Bill aims to boot brown tree snakes

[faze]

Date: Oct 08, 2004 - 02:36 AM
Taken from the pacific daily news

Although the bill still needs to be approved by the Senate, Department of Agriculture officials on Guam are anxious to implement more eradication programs to rid the island of brown tree snakes.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives authorized spending $104 million over the next five years on the slithering reptile, which has caused hundreds of power outages on Guam, decimated the native bird population, and threatens Hawaii and neighboring islands. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, calls for new quarantine protocols in the next two years for travelers, baggage and cargo originating in Guam in order to prevent further spread of the species.

'Great for Guam'




"We don't know if there is going to be any changes when it goes to the (Senate)," Bassler said. "But we were initially told that it was a $90 million, so it looked like it grew, which is good. I would still need to see the actual breakdown to be able to know further how it is going to impact. But it is definitely great for Guam."

Bassler said while he has not seen the copy of the bill that went to the House, he was told the provisions his department helped work on are still on the bill. He said one of the provisions was the recovery of endangered species, which is "extremely important," he said.

"I don't know into what categories that $100-plus million is being segregated. It is all going to have something to do with Guam, but it will also be some outer places like Hawaii, on the defensive side of protection against the snake," Bassler said. "But I believe that ... there is going to be (a concerted) effort to go after the snake here on Guam -- not just to control, but eradication programs."

A committee drawn from federal and state agencies, headed by the departments of the Interior and Agriculture, would fund and coordinate the control and eradication efforts through 2010.