Q. What is an invasive species? 

A. An invasive species is a non-native species whose introduction does or, is likely, to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. An invasive species can be a plant, animal, or any other biologically viable species that enters an ecosystem beyond its native range.

Q. What makes a species non-native?  

A. Native species refers to those plant or animal species originally living, growing, or produced in an ecosystem within their historic range.

Q. Why are invasive species problematic? 

A. Invasive species are a threat to our health, economy, and environment. Invasive species cost the U.S. economy over $120 billion dollars annually. This includes the cost of control, damage to property values, health costs, and other factors. However, this cost does not consider the ecological damage caused by invasive species, which is difficult to quantify.

Q. How do invasive species damage the environment?  

A. Invasive species have contributed to the decline of 46 percent of the country’s endangered and threatened native species. Invasive species consume resources upon which native species depend, destroy crops and sensitive habitat, and alter the food chain in an ecosystem by becoming the dominant predator. Invasive plants crowd out native species or upset an ecosystem to such an extent that native plants and animals can no longer survive.

Q. Where do invasive species come from? 

A. The manner in which an invasive species enters or spreads throughout a non-native ecosystem is called a pathway or vector. Pathways can be natural or a result of human activities. Species can travel via weather patterns, tides and water currents, or within the digestive tract of a migratory animal. New species are imported for use in aquaculture, aquaria, and gardening. Other human pathways include shipping materials, ballast water, trucks and recreational boats, and even the shoes of travelers. 

Q. Why might a species be invasive in one country but not a big problem in its native environment?  

A. When a plant or animal is transported to a new environment, the predators and other natural enemies that exist in its natural habitat are no longer present. This gives the species an advantage over other species in the area, and allows it to flourish in its new land. The species becomes invasive when its presence becomes harmful to the natural ecosystem processes.

Q. What can be done to prevent the introduction and spread of invasives?  

A. Invasive species management is complex. It requires intervention on a variety of stages: prevention, early detection, control and management, restoration, and public education. The Invasive Species Committee, created by the sample executive order, would create a forum for all state agencies involved in invasive species regulation to coordinate their management efforts into one strategic, consolidated effort. The sample Invasive Species Management Act provides the Department of Natural Resources (or equivalent agency) with a strong mandate for the establishment of a comprehensive administrative program that includes strategic planning, educational programs, and regional coordination. It also provides specific and environmentally protective statutory criteria for categorizing species.

Q. What is wrong with how we currently manage invasive species?  

A. In 1997, 500 scientists and resource managers wrote to the Vice President: “We are losing the war against invasive exotic species, and their economic impacts are soaring. We simply cannot allow this unacceptable degradation of our Nation’s public and agriculture lands to continue.” The management of invasive species falls under a myriad of statutes and regulations administered by a variety of agencies on the international, federal, state, and local levels. Laws are often passed to address specific crises (such as zebra mussels) and pathways of introduction of the species (such as ballast water). Policy studies have found that, as a result, there are often significant gaps and overlaps in state laws and regulations. An Invasive Species Council will foster agency cooperation and take a comprehensive approach to meet the unique challenge of invasive species management.

Q. What is the Federal government doing?  

A. In February of 1999, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13112 establishing the Federal Invasive Species Council. The Council consists of ten federal agencies whose actions affect invasive species. It serves as a mechanism to promote information sharing and coordination of management efforts. Most importantly, the Council was tasked with creating an Invasive Species Management Plan to establish a comprehensive and coordinated approach to invasive species management.

Q. What are other states doing? 

A. In February 2000, the National Governors Association listed invasive species management as a key opportunity for the nation’s governors to work cooperatively. Soon thereafter, Colorado, Idaho, and Wisconsin governors issued executive orders establishing invasive species councils and task forces. State legislators followed suit in Missouri, California, Oregon, and Connecticut, introducing bills to establish councils, with the Missouri bill following the exact text of Federal E.O. 13112.

 

State legislators also scrambled to create a comprehensive management approach. Hawaii HB1346 consolidates all state laws and regulations on invasive species into one act and consolidates regulatory power to the Board of Agriculture. Legislation in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington consolidate power within one agency to regulate all aspects of aquatic invasive species and establish a comprehensive system of listing and organizing non-native species into regulatory categories.

 

See SERC’s “Invasive Species Management” State Activity page for a list of selected state activities on invasive species.

Invasive species management has been a bipartisan effort in all states.