| Part 5
– The Pushers
Who in the world is pushing a major Federalization
of Invasive Species? In order to answer this in a way that the reader can
grasp, I will divide them into groups with a bit of background on most of
them and a little more on some of the main ones out in the open. I will
also avoid acronyms for the non-bureaucrats in the crowd.
- The two big Federal Departments, the US Department of Agriculture and
the US Department of the Interior stand to benefit money-wise,
personnel-wise, and most importantly power-wise from further Federalization
of Invasive Species. Each has high-paid staffs working for their Secretary
in Washington to energize groups, lobby Congress, and direct the agencies
beneath them. While many are relieved that the appointees of the last
Administration are no longer in charge, that impression may well be a
mirage. My old agency, US Fish & Wildlife Service still has nearly all
of the past appointees in the same or similar positions. The Secretary of
the Interior (the responsible official) has not even proposed reforms of
the long-unauthorized (by Congress) Endangered Species Act. She merely
proposes "improvements" such as "better science".
Actually the science (classification, habitat requirements, etc.) has been
perverted over the past 30 years and is also in need of being freed from
being currency for Federal grants. Additionally she has just announced
$34.8M in grants for something called "Imperiled Species". That
is in addition to "Endangered" and "Threatened"
Species. To these two Departments, Invasive Species is but the latest
catchword by which to obtain money and power.
- The Agencies and their bureaucrats are poised and primed to jump on the
Invasive Species bandwagon. The US Animal Plant Health Inspection Service
(in Agriculture) currently oversees importing, exporting, and interstate
shipment of domestic plants and animals. They will "lead" as
Federal power is increased in this area. The US Fish and Wildlife Service
(in Interior) administers import, export, and interstate shipment of wild
plants and animals as well as administering the Endangered Species Act and
all of the National Wildlife Refuges plus acting as the Federal
"experts" on everything to do with plants and animals under UN
auspices or in Federal projects as well as other such responsibilities.
These two agencies will be the major power brokers of increased Federal
authority. They will write regulations, enforcement policies, and be the
primary "partners" for the groups mentioned below. Other agencies
like the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and the Bureau of
Land Management own millions of acres that will get increased funding,
increased personnel, and increased authority over state governments and
private landowners near Federal holdings. One need only look at the
disproportionate effect of Endangered Species proclamations on loggers,
ranchers, and other rural residents near Federal lands to understand what
Invasive Species authority will mean for them. Indeed the US Fish and
Wildlife Service and the National Park Service have just published a slick,
75 page, color photo collection of 60 invasive exotic (exotic means
non-native when you go to court) species.
- State agencies such as Florida with their high incidence of new species
and others like Maryland with their proximity to Washington (where Congress
authorizes money) and recent outbreaks of hysteria over snakehead fish are
strong and consistent advocates of more money and people to be passed
through the Federal agencies TO THEM. The debilitating effect on the
Constitutional authorities of these states to manage their plant and animal
resources is amply documented in the Endangered Species program over the
past 30 years. There is no reason to believe that Invasive Species funding
and subsequent Federal control will be any different.
- Quasi-governmental groups abound. The National Institute of Invasive
Species Science is "a growing consortium of partnerships between
government and non-government organizations". They are an
"Information Node" housed in government space with the US
Geological Survey (an Interior agency) in Ft, Collins, Colorado. As I write
this, the Invasive Weeds Awareness Coalition is sponsoring a National
Invasive Weeds Awareness Week Conference in nearby Washington, DC. Some of
the displays are on Capitol Hill across the street from the US House of
Representatives at the National Botanical Gardens. The Federal Invasive
Species Advisory Committee "advises" Congress and others. They
encourage formation of state counterparts to similarly lobby and influence
state legislators and Federal legislators via home district return
addresses.
- University professors and researchers know that Federalizing Invasive
Species, just like the invention of Endangered Species, will be a boon for
their business. Testifying, justifying, and recommending things to do with
their "specialty" will result in future grants, more graduate
students, increased scientific stature, more University tenure, and
generally better pay.
- There is an abundance of Weed Science Societies (NE, W, S, N Central,)
under the national. There is an innocuous-named Aquatic Plant Management
Society.
- There is the Smithsonian who sees the opportunity for them to provide
"systematics" that will be so "necessary".
- The American Seed Trade Association sees an enormous "need"
for their products as money becomes available. The National Cattlemen’s
Beef Association sees money becoming available to improve public and
private grazing lands. Monsanto and other chemical and pesticide companies
see a gold mine developing as more customers have money to get ever-more
restricted control agents. These groups like all of the above all pop up in
every hearing before Congress and on every "advisory" group.
There is one other….
- The Nature Conservancy is the tenth largest non-profit charity in the
United States. They own 12 million acres in the United States (think
Switzerland) and 80 to 90 million acres throughout the world. The most
recent accounting shows them with $2.6 BILLION plus $97 MILLION in pledges
and grants. One employee was quoted as saying they "work closely with
the US Fish and Wildlife Service" and they "buy these properties
when they need to be bought, so that at some point we can become willing
sellers" (sic, meaning to the US Fish and Wildlife Service) to
"get around the problem of local opposition." Just recently
Congress granted a 25% tax break to those who sell land to the Nature
Conservancy. At a recent Congressional Hearing, the Committee Chairman
mentioned that he was a member of the Nature Conservancy and then asked the
Nature Conservancy lady about the biggest problem hindering Invasive
Species efforts and she named private property (there were no private
property advocates in the packed hearing room). Five minutes later he asked
her "as a PRIVATE LANDOWNER what can Federal controls do to
help?" Her answer, "ignore private lands". They are
everywhere in this Federalizing of Invasive Species and they stand to
benefit directly (on their lands) big time. Then there are the ones you don’t
see…
- The environmental outfits like Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, the
Natural Resources Defense Council, The Wildlands Project, Earth Liberation
Front, The National Parks Association, Earthjustice, et al cooperate with
the push and stand ready to testify at the drop of a hat regarding how
wording in particular sections of a new or revised Act should read. They
see this as being a companion tool to intimidate landowners, reduce access
and use on public lands, stop more human recreation or business or
lifestyle activities. Likewise the animal rights crowd like the Humane
Society of the United States, Animal Protection Institute, Animal Welfare
Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, People for the Ethical Treatments of
Animals, the Animal Liberation Front, et al see this new Federal authority
to go after non-natives as a Godsend. Just a few non-natives that will soon
enough be targeted for control, licensing, and even elimination are
non-native dogs, cats, birds, game birds, fish and even non-native plants
used for wildlife management. The potential for quickening the restrictions
on hunting, fishing, animal husbandry, and natural resource management is
unlimited.
- Also unseen and unheard from are the lawyers. Each of these groups
employs one or more lawyers. Even first year law students realize what a
bonanza the Endangered Species Act has proven to be for lawyers. Invasive
Species can be made to be just as profitable and the lobbyists and
Congressmen (most of whom are lawyers) know this too.
- Last but certainly not least are the US Congress and the White House.
They are the ones who will be responsible if this Federalization of
Invasive Species succeeds. It is the political atmosphere around these two
institutions at this time that is driving all these groups to start a push
now. An explanation of The Politics will be the subject of the next article
Oh, one last word. No article about The Pushers would be fair without
mentioning the opponents. There aren’t any. A few property rights groups
would say it’s nuts. Some of those who have been ruined or otherwise
harmed by the Endangered Species Act understand the threat here but they
are few and scattered. Once it gets up and running it will pick off
landowners, recreationists, businessmen, and others one at a time. The guy
in Nebraska will never understand how what the Federal government did six
months before in Idaho was repeated with him. Like hunters, trappers, dog
owners, and fishermen harmed by Endangered Species; none will see how they
had to come together to save their freedoms until it is too late. Your
understanding of this important issue is the best that I, or any of us can
hope for. |
