[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 60 (Thursday, May 5, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2735-S2736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. LANDRIEU:
  S. 893. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
financial assistance to the State of Louisiana for a pilot program to 
develop measures to eradicate or control feral swine and to assess and 
restore wetlands damaged by feral swine; to the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
will be a critical component in our efforts to recover and rebuild 
Louisiana's vast coastal wetlands. My bill works to address the 
threatening problem of coastal wetland deterioration in Louisiana 
caused by non-native, invasive feral swine populations. Few are aware 
that the marsh and wetlands along Louisiana's coast comprise some 40 
percent of the Nation's total salt marshes. Louisiana's coastline is a 
national treasure. Yet, this national treasure is disappearing at an 
alarming rate due to a number of natural and man-made factors, 
including the destruction of wetlands caused by non-native feral pig 
populations that are literally eating away the coast.
  Louisiana's coastline is an increasingly fragile and finite source of 
protection. It protects against storm surges, the varied effects of 
climate change, and it protects the many communities that thrive on the 
coastal plains of Louisiana. The survival of the affected acreage is 
crucial not only to the continued existence of my State and the states 
directly above mine--which will be affected if Louisiana's wetlands 
continue to deteriorate--but also to our Nation's energy independence 
and security. Forty percent of America's refining capacity flows from 
the Gulf Coast to service the rest of our Nation, and if Louisiana's 
coastline continues to disappear, our Nation's refiners and energy 
infrastructure will be jeopardized. As such, the loss of our

[[Page S2736]]

wetlands threatens not only our teeming wildlife, but also land, lives, 
energy infrastructure, and navigation.
  That is why I rise today to introduce the Feral Swine Eradication and 
Control Pilot Program Act of 2011, to address the challenges these 
species pose to our efforts to reverse coastal wetland deterioration.
  Every 30 minutes, a portion of Louisiana's coast the size of a 
football field is converted from healthy marsh into open water. Since 
1930, 1.2 million acres have been lost. That is an area roughly the 
size of Delaware. Scientists predict that Louisiana will lose another 
700 square miles of coastal wetlands by 2050. That is an area the size 
of the greater Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metro areas.
  Exacerbating this problem is the irresponsible introduction of the 
feral hog to Louisiana. This invasive species has caused extensive 
damage to our natural wildlife habitat. In Louisiana, the wild 
omnivores compete with native wildlife for food resources; prey on 
young domestic animals and wildlife; and carry diseases that can affect 
pets, livestock, wildlife and people. Scientists now believe that the 
feral hogs are not only imposing enormous damage to the marsh, but are 
also negatively impacting native freshwater mussels and insects by 
contributing E. coli to water systems.
  According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the 
wild pig is the most prolific large mammal in North America and given 
adequate nutrition, its populations in an area can double in just four 
months.
  Louisiana's landscape has already been ravaged by the nutria rodent. 
In 2002, the first program was created to combat the increasing nutria 
populations. This program, the Coast-wide Nutria Control Program, CNCP, 
incentivized trappers to catch nutria in return for monetary 
compensation. This program has proven successful at decreasing nutria 
populations and significantly reducing their impact to coastal 
wetlands.
  However, more effort was needed to further reduce the nutria damage 
to wetlands, both in Louisiana and in other marshy environments, 
including Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. The Nutria Eradication and Control 
Act was enacted in 2003 to provide a critical supplement of funding to 
strengthen the Coast-wide Nutria Control Program. In July of 2009, I 
joined my friend and colleague Senator Cardin in introducing the re-
authorization of the Nutria Eradication and Control Act. These two 
measures to combat nutria populations have been instrumental in 
reducing the nutria damage to Louisiana's wetlands.
  Unfortunately, now Louisiana has another pest eroding its marshes and 
wetlands. Feral swine are listed by the World Conservation Union, IUCN, 
as one of the top 100 invasive species worldwide. If action is not 
taken to control the feral swine population, our biologists fear these 
animals will undo much of the progress Louisiana has made in 
controlling the nutria population. It is my hope that with the help of 
my colleagues, we can pass this bill to help eradicate these pests from 
our vanishing coastline once and for all.
  For these reasons, it is imperative that we control the feral swine 
in Louisiana. As such, the bill I am introducing today authorizes the 
Secretary of the Interior to allocate funding to create a pilot program 
modeled off of the Nutria Eradication and Control Act. This program 
will assess the nature and extent of damage to the wetlands in 
Louisiana and develop methods to eradicate or control the feral swine 
population, and restore the coastal areas damaged by this invasive 
species. It is a small program, but the benefits are potentially vast. 
It is my hope that by creating this program, we can achieve similar 
success at combating feral hogs as we have had at controlling nutria 
populations.
  It is for all of these reasons that this legislation is crucial. I 
ask that my colleagues support its prompt passage.
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