animals

As part of my recent trip to Arizona, I had the opportunity to meet with Arizona cotton producers, Arizona Department of Agriculture Director Don Butler, and APHIS personnel at the Pink Bollworm Rearing Facility in Phoenix.

I was absolutely impressed with the importance and quality of the work being done, and with the partnership between APHIS, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Arizona Cotton Research and Protection Council, and cotton growers.

The pink bollworm is a serious cotton pest, and APHIS is working cooperatively with producers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, as well as cotton growing areas in Mexico, to eradicate the pest.

On Friday, May 20, thousands of people throughout the United States will celebrate Endangered Species Day.  It is an opportunity to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and the everyday actions people can take to help protect our nation’s natural resources.

Each year, wildlife researchers and specialists with USDA-APHIS’ Wildlife Services (WS) program help to reduce threats to our Nation’s more vulnerable animals and habitats. In FY 2010, WS efforts assisted 131 threatened or endangered species in 36 States, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Cuba. Examples of WS work with endangered and threatened species include the following:

On April 27, I was honored to accompany President Shelley of the Navajo Nation for the National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) exercise held in Window Rock.  The NVS exercise provides countermeasures – supplies, equipment, medicine, vaccines and response support services – that states and Tribes need to respond to foreign animal disease outbreaks.

This exercise with the Navajo Nation marks the first Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)-sponsored full-scale exercise on Tribal lands.  I want to acknowledge the enthusiasm and commitment of Tribal personnel to gain experience and identify gaps, shortfalls, limitations that could impair the Navajo Nation’s ability to receive, store and distribute NVS countermeasures in a real emergency.

As National Moving Month, May marks the height of the moving season.  It also marks a time of great peril for America’s forests.  Gypsy moths normally get their best chance to spread across the country in May as they hitchhike with people moving or traveling from an infested area to a noninfested area.  This year should be different, however, thanks to an outreach campaign called “Your Move Gypsy Moth-Free” that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently launched.

The stakes are high: Gypsy moth caterpillars can defoliate, weaken, and kill more than 300 different types of trees and shrubs.  Since 1970, this dangerous forest pest has defoliated 75 million acres in the United States.  If left unchecked, an infestation can defoliate up to 13 million acres of trees in one season.  New infestations are typically caused by gypsy moth egg masses that people transport accidentally when moving or traveling from an infested area to a noninfested area.  That’s why APHIS requires these individuals to inspect for and remove gypsy moth egg masses from outdoor household items—before they move.

Animal Plant Health Inspection Services’ (APHIS) Brian Deschu sets EAB detection tools (purple traps) along the roadside right-of-way as part of the national effort to survey for this invasive, tree-killing pest.

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to south Texas to learn first-hand about our Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program.

USDA has successfully eradicated cattle fever in the U.S.  Only a permanent quarantine buffer zone remains in south Texas, which spans 500 miles from Del Rio to Brownsville.  The ticks and disease remain well-established in Mexico, so the buffer zone is necessary to keep U.S. cattle free of cattle fever by preventing the re-establishment of the ticks.

The importation of Mexican feeder cattle is a tradition, a way of life and important to the border economy in Mexico and the U.S.  The Mexican cattle producer is dependent on the U.S. cattle market, while U.S. feeders and packers need the Mexican feeder cattle for their operations.

However, due to the increased border violence in northern Mexico, we were not able to allow USDA personnel to travel into Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo and Pierdas Negras to inspect and dip Mexican cattle destined for export to the U.S.

A free curriculum available online can help educators teach students how to spot the invasive Asian longhorned beetle.

Infestations of the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) have been initially reported by alert members of communities in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Massachusetts. As summer approaches, a new army of the invasive ALB may emerge from its favorite trees anywhere in the United States. APHIS has developed a way to prepare school-aged “Beetle Busters” to help uncover any ALB infestations that may exist.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle eradication staff in Worcester looks for pests up in the tree but also leaves presents under the tree.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) eradication program in Worcester, Mass., began when a resident from the Greendale neighborhood found a strange-looking insect in her backyard. After that first ALB discovery, the program grew into the huge effort that it is today.

After a rather interesting C-130 tactical landing to avoid enemy fire, my first sight of Iraq was at night.  My first thought was how far I was from home, but a gaze upward revealed familiar stars and constellations. I felt relieved knowing that I was still indeed on planet Earth--even after traveling for 50 hours.