Bush sets aside $15.5M to fight BTS

President Bush has signed the Brown Tree Snake Control and Eradication Act of 2004 into law, setting aside up to $15.5 million from fiscal years 2006 to 2010 to intensify the campaign against the economic pest that has plagued Guam and threatens other Pacific islands, including the CNMI.

The new law calls for the expansion of interagency and intergovernmental rapid response teams in the CNMI, Guam, Hawaii, Palau, Marshall Islands, and Micronesia.

The law authorizes the allotment of funds to improve efforts to control the spread of the snake population from Guam to neighboring Pacific territories and freely associated states; its eventual goal is to eradicate millions of brown tree snakes on Guam.

It also expands research into chemical, biological, and other control techniques to significantly reduce the brown tree snake population. It mandates the establishment of pre-departure quarantine protocols for cargo and other items being shipped from Guam and other U.S. location where the snakes may be present.

The law directs government agencies, including the Interior and Agriculture departments, to fund efforts to curb the brown tree snake population.

Guam Rep. Madeleine Z. Bordallo introduced the federal legislation in Congress on Nov. 7 last year. Bush signed the measure into law on Oct. 30, just before his re-election.

Now Public Law No. 108-384, the measure expresses the sense of Congress that “there is a need for better coordinated control, interdiction, research, and eradication of the brown tree snake.”

The law authorizes the appropriation of at least $15.5 million for different agencies for each fiscal year from 2006 to 2010: not more than $2.6 million for activities conducted through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Operations; $1.5 million, APHIS, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Methods Development; $3 million, Office of Insular Affairs; $2 million, Fish and Wildlife Service; and $1.5 million, U.S. Geological Survey.

The Act authorizes the appropriation of not more than $3 million and $1 million to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior, respectively, to implement the establishment of quarantine protocols.

“Under the quarantine protocols system, federal quarantine, natural resource, conservation, and law enforcement officers and inspectors may enforce state and territorial laws regarding the transportation, possession, or introduction of any brown tree snake,” it states.

The law also defines the role of a technical working group, including the evaluation of territorial activities, programs and policies that are likely to promote the spread of the brown tree snakes, and the preparation of recommendations on how to amend them. It authorizes the appropriation to the Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture not more than $450,000 each for each of the fiscal years from 2006 to 2010 to support the technical working group.

Brown tree snakes have been a menace on Guam, wiping out the bird population on the island and tripping power lines that result in power outages. Authorities believe economic losses incurred by Guam due to the damage caused by these snakes amount to millions of dollars.

Scientifically known as Boiga irregularis, the snake is not endemic to the Northern Marianas, according to the Commonwealth’s Department of Lands and Natural Resources. There have been more than 56 sightings of brown tree snakes in the CNMI, besides 13 snakes that were actually caught and killed.