Jerick Sablan

jpsablan@guampdn.com

The fight against invasive species is getting more help with the recent start of the Guam Invasive Species Council, which, before November, hadn’t met in more than a year.

The council met in November to discuss an invasive species management plan, Department of Agriculture Director Matt Sablan said. The council will meet quarterly and will meet again in February.

The council was created through Public Law 31-43 in 2011 to protect Guam from species that threaten the economy, culture, ecosystem and human health, and to provide policy direction to local and federal agencies, the law states.

It’s also tasked with identifying and recording all invasive species in Guam and the needed resources to fight them, the law states.

The council consists of organizational heads or their designees from several local and federal government agencies. Sablan said they’re looking to invite other agencies to the council, including the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

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In November, the council met for the first time after a 14-month hiatus, Sablan said. He had just been confirmed a few months prior as the new director and wanted to revive the stagnant council.

The council is working to complete the invasive species management plan, but in the meantime, it is looking to hire staff for the Biosecurity Division, Sablan said.

The division is being funded through fee collections, Sablan said.

For every 1,000 pounds of freight brought to Guam, 75 cents will be charged to the person responsible for paying the freight charge and deposited into the Guam Invasive Species Fund. The money collected is to be used for inspecting, quarantining and eradicating invasive species contained in foreign or domestic marine commercial shipments, according to the law.

The law also requires the money be used to recruit and hire a territorial invasive species coordinator, establish and provide staffing for a biosecurity division and for the development of the Guam Invasive Species Management Plan and its updates.

About $26,000 has been collected since the fees were started in July 2015, Sablan said.

Sen. Rory Respicio, D-Agana Heights, has introduced a bill to use the funds to help fight invasive species.

Much more must be done to combat invasive species

Bill 223 will appropriate all fiscal year 2015 and 2016 revenues to the Department of Agriculture to fund vacant positions in its Biosecurity Division.

Since last July, funds have been collected for the new Guam Invasive Species Fund from fees imposed on incoming freight-the usual route for unwanted animals and insects, a release from Respicio’s office states.

The Department of Agriculture has estimated that as much as $2 million annually could be raised from the fees.

Respicio, who has oversight of the Department of Agriculture as Natural Resources Committee Chair, stressed the need for “boots on the ground” staff for the department in his legislation.

Guam Invasive Species Council

The council comprises agency heads or designees from: