Release No.0169.00
                                                               
                                    Susan McAvoy (202) 720-4623
                                          Susan.McAvoy@usda.gov



GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES FUNDING TO COMBAT INVASIVE SPECIES

     WASHINGTON, May 18, 2000--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today announced
that he is accelerating the battle against foreign pests of America's natural resources and
agriculture by earmarking additional departmental funds for the effort.

     "The United States loses 3 million acres every year to invasive foreign plants," Glickman
said.  "The economic impact of this loss is enormous.  We must act now to stem the growing tide
of these invaders and eradicate those which are trying to become established here." 

     USDA awarded a grant of $100,00 to the Wilderness Weed Management Team in Idaho,
which is a partnership between USDA's Forest Service and the Frank Church River of No Return
Wilderness.  The money will be used to help control the spread of weeds which threaten over
one-half million acres of land in the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states.

     Another $265,00 will be used to aid in the fight against the noxious aquatic plant giant
salvinia that is threatening rivers and streams in Louisiana, Texas, California and New Mexico.

     Glickman experienced first-hand the destruction wrought by invasive species and the cost
of eradicating the foreign pests during a March tour of U.S. port areas in New York, Florida, and
California victimized by the Asian longhorned beetle, West Nile virus, citrus canker and the
Mediterranean fruit fly. 

     "We need to make every effort to meet the challenge of protecting U.S. agricultural and
natural resources from these foreign threats," Glickman said.  "Based on what I learned from my
recent tour, we need to act now to win this battle."

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