HOUSE BOOSTS FUNDS TO FIGHT ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE

US Fed News Service, Including US State News July 15, 2009 NEW YORK, July 12 — Rep. Anthony D. Weiner, D-N.Y. (9th CD), issued the following news release:

This past week the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation authored by Representative Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) boosting funds to fight Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) to $35 million. Approximately $23 million will go to New York City to fight against the large, extremely destructive insect which has infested and killed over 4,300 trees since its 1996 discovery in New York. The funds were included in the agriculture appropriations bill, which will boost beetle eradication efforts nationwide by seventy-five percent from last year’s funding. The level of funding for New York City is based on what the City has historically received.

The new commitment to fight ALB comes after Rep. Weiner led efforts calling for full funding to aid eradication efforts after years of cuts by the Bush administration. From 2001 to 2009, the Bush Administration cut money to fight ALB in New York City by more than $30 million-from $45 million to under $15 million. site asian longhorned beetle

The Asian Longhorned Beetle is an insect from China that destroys hardwood trees by disrupting the flow of nutrients and water through the trunk, roots, and stem. The ALB now has a presence in all boroughs except the Bronx, with 47% of the City’s trees at risk to the destructive pest. In addition to New York City, the beetle has been found in Long Island, New Jersey, Chicago, California and Worchester, MA.

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-Forestry) is working on new pheromone-based traps that will reduce the need to remove infected trees in order to fight infestation. Rep. Weiner was instrumental in securing a trap demonstration project for New York City. The agriculture appropriations bill includes $500,000 to fund 6 new trap demonstration projects around New York State. website asian longhorned beetle

Rep. Weiner said, “In New York City’s battle against the beetle, President Bush stood with the bugs. We saw a clear pattern – less money and more beetles. This funding boost will go a long way to ensuring that trees will still grow in all five boroughs.” “The Asian Longhorned Beetle is the most serious insect threat the city has ever faced – one that left unchecked could kill half of the City’s trees, even as we plant one million more under the MillionTreesNYC initiative” said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “The beetle lays eggs in, bores into, feeds on, and ultimately kills otherwise healthy hardwood trees. I applaud the House for passing this bill and hope that the infusion of additional funds going forward will eradicate ALB from our city and other infested areas and safeguard our landscape and ecological health. If it is not stopped here it could spread to upstate New York and into New England where it could devastate the Maple sugar industry.” In 1996, the first Asian Long Horned beetles in the United States were found in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. From 2001 to the present, the United States Department of the Agriculture has spent more than $268 million to fight the tree-eating scourge, which has since spread to Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Illinois.