[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 141 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12253-S12254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL 
                  ASSISTANCE TO THE STATE OF MARYLAND

  Mr. COATS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4337 received from the 
House.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.

       A 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 PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the bill?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, this legislation authorizes the 
Secretary of Interior to provide assistance to the State of Maryland in 
controlling a non-native rodent--nutria--which is destroying wetlands 
and valuable habitat at and around Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge 
on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Sponsored by my colleague 
Representative Gilchrest, the legislation establishes a three year 
demonstration program of methods of manage nutria populations and to 
restore marshlands damaged by the destructive creature.
  Mr. President, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is one of the real 
treasures and showplaces of our National Wildlife Refuge system. 
Established in the early 1930s to help preserve migratory waterfowl, 
the 20,000 acre refuge has become one of the chief wintering areas for 
Canada geese along the Atlantic Flyway. It is also home for the 
endangered Delmarva Fox Squirrel and more than 200 species of birds. As 
all who visit the refuge quickly discover, Blackwater is a very special 
place: a haven for fish and wildlife , a land of exceptional beauty, 
and a vital part of the natural heritage and quality of life that we 
enjoy in Maryland.
  Unfortunately the Refuge and surrounding wetlands are being 
threatened by the prolific and highly invasive nonindigenous species 
nutria which are destroying the tidal marshes and even displacing other 
native species. Over the past three decades, the population of nutria 
in Maryland has grow exponentially from about 150 to as many as 
150,000--a thousand fold increase. During that same period, Blackwater 
National Wildlife Refuge has lost more than 40 percent of its marshes--
approximately 7,000 of 17,000 acres--due, in large part, to nutria. As 
nutria population densities continue to increase, so does the range of 
the creature and its associated ecological damage.
  In order to respond to this threat, the Maryland Department of 
Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service, the University of Maryland and 
more than a dozen other partners have joined together to develop a plan 
to address march loss and control of nutria. The goal of this three 
year pilot program is to develop methods for intensive control of the 
nutria populations and to restore damaged marsh habitats. This 
legislation authorizes the Federal funds necessary to carry out the 
program. I urge adoption of the legislation.
  Mr. COATS. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a 
third

[[Page S12254]]

time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and 
that any statements relating to the bill appear at the appropriate 
place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (H.R. 4337) was considered read the third time and passed.

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