Oregon Legislature passes invasive species bills

Checkpoints, quarantines, road signs and an emergency response fund: The 2009 Legislature spent the last six months revamping the state’s efforts to combat unwelcome invaders, whether they be fish, bugs or weeds.

And perhaps the most visible effect of the legislative onslaught will have originated in Bend: new signs that will be posted along state highways in appreciation of groups that commit to battling roadside noxious weeds.

“I’m very happy, of course,” said Brenda Pace, the Bend resident and Deschutes County planning commissioner who spearheaded the expansion of the state’s Adopt-A-Highway program to include weed-pulling groups.

Last year she took the idea to Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, who joined with Democrats to get the bill passed. Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed it into law June 25.

That legislation is just one of about a dozen laws passed this session to combat invasive species and weeds — a tally that activists call a banner year.

Vern Holm, coordinator of a multi-agency coalition called the Northwest Weed Management Partnership, said, “It was indeed a good year. Many people were heartened at the increased awareness of the Legislature as well as support from Oregon citizens regarding the threats that invasive species pose to forestland, agricultural land, and fish and wildlife habitat.”

Lisa DeBruyckere, the Oregon Invasive Species Council’s coordinator, agreed. “It was a great year for Oregon’s environment relative to invasive species,” she said. “We proposed 12 pieces of legislation, and 11 of them passed.”

Invasive species activists say nonnative species hurt Oregon’s economy by destabilizing ecosystems and hurting agriculture, and by doing damage to habitat that is costly to combat. For instance, the state has repeatedly had to invest in combating nonnative fish from taking over Diamond Lake, a popular fishing area in the Cascades.

“It has cost the state millions of dollars,” said DeBruyckere.

To stop such things, the 2009 Legislature authorized state agencies, including the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to set up checkpoints and look for “aquatic invasive species” such as live bait fish.

Carrying or releasing contraband fish — or trying to avoid the checkpoint — will now be a crime punishable by as much as a year in prison, a $6,250 fine, or both.

Other legislation will put an estimated $175,000 a year from all-terrain vehicle fees into an invasive species emergency response fund. That fund could be used to combat a sudden outbreak of noxious weeds along ATV trails, such as in the Deschutes National Forest.

Yet another bill will consolidate noxious weed laws, setting standards under which the state may declare a formal quarantine to block a species’ importation. That law also says that knowingly possessing or transporting a noxious weed can result in a $10,000 fine.

Of all those bills, Holm said he is most pleased with the expansion of the Adopt-A-Highway program to include weed groups — not only because it was a “grass-roots effort” but because it will ensure that public awareness of the issue continues to increase.

“This bill will raise public awareness throughout the state just as Adopt-A-Highway litter control has done,” he said. “It will do the same thing for invasive weeds.”

Though Pace is happy her idea is now a law, the neighborhood activist is not done tracking what happens. In an e-mail, she said she will be monitoring the Oregon Department of Transportation carefully to make sure the program is as accessible as possible.

Source: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090709/UPDATE/90709034

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