can we say: cane toads? i mean, seriously: SCALE?!!
Congressional Quarterly Homeland Security
September 12, 2008 Friday
753 wordsDHS Ready to Test Cane-Eating Bugs in Effort to Reduce Cover for Illegal Crossings
By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff
The Department of Homeland Security is about ready to see how three new agents do at the border: a primitive, non-stinging wasp, a fly and another herbivorous insect called a scale.
For almost two years, DHS's Science and Technology Directorate has been working with the Department of Agriculture to research whether the bugs -- all native to Spain -- could be deployed as a safe, cost- efficient way to eradicate much of the Carrizo cane that grows along the Rio Grande.
That theory is going to be put to the test soon, although no release date has been announced.
The plant covers 10,000 acres along the river in patches so dense that illegal immigrants use it as cover for border crossings. The cane situation is serious enough that it has come up in nearly a half-dozen congressional border security hearings in 2008 alone.
When S&T began its work on the program, the use of the insects was considered "high risk, high reward" -- as in, if it worked, the benefits would be great, but success was less than a sure thing. Now, S&T program manager Mark Kaczmarek said those odds are looking better.
"Since we have not fielded this stuff yet, we cannot say how effective it will be," he said. But, he added, "We've tested them to make sure that they don't feed on native species."
And that concern was one of the primary obstacles in deploying the insects. Genetic tests say the cane itself most likely came from the region near Barcelona, and was brought to the lower Rio Grande valley by settlers hundreds of years ago.
"It was a building material," used for basket-weaving and thatching by settlers, Kaczmarek said.
But the cane grew unchecked thanks to favorable growing conditions along the river and a complete lack of North American animals that feed on it.
"It's a wild weed, essentially," Kaczmarek said. "It grows real tall and real dense."
In fact, it can reach anywhere from three to 10 meters and grow up to seven inches a week, much taller and denser than when it is kept in check by herbivores in its natural environment. Chop it down, Kaczmarek said, and six months later it's over your head again.
"I'm told that if you're standing on the edge of it with someone and you walk in, within five feet, you can no longer see the individual," he said.
So far, solutions to thin out the stands of cane have involved cutting it down and deploying herbicides, although government agencies have been reluctant to use the latter because of environmental concerns.
Limited Release
Kaczmarek said the insects present a much cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative.
The Arundo wasp lays eggs in the cane stalks, and its larvae feed on the plants' interiors. The Arundo fly does the same thing to new shoots of cane, and the Arundo scale feeds on rhizomes, or underground stems, that the cane uses to reproduce and spread.
"The three of them have different effects on how they feed on the cane," Kaczmarek said. "In a native population, this has a cumulative effect."
He warned that eliminating the cane isn't realistic, and said the insect solution would hopefully control the problem so that plant species native to the Rio Grande could return.
Not everyone is thrilled with the idea, though. Border officials have told Congress that some landowners expressed a preference for the use of herbicides that won't harm the river.
Kaczmarek said homeland security wasn't the government's initial concern about the cane. For years, the USDA has been looking for a solution because the cane stands suck up water that could go to native species or irrigation. With their shallow root systems, the stands also cause soil erosion and damage the low-flow areas where fish spawn. When DHS saw ancillary concerns, it used S&T to "accelerate" the bug program, Kaczmarek said.
"The hope is it will allow a natural riverbank to form again," he said.
Currently, USDA is going through regulatory process for field testing. Canada, the United States and Mexico all have to agree that they have no environmental concerns before the program can go forward.
Meanwhile, researchers are preparing for a limited release as a test of the insects: one square mile of cane-infested land that would be monitored carefully.
Kaczmarek said after that testing phase, S&T's involvement in the program would end. The decision on a larger deployment -- most likely the release of insects bred in captivity -- would be USDA's.
Rob Margetta can be reached at snipped-for-privacy@cq.com.
--j_a