[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 101 (Wednesday, July 8, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN M. McHUGH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 8, 2009

  Mr. McHUGH. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican standards 
on earmarks, I am submitting the following information regarding 
earmarks I received as part of H.R. 2997--Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act of 2010
  Requesting Member: Congressman John McHugh 
  Bill Number: H.R. 2997
  Account: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: Salaries and 
Expenses
  Legal Name of Requesting Entity: SUNY Environmental School of 
Forestry
  Address of Requesting Entity: SUNY ESF Bray Hall 224, Syracuse, NY 
13210
  Description: Provide an earmark of $500,000 for the eradication of 
the Asian Long-Horned Beatle in New York State forest lands. The Asian 
Long-Horned Beetle is an invasive species that can have disastrous 
effects on forest areas. Several beetle infestations have already 
occurred in the U.S. including Chicago, NJ, Staten Island, NY and most 
recently in Worcester, Massachusetts in August 2008. In order to 
eradicate the beetle 30,000 trees were cut down in an effort to keep 
the beetle from spreading. While other methods are being explored, 
chopping down infested trees and burning the wood is currently the only 
way to eradicate the beetles which have no known natural predator in 
the U.S.
  More than 61 percent of New York State is forested and highly 
vulnerable to an introduction of Asian Long-Horned Beetle. The trees 
preferred as hosts by the Asian Long-Horned Beetle are hardwoods, which 
also compose the majority of the Northeast United States mixed hardwood 
forests critical to New York rural economic vitality and the forest 
products and wood-based renewable energy industries, New York State 
water quality, sequestration of carbon and greenhouse gases known to 
contribute to climate change.
  There is no wide scale proactive protection technology deployed today 
and the threat is moving north toward the Catskill and west toward the 
Adirondack and Southern Tier. The Asian Long-Horned Beetle infestation 
is an economic, social and environmental disaster waiting to happen. 
Presently, all therapies for Asian Long-Horned Beetle infestation are 
reactive; all the trees are removed for miles around.

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