This week NASF teamed up with the Coalition Against Forest Pests to submit written testimony to the Senate Committee on Appropriations – Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. The testimony encouraged the continued funding for programs at the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The Coalition Against Forest Pests is made up of non-profit organizations, for-profit corporations, landowners, state agencies and academic scholars interested in APHIS's continued role of keeping the nation's forests healthy by responding to invasive pests and diseases.
The Coalition asked the Subcommittee to maintain funding for both the "Tree and Wood Pests" and "Specialty Crops" under the USDA APHIS Plant Health program. These programs support eradication and control efforts targeting the Asian longhorned beetle and sudden oak death pathogen; allows APHIS to maintain its efforts to curtail spread of the emerald ash borer and other damaging pests; and enables APHIS to address new threats.