Proceedings of the Sixty-first Annual Meeting of the Northeastern ...

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• Knowledge Based and Systems-Approach Based Decision Support Strategies- With the
proliferation of computer technology there are good opportunities to build decision aids that
integrate biology and control data, expert knowledge and grower wisdom with social,
economic and environmental perspectives. To build these systems, more long- term and
large-scale studies are necessary with growers and advisors included in their development.
The variable response of crops and weeds according to species, growth stage and
environmental conditions also needs further research.
EPA Issues Endangered Species Protection Program Guidance
The EPA published its “Endangered Species Protection Program Field Implementation Notice”
in the November, 2, 2005 Federal Register. The document can be found at
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-PEST/2005/November/Day-02/p21838.htm. It
formalizes a lengthy review process between EPA and other federal agencies on how the EPA
addresses concerns about endangered species when it reviews pesticide registrations while not
placing undue burden on pesticide users. EPA will implement the Endangered Species
Protection Program through pesticide label statements that refer users to Endangered Species
Protection Bulletins. These bulletins will only be issued when specific pesticide use limitations
are necessary to protect federally listed species or their designated critical habitat and will be
available via the EPA's Website or via a toll free number, both of which will be identified on the
new pesticide label once it’s available.
Other News regarding Endangered Species:
"US House Backs Changes in Endangered Species Act" is the title of a September 30 Reuters
report which states in part that " ... In a bid to reshape decades of US environmental policy, the
US House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to overhaul the Endangered
Species Act and make it harder to shield the habitat of plants and animals threatened with
extinction. The bill was approved by a 229-193 vote. The White House supports the legislation,
although it does want some changes. The Senate has not yet taken up companion legislation
and is unlikely to accept such drastic revisions in the law, originally enacted in 1973, so some
compromises are likely if the bill is ever to become law. Many Republicans and Democrats alike
want to update and streamline the current law, better defining the scientific standards that will
apply to protecting endangered species and trying to reduce the number of lawsuits that arise.
But they disagree over many of the specifics. The bill authored by House Resources Committee
Chairman Richard Pombo, a California Republican, includes more protections and payments for
property owners and developers. Critics say it would rely too much on voluntary conservation
efforts by the private sector. The Pombo bill would address property owners' and business
groups' complaints and set up a system for government payments when land cannot be
developed due to an endangered species. It also eases some limitations on certain pesticides ...
Most Democrats and some moderate Rep1ublicans backed an alternative bill that they said
would do more to ensure that new 'species recovery plans' protect the wildlife. The Natural
Resources Defense Council said in a statement that the Pombo bill would lead to more
extinctions ... Democratic critics of the Pombo bill said current law has helped protect the Florida
manatee, the California condor and the bald eagle, and that the bill would threaten that progress
..." - The complete text of the Reuters story is posted at
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/32739/story.htm - The Bill, H.R.
3824, as approved by the full US House of Representatives, would " ... amend and reauthorize
the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide greater results conserving and recovering listed
species, and for other purposes ..." and is posted at http://clerk.house.gov/cgibin/lgwww_bill.pl?203824
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