The Environmental Law Institute® today announced the release of two reports spotlighting the need to control non-native invasive species in the United States, Invasive Species Control: A Comprehensive Model State Law and Making a List: Prevention Strategies for Invasive Plants in the Great Lakes States.
Invasive species such as purple loosestrife, zebra mussels, Asian long-horned beetles, and snakehead fish are critical threats to America’s natural biodiversity. They displace native wildlife, disrupt ecological processes, and cause economic damage estimated at as much as $130 billion each year. Experts agree that mechanisms to prevent the introduction of invasive species are the most cost-effective government response. However, the American legal framework has been criticized as piecemeal and uncoordinated.
Invasive Species Control: A Comprehensive Model State Law provides the statutory framework for a comprehensive state program to detect, control, and manage the threat of invasive species across all taxa. The structure of the model law is based on 17 state tools for managing invasive species identified in ELI’s groundbreaking 2003 report, Halting the Invasion: State Tools for Invasive Species Management.
Making a List: Prevention Strategies for Invasive Plants in the Great Lakes States provides an overview of state invasive plant programs in the Great Lakes region and highlights the effectiveness of listing as a prevention mechanism.
Both reports are available from ELI free of charge and may be downloaded at http://www.eli.org. A third ELI report is scheduled for release in July, and will address gaps and conflicts in the federal and state legal framework for invasive species management in Florida, with a focus on the Everglades.
These reports join two other recent ELI works, Halting the Invasion, and Harmful Invasive Species: Legal Responses. The latter book, co-edited by Professor Marc Miller and Robert Fabian of Emory University Law School, describes invasive species law and policy in six countries including the United States.
An ELI Seminar on June 24, 2004 will focus on legal frameworks at the state, national, and international levels for preventing the introduction of new invasive species. Professor Marc Miller will describe the “paradox” of U.S. invasive species law and what can be done to resolve it; Carroll Muffett (Director, International Program, Defenders of Wildlife) will discuss gaps and inconsistencies in the international legal framework and will describe some novel prevention tools used by foreign nations; ELI Research Fellow Brad Klein (author of the Great Lakes and Everglades reports) will discuss how some states are attempting to fill the federal vacuum; and Senior Policy Analyst Jessica Wilkinson (Director, ELI’s Invasive Species Program) will moderate. Interested parties should visit http://www.eli.org. for details on attending this free event.
Author contact inquiries and media questions may be directed to John Thompson, 202-939-3833, or pressrequest@eli.org.