Blue Ridge 2020:
An Owner's Manual

by Steve Nash


The following excerpt is from Blue Ridge 2020: An Owner's Manual by Steve Nash. Copyright c 1999 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher.

Excerpt

In his new book Blue Ridge 2020: An Owner's Manual, author Steve Nash explains--among other changes facing our Blue Ridge Mountains--the danger of introducing new and foreign species of plants and animals into the Blue Ridge.

"Today," he writes, "the movement of species into new areas is common--so common that it `dwarfs' natural rates of change, researchers say." This phenomenon is called biopollution, and Nash tells us that this kind of change in the Blue Ridge can damage its native ecosystem.

Following is a list of recommendations from research entomologist William Wallner as printed in Blue Ridge 2020 on how to slow the movement of invasive foreign pests:


BIOPOLLUTION: WHOSE PROBLEM, WHO PAYS?

  • It is much better to stop exotics that "stow away" on shipping with thorough inspections in the countries where they originate than to try to detect them when they arrive here. This also minimizes inspection delays, the need for fumigation or other treatment, and confiscation of products in our ports.

  • Countries lacking expertise or resources might be subsidized by wealthier countries to take preventive steps--much cheaper than trying to solve the problem a the "receiving end."

  • International cooperation between scientists is a critical need. The united States should support an immediate global scientific effort to compile and categorize lists of invasive pests for sharply increased quarantine and surveillance.

  • The ecological and economic costs of pest invasions should be considered on a global basis, among nations and trading blocs, and they should immediately standardize procedures and identify the highest-risk pests.

  • DNA tests should be used to identify high-risk pests now, in each country where they originate. Then regulatory officials would know exactly where a new invasion has come from, and they can track down how it arrived.

  • Alert import-export businesses as to pathways that pests use to enter North America and share the information with trading partners.

  • Make the user fees already charged for inspections of exports and imports available to APHIS to fund research on identifying, detecting, and eradicating exotic pests.

  • Enact laws that will permit U.S. government agencies to sue those responsible for all losses associated with intentional or accidental introductions of exotic pests. Penalties now are minuscule.

  • The United States should reduce its dependence on import raw wood because of its potential for the introduction of new exotics that attack forests.

Sources: Wallner interview and Wallner, "Invasive Pests," 167-80.

For more information about the book, the author, and the Blue Ridge, go to the author's website at http://blueridge2020.com

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