannot be effective in preventing pest spread. So – what efforts – other than continued support for the “Don’t Move Firewood” campaign – will APHIS make to slow the spread of EAB?

Environmental and Economic Impacts: Not Adequately Assessed

Second, APHIS still has not analyzed the economic or environmental impact of the more rapid spread of EAB to the large areas of the country that are not yet infested – especially the West Coast – that are likely to result from deregulation. As even APHIS concedes, the EAB is currently known to occupy only 27% of the range of native Fraxinus species within conterminous US. There are additional large ash populations in Canada and Mexico – although neither country commented on the proposal — unfortunately!

Instead, APHIS largely restates its position from the proposal that it is too difficult to calculate such impacts. Furthermore, that it is APHIS’ “experience that widely prevalent plant pests tend, over time, to spread throughout the geographical range of their hosts …” In other words, APHIS denies the value of delaying invasions – yet that has always been a premise underlying any quarantine program.

The final regulation refers to an updated economic analysis, but no such document is posted on the official website. The rule does not mention costs to homeowners, property owners, municipal governments, etc. I believe it would not be so difficult to estimate costs to these entities by applying costs of tree removal in the Midwest to tree census data from major West Coast cities. Also, it might have been possible to provide some estimate of the ecological values in riparian forests by analogy to data from the Midwest developed by Deborah McCullough and others.

Biological Control: Effective – or Not

In the final regulation, APHIS concedes that the biocontrol agents currently being released have geographic and other limitations. However, APHIS does not address concerns raised by me and others about their efficacy. APHIS does say explicitly that it has not [yet?] begun efforts to find biocontrol agents that might be more effective in warmer parts of the ash range, especially the Pacific Northwest and  riparian areas of the desert Southwest. However, APHIS has conceded that these areas are almost certain to be invaded – so should it not take precautionary action?  

APHIS states several times that it cannot promise specific funding allocations among program components or strategies – such as resistance breeding – that might be pursued in the future. The agency stresses the value of flexibility.

U.S. Forest Service biologists have higher expectations; see their podcast here.

I wish to clarify that I do not oppose use of biocontrol; I strongly supported then APHIS Deputy Administrator Ric Dunkle’s decision to initiate biocontrol efforts for EAB early in the infestation. My objections are to overly optimistic descriptions of the program’s efficacy.

Firewood: Outreach Only, No National Regulation

As noted, APHIS has promised to continue support for public outreach activities, especially the “Don ‘t Move Firewood” campaign. The program’s message will continue to encourage the public to buy firewood where they burn it and to refrain from moving firewood from areas that are under Federal quarantine for other pests of firewood (e.g., Asian longhorned beetle). This campaign and the new National Plant Board guidelines link stress that firewood is a high-risk pathway for many pests of national or regional concern; they do not focus on any particular species. Leigh Greenwood, director of Don’t Move Firewood, thinks this is a good approach.

In 2010, the National Firewood Task Force recommended that APHIS regulate firewood at the national level. APHIS does explain why the agency did not do so. The agency says national regulations would be overly restrictive for some states and that requiring heat treatment would not be feasible in the winter for producers in Northern states. Finally, a Federal regulation would not address a significant non-commercial pathway – campers. [I have serious questions about APHIS’ assertion that it can regulate only commercial movement of vectors across state lines. Contact me directly for details on this.]

Perhaps APHIS is not required to analyze the probable overarching efficacy of the several efforts of 50 states. Given the states’ many perspectives and obvious difficulty in coordinating their actions on phytosanitary and other policies, I fear a scattered approach that will result in faster spread of EAB. I hope the National Plant Board guidelines on firewood regulation and outreach can overcome the history.

Most federally-managed recreation areas adopted an education campaign on firewood in autumn 2016; I blogged about it then.

Imported Wood Will be Minimally Regulated

APHIS clarifies that it will take enforcement actions against imports of ash wood only if inspectors detect larvae but can identify them just to family level and not below. APHIS will allow the importation if the larvae can be identified as EAB specifically. This policy reflects international standards, which do not allow a country to erect restrictions targetting a pest from abroad if that pest is also present inside the country and is not under an official control program. (See my discussion of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards in Chapter 3 and Appendix 3 of Fading Forests II, available here.) 

APHIS does not discuss how it will react to pests identified to the genus – several other Agrilus also pose pest risks. (See here and here.)

APHIS recommends that states leery of accepting yet more EAB-infested wood from abroad petition the agency under the Federally Recognized State Managed Phytosanitary Program (FRSMP) program, under which APHIS would take action to prevent movement of infested material to that particular state.

Lessons Learned

Finally, one commenter asked whether APHIS would analyze the program to learn what could have improved results. APHIS replies that the agency “tend[s] to reserve such evaluations for particular procedures or policies in order to limit their scope …” I hope APHIS is serious about “considering” doing a “lessons learned” evaluation. It is important to understand what could have been done better to protect America’s plant resources.

My take: the EAB experience proves, once again, that quarantine zones must extent to probable locations – beyond the known locations. The pest is almost always more widely distributed than documented. This has been true for EAB, sudden oak death, ALB, citrus canker … Failure to regulate “ahead” of the pest guarantees failure. I recognize that adopting this stance probably requires a change in the law (or at least understanding of it) and of current international standards adopted by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). However, absent a more aggressive approach, programs are doomed to be constantly chasing the pest’s posterior.

Finally, let us mourn the loss of ash so far, the future losses … and opportunities missed.

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm

Let’s shape the Biden Administration’s & New Congress’ Policies on Non-Native Forest Pests!

We have a great opportunity to shape future efforts to counter non-native forest pests and diseases. Administration officials are most open to new ideas when they first take office. The same is true of new Congressional leadership.

So now is the time to suggest needed changes!

The USDA Secretary-designate is Tom Vilsack. Of course, he was USDA Secretary during the Obama Administration … so he is not entirely “new” to the issues. However, perspectives and priorities have changed, so now is a good time to urge him to consider new approaches.  Furthermore, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold confirmation hearings for him; we can ask the Senators to advocate for our views during this proceeding.

The House Agriculture Committee has a new Chair, David Scott – from the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Again, this provides an opportunity to suggest new approaches and topics for hearings. 

I assume you all are knowledgeable about the numbers and impacts of non-native forest insects and pathogens in the United States, and of the pathways by which they are introduced and spread. If you are not, peruse my blogs about wood packaging or plants as vectors (click on the appropriate “categories” listed at the bottom of the archive of blogs). Or read Fading Forests III (see the link at the end of this blog) and the article I coauthored early this year on improving forest pest management programs.

On the basis of my long experience, I suggest that you encourage USDA Secretary-designate Vilsack, Senators on the Agriculture Committee, and House Agriculture Committee Chair David Scott to consider the following recommendations:

Actions Congress could take

  1. Congress could amend the Plant Protection Act [7 U.S.C. §7701, et seq. (2000)] to prioritize the protection of natural and agricultural resources over the facilitation of trade.  This might be done by amending the “findings” section of the statute to give higher priority to pest prevention.
  2. The Agriculture Committees of both the House and Senate could hold hearings on the importation of forest pests. They could determine if the USDA is doing an adequate job protecting the country from insect pests and diseases, and how our defenses could be strengthened. One component of the hearings could focus on whether current funding levels and mechanisms are adequate to support vigorous responses to new pest incursions.
  3. Congress could commission a study of the feasibility, costs and benefits of establishing a “Center for Forest Pest Control and Prevention” to coordinate research and policy on this issue.
  4. Congress could increase funding for the appropriate USDA APHIS and Forest Service programs and activities to enable vigorous containment and eradication responses targeting introduced forest pests and diseases.    
  5. Congress could increase funding for USDA research on detection of insects and pathogens in shipping; insect and disease monitoring/surveillance; biological control; alternatives to packaging made from wooden boards; management of established pests; and resistance breeding to enable restoration of impacted tree species.

Actions Secretary-designate Vilsack could initiate without legislative action (once he is confirmed)

Introductions of pests in the wooden crates, pallets, etc., goods come in

  1. APHIS could take emergency action to prohibit use of wood packaging by importers of goods from countries with a record of poor compliance with ISPM#15. This action is allowed under authority of the Plant Protection Act [7 U.S.C. §7701, et seq. (2000)] and Article 5.7 of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
  2. APHIS could strengthen enforcement of current regulations by aggressively prosecuting repeat offenders.  For instance, APHIS could begin imposing administrative financial penalties on importers each time their wood packaging is non-compliant with ISPM#15.
  3. APHIS could work with Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to improve information available to U.S. importers about which foreign suppliers of SWPM and shippers have good vs. bad records of compliance with ISPM#15.
  4. DHS CBP could release information on country of origin and treatment facility for ISPM#15-stamped SWPM that is found to be infested with pests.
  5. USDA APHIS could begin a phased transition from solid wood packaging to alternative materials that cannot carry wood-boring pests. APHIS could initiate a pest risk assessment to justify making such an action permanent. Imports could be packaged in alternative materials, e.g., manufactured wood products (e.g. plywood), metal, or plastic.

Nursery Plant (“Plants for Planting”) Pathway

  1. APHIS could apply authorities under NAPPRA and other existing authorities to curtail imports of plants that pose a high risk of introducing insects and pathogens that would threaten tree species that are important in natural and urban forests in the U.S. At a minimum, APHIS should restrict imports of live plants that are in the same genus as native woody plants of the U.S.
  2. APHIS could work with the Agriculture Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture to determine which taxa of woody vegetation native to the U.S. are vulnerable to pathogens present in natural systems of trade partners. Particularly important would be the many Phytophthora species found by Jung and colleagues in Vietnam, Taiwan, Chile, and other countries. Once the studies are sufficiently complete, APHIS could utilize authority under NAPPRA to prohibit importation of plants from those source countries until effective phytosanitary measures can be identified and adopted.

Other Actions

  1. APHIS could develop procedures to ensure the periodic evaluation of pest approach rates associated with wood packaging and imports of “plants for planting” and highlight areas of program strengths and weaknesses. A good place to start would be to update the study by Haack et al. (2014), which estimated the approach rate in wood packaging a decade ago.
  2. The USDA could expand early detection systems for forest pests, such as the APHIS CAPS program and the Forest Service EDRR program. These programs should be better coordinated with each other and should make better use of citizen observations collected through smartphone apps, professional tree workers such as arborists and utility crews, and university expertise in pest identification and public outreach.  An effective program would survey for a broad range of pests as well as for suspicious tree damage, and would be focused on high-risk areas such as forests around seaports, airports, plant nurseries, and facilities such as warehouses that engage in international trade.
  3. The USDA could initiate a “Sentinel Plantings“ network of US tree species planted in gardens abroad and monitored for potential pests and diseases. 

Posted by Faith Campbell

We welcome comments that supplement or correct factual information, suggest new approaches, or promote thoughtful consideration. We post comments that disagree with us — but not those we judge to be not civil or inflammatory.

For a detailed discussion of the policies and practices that have allowed these pests to enter and spread – and that do not promote effective restoration strategies – review the Fading Forests report at http://treeimprovement.utk.edu/FadingForests.htm