Invasive Species: Cooperation and Coordination Are Important for 
Effective Management of Invasive Weeds (25-FEB-05, GAO-05-185).  
                                                                 
Invasive weeds, native or nonnative plant species, cause harm to 
natural areas such as rangelands or wildlife habitat and economic
impacts due to lost productivity of these areas. While the	 
federal investment in combating invasive species is substantial  
most has been concentrated on agricultural lands, not on natural 
areas. In this report, GAO describes (1) the entities that	 
address invasive weeds in natural areas and the funding sources  
they use; (2) federal, state, and local weed management 	 
officials' views on the barriers to weed management; and (3)	 
their opinions about how additional resources for weed management
could be distributed. GAO limited this study to entities in the  
Departments of Agriculture and the Interior, and California,	 
Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, and Mississippi, and gathered	 
information through interviews of over 90 weed management	 
officials.							 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-05-185 					        
    ACCNO:   A18237						        
  TITLE:     Invasive Species: Cooperation and Coordination Are       
Important for Effective Management of Invasive Weeds		 
     DATE:   02/25/2005 
  SUBJECT:   Federal funds					 
	     Funds management					 
	     Interagency relations				 
	     Land management					 
	     Locally administered programs			 
	     Natural resources					 
	     Plants (organisms) 				 
	     Program management 				 
	     Public lands					 
	     State programs					 
	     Strategic planning 				 
	     Wildlife conservation				 
	     Intergovernmental relations			 
	     California 					 
	     Colorado						 
	     Idaho						 
	     Maryland						 
	     Mississippi