[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H9092-H9093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              NUTRIA ERADICATION AND CONTROL PILOT PROGRAM

  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4337) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
financial assistance to the State of Maryland for a pilot program to 
develop measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland 
damaged by nutria.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4337

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. NUTRIA ERADICATION AND CONTROL PILOT PROGRAM.

       (a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary of the Interior (in 
     this section referred to as the ``Secretary''), subject to 
     the availability of appropriations, may provide financial 
     assistance to the State of Maryland for a pilot program to 
     develop measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore 
     marshland damaged by nutria.
       (b) Goals.--The pilot program shall develop methods to--
       (1) eradicate nutria in Maryland;
       (2) eradicate or control nutria in other States; and
       (3) develop methods to restore marshland damaged by nutria.
       (c) Activities.--The Secretary shall require that the pilot 
     program consist of management, research, and public education 
     activities carried out in accordance with the document 
     entitled ``Marsh Restoration: Nutria Control in Maryland 
     Pilot Program Proposal'', dated July 10, 1998.
       (d) Cost Sharing.--
       (1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs of the 
     pilot program may not exceed 75 percent of the total costs of 
     the pilot program.
       (2) In-kind contributions.--The non-Federal share of the 
     costs of the pilot program may be provided in the form of in-
     kind contributions of materials or services.
       (e) Limitation on Administrative Expenses.--Not more than 
     10 percent of financial assistance provided by the Secretary 
     under this section may be used for administrative expenses.
       (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--For financial 
     assistance under this section, there are authorized to be 
     appropriated to the Secretary $2,900,000 for fiscal years 
     2000, 2001, and 2002.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Saxton) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton).
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. SAXTON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4337, a 
bill that implements the nutria eradication and control pilot program 
for the State of Maryland. This legislation was introduced by the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest), from Kennedyville, a small 
town on the eastern shore. This bill was the subject of a subcommittee 
hearing on July 16.
  At that time, the subcommittee received testimony from a diverse 
group of witnesses who strongly supported immediate action. In fact, 
H.R. 4337 incorporates the recommendations of a

[[Page H9093]]

comprehensive report entitled ``Marsh Restoration: Nutria Control in 
Maryland.'' This report was a consensus document approved by the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, the Maryland Department of Natural 
Resources, the University of Maryland, the Salisbury Zoological Park, 
and Ducks, Unlimited.
  By way of background, nutria are large, semi-aquatic rodents that are 
native to South America. Nutria may weigh up to 20 pounds and live 
along the banks of lakes, marshes, ponds, and rivers. These large water 
rats are surface-feeding mammals that are extremely destructive to 
marsh vegetation.
  Nutria were introduced in Maryland in the 1950s to assist with the 
clothing industry. Today, there is no market for that fur and no 
natural predators to control them. As a result, the nutria population 
has skyrocketed. It has been estimated that there are now between 
35,000 and 50,000 nutria living at the Blackwater National Wildlife 
Refuge in Maryland.
  This refuge has 17,000 acres of marsh that are essential habitat to 
thousands of nesting and migratory birds. Regrettably, this habitat is 
being systematically destroyed because of the appetites of these South 
American rodents. This is causing serious problems for native wildlife, 
fish, plants, and marsh ecosystems.
  H.R. 4337 authorizes $2.9 million over 3 years to help alleviate the 
nutria problem. While this may not solve the problem entirely, it is a 
positive step in the right direction. In fact, the refuge manager of 
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge testified that ``These wetlands, 
which provide significant ecological, cultural, and economic benefits, 
will continue to disappear at an increasing rate unless prompt action 
is taken.''
  Mr. Speaker, I urge an aye vote on H.R. 4337, and I want to pay 
special compliments to the gentleman from Kennedyville, Maryland (Mr. 
Gilchrest) for his leadership in this matter.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I certainly would like to commend the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton), the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans, for 
bringing this legislation to the floor. I also want to commend my good 
friend, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest) for his sponsorship 
of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes Federal financial assistance to the 
State of Maryland to develop methods to eradicate or at least control 
nutria. These submarine rodents were accidentally released into the 
wild, and have wreaked havoc with wetlands in Louisiana, Maryland, and 
elsewhere.
  The foraging habits of nutria are especially destructive to marsh 
grasses. Nutria have thrived in their newfound homes in our North 
American swamps and marshes. Given all the other threats to wetlands 
these days, nutria must be brought under control.
  The State of Maryland has developed a comprehensive plan for nutria 
eradication, and Federal support will greatly expedite its 
implementation. If we can come up with a method to control these 
destructive rodents, the plan can be modified and used in other places 
where nutria are a problem.
  Mr. Speaker, this is sound public policy to deal with a strange yet 
important threat to our vanishing wetlands. I urge my colleagues to 
support this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Kennedyville, Maryland (Mr. Gilchrest), the author of 
the bill.
  Mr. GILCHREST. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time to 
me, and for his generous help on this legislation.
  This bill will go far to preserve and restore Blackwater Refuge on 
the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and to provide a base of information and 
experience to help other States devise ways to deal with this little 
critter we call nutria.
  The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 to 
protect habitat for migrating and wintering birds. The refuge is 
currently home to more than 250 species of birds, including bald and 
golden eagles, cormorants, great blue herons, northern loons, ospreys, 
and 20 different varieties of ducks.
  It is also home to the Delmarva fox squirrel, a critically endangered 
species that is found almost exclusively in only 4 counties in my 
district.
  Of the 20,000 acres protected by the refuge, almost 17,000 acres are 
or were marshland. Seven thousand of those marshland acres have been 
lost to erosion. One of the reasons for the loss is the reason for the 
bill we are discussing today, the rabid appetite of this little critter 
from South America known as the nutria.
  Nutria are large, semi-aquatic rodents native to South America, and 
were introduced to Maryland in the 1950s to support the fur industry. 
As demand for nutria fur dropped off, and with no natural predators, 
nutria populations took off. From far less than 150 animals in 1968, 
today we have between 35,000 and 50,000 of them.
  Nutria are surface-feeding herbivores that can be extremely 
destructive to marsh vegetation. They forage directly on the vegetative 
root mat, leaving the marsh pitted with digging sites, riddled swim 
canals, and extremely susceptible to erosion associated with tidal 
currents, wave action, and sea level rise.
  While it is impossible to quantify exactly what percentage of marsh 
loss is due to nutria, recent studies have shown that excluding or 
controlling nutria substantially slows the rate of erosion. In 
Louisiana, for example, where there is still some market for nutria, 
the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has documented substantial 
habitat damage in coastal wetlands for every year that the annual 
harvest falls below 500,000, as it has every year since 1988.
  The bill will authorize the Fish and Wildlife Service to work with 
the State of Maryland and other partners to extensively trap nutria, to 
develop methods to eradicate or control nutria that may be applied in 
other affected States, and to begin to restore marshland damaged by the 
nutria.
  The proposal, which is the centerpiece of this bill, was developed 
jointly by Federal, State, and local and private partners. This bill 
authorizes $2.9 million over the next 3 years to implement a pilot 
program, and requires that nonfederal partners bear 25 percent of the 
cost of the program. It also includes a limitation that administrative 
expenses may not be used for more than 10 percent of the Federal share.
  This is an important piece of legislation, not only that it is going 
to reduce the problems nutria have caused in the State of Maryland, and 
extend some of that information to the State of Louisiana, but we 
certainly do not want nutria to extend their way up to the State of New 
Jersey. I am sure the chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries 
Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans would go along with that, along with 
a brother that I have in the pine barrens up there.
  Unless action is taken, seriously, Mr. Speaker, this will only get 
worse, and the marsh habitat that is so critical to migratory waterfowl 
will disappear. We know while people need a certain area, a certain 
habitat, and sometimes suburbs to live in, the migrating waterfowl need 
a habitat that is not being destroyed.
  Again, I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Saxton) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) for 
all of their good work on this legislation, and I urge the support of 
my colleagues to pass the nutria eradication and control program bill.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Saxton) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4337.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.




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