INTRODUCTION

Invasive species are non-native species that wreak environmental and economic havoc in an ecosystem beyond their native range. Invasive species kill our trees, invade our lawns, and clog our water pipes. They threaten our families with deadly diseases like cholera and West Nile Virus. They upset the sensitive balance of our ecosystems by destroying habitats, disrupting the food chain, and out-competing our native plants and animals.

We are quickly losing the battle to stop the spread of invasive species. Experts estimate that invasive species cost our nation more than $135 billion annually. Three million acres, an area twice the size of the state of Delaware, are lost to invasive plants each year. Invasive species have contributed to the decline of 46 percent our nation’s threatened and endangered species.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

Photo courtesy of the Center for Great Lakes and Aquatic Sciences

The Asian longhorned beetle (left) recently invaded the United States and is posing a serious threat to hardwood trees. Zebra mussels (right) have drained millions from our economy because of their tendency to colonize on surfaces, such as docks, boat hulls, commercial fishing nets, water intake pipes and valves.

This website offers the tools necessary for you to prevent foreign species invasions in your state, including a management bill, an executive order, talking points, press clips, a fact pack, research, and other background information.

We may have other useful materials on this subject which are not posted on our website. Please feel free to contact us at info@serconline.org or call our office in Madison, WI at (608) 252-9800.

If you’ve used this site and found it helpful or, if you have suggestions about how it could be made more helpful, please let us know. Feel free to use the sample management bill and/or sample executive order included here in your state – if you do, please notify us.
Special thanks to the following for assistance on this package:
J. Wilkinson and M. Filby, Environmental Law Institute
Dr. Windle, Union of Concerned Scientists
J. Poulin, University of California Irvine
Dr. Hilburn, OR Dept. of Agriculture
J. Wald, National Resources Defense Council
M. Bonta and S. George, Defenders of Wildlife
This package was last updated on June 24, 2003.
State Environmental Resource Center
106 East Doty Street, Suite 200 § Madison, Wisconsin 53703
Phone: 608-252-9800 § Fax: 608-252-9828
Email: info@serconline.org