A bill creating a council charged with developing a comprehensive plan for invasive species management was about to cross Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s desk at press time.

The New York State Invasive Species Council would oversee New York’s efforts to eradicate, control and prevent the introduction of harmful invasive species. The Council would provide input on state funding for control and management of these species, as well as develop a comprehensive invasive species management plan.

A major role of the Council will also be the development of a list of plants that cannot by used in New York State. The list will be the result of science based analysis that examines economic and environmental harm from each listed species.

The legislation was passed by both the state Senate and Assembly and was supported by New York Farm Bureau. “Dealing with invasive species is an important issue for New York agriculture,” said John Tauzel, New York Farm Bureau’s associate director for regulatory issues and legislative affairs. “It seems like reports come in about a new invasive species being found in New York every few months.”

Tauzel said invasive species have been a big problem to agriculture for a long time. He cited golden nematodes, a European potato pest that New York farmers have been fighting since 1941 when they were discovered on Long Island. They now affect potato growers in nine New York counties.

Invasive plant and animal species pose a large risk to New York’s environment and economy and this risk is increasing through time as more invasive species become established within the state.

As a threat to biodiversity, invasive species have been judged second only to habitat loss. Invasives come from around the world; the rate of invasion is increasing along with the increase in international trade that accompanies globalization.

The economic damage to the national economy has been estimated to be as high as $137 billion annually from species invasion. “It’s very clearly had a financial impact,” Tauzel said.

Tauzel was the New York Farm Bureau staff member who participated as part of a 2003 taskforce established by then-Gov. George Pataki to explore the invasive species issue and to provide recommendations to the governor and the Legislature. Many different state agencies, environmental organizations and related groups were involved, Tauzel said.

“We found that there’s an awful lot already being done,” Tauzel said of on-going efforts by many groups to deal with harmful invasive species. “But we found that there needed to be a unifying group, a group that could look at the big picture from 10,000 feet out and provide coordination, so we could all be more effective.”

In the fall of 2005, the taskforce issued a 146-page report that recommended New York put in place the invasive species council, a formalized structure to assess the impact on the state, identify actions and review state policies.

The council, according to the bill awaiting the governor’s signature would be co-chaired by DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis and state Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Patrick Hooker. Other members of the council would include the commissioners of the state Department of Transportation; the Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; the Adirondack Park Agency, the Canal Corporation and the state Secretary of State’s office.

Tauzel said an advisory board of up to 30 members would also be put in place to work with the council.

The bill establishing the council would also give DEC additional powers and duties for the implementation of the act and prohibit the state from purchasing or intentionally distributing species identified as prohibited in the recommendations of the council. “The consensus based approach of the Council has a lot of support,” Tauzel said about the measure.