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See also: Science Topics for related invasive species issues.

About 82% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, and that number is growing. “Frequent travel to and from cities means that trees in urban areas have high rates of exposure to invasive species like the emerald ash borer,” says Frank Koch, a USDA Forest Service research ecologist and co-author of a study in the Journal of Applied Ecology about the impacts of invasive insects on urban trees.

There are more than 4,000 native bee species in the United States, with many species yet to be described. These native bees pollinate our native plants and agricultural crops, add beauty to our world, and are deserving of protection. The US National Native Bee Monitoring Research Coordination Network (RCN) is a USDA-funded effort to coordinate and support efforts to monitor native bee populations in the US, with the broader goal of conserving our nation's native bee fauna.

From 2020-2023, native bee biologists from across the US will work together to develop a national plan for native bee monitoring. The plan will include components such as monitoring protocols and the designation of priority areas for monitoring. The RCN will also develop new educational and training opportunities in areas that are fundamental to native bee monitoring.
See also: How You Can Help Count and Conserve Native Bees (New York Times, Dec 9, 2020)

A national cooperative effort (funded by USDA-NIFA) on Late Blight of Tomato and Potato in the U.S. This site serves as an information portal on late blight. You can report disease occurrences, submit a sample online, observe disease occurrence maps, and sign up for text disease alerts. There are also useful links to a decision support system, and information about identification and management of the disease.

View Outbreak Map for current year or for prior years.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District is on a mission to fight hydrilla, an aggressive plant species that has wreaked havoc from Asia to every continent except Antarctica. "Hydrilla completely chokes out our waterways and impacts all the things we enjoy,” said Michael Greer, USACE Buffalo District project manager." It affects water quality, the economy, businesses, hydropower and flood reduction - ultimately our health and our wallets." Buffalo District’s main projects to eradicate hydrilla are at the Erie Canal and Tonawanda Creek, Tonawanda, NY, as well as on Cayuga Lake near Aurora, NY and Ithaca, NY. The District provides assistance on Pymatuning Lake which borders Pennsylvania and Ohio, and at Raystown Lake in south central Pennsylvania. Buffalo District is also lending expertise to a project on the Connecticut River. Funding for the project is available through the Corps of Engineers Aquatic Plant Control Research Program and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Early in October 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was faced once again with New World screwworm, which had been eradicated from the United States more than three decades ago. Infestation of this flesh-eating parasite was confirmed in deer from the National Key Deer Refuge in the Florida Keys.

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) immediately began releasing sterile male flies in Florida’s affected areas as part of an aggressive eradication campaign. By March 2017, the screwworm had been successfully eradicated from Florida.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in collaboration with County Agricultural Commissioners, are proud to announce that after a year of hard work we have eradicated all populations of invasive fruit flies from California. This significant achievement is a testament to the hard work of our agencies and the critical support from the public. 

Maryland’s eastern shore has seen thousands of acres of protective marshland impacted by the nutria's destructive feeding habits. To protect the valuable resources of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, The Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project (CBNEP) began in 2002 to permanently remove invasive nutria from the marshes of the Delmarva Peninsula and to protect, enhance, and restore the aquatic and river ecosystems they damaged.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue joined Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon in a virtual ceremony to sign a Shared Stewardship Agreement between USDA’s Forest Service and the State of Wyoming [PDF, 2.1 MB]. The Shared Stewardship Agreement establishes a framework for federal and state agencies to promote active forest management, improve collaboration, and respond to ecological challenges and natural resource concerns in Wyoming. Under the agreement, the State of Wyoming and USDA will work together on forest and grassland restoration across all land ownerships, with a focus on protecting at-risk communities and watersheds from wildfire. The USDA Forest Service initiative for cross-boundary land management is described in the 2018 document Toward Shared Stewardship Across Landscapes: An Outcome-Based Investment Strategy [PDF, 14 MB]. This strategy addresses the increasing challenges faced by federal, state, and private managers of forests and rangeland, including catastrophic wildfires, invasive species, degraded watersheds, and insects and disease.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced it is taking several additional actions to ensure the health and viability of the nation’s livestock and poultry. In the two months since the initial detection of H5N1 in dairy cattle, USDA has worked quickly and in concert with its federal and state partners to better understand the virus and contain the disease and remains committed to seeking additional ways to collect the data needed to better understand and mitigate the risk created by this outbreak.
See related resource: Avian Influenza

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing its plans for combatting the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina in 2021. "Every year, APHIS evaluates and determines the most effective options to achieve ALB eradication," said Osama El-Lissy, APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine Deputy Administrator. "Complete eradication of this pest from the United States remains our goal, and our strategy this year will advance our efforts to eliminate this pest from where it is infesting trees."

In 2021, the ALB program will focus on inspecting trees in quarantined areas in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Carolina, and removing infested trees at no cost to property owners. The program will not apply insecticide treatments this year. Program officials will monitor for the beetle's presence inside and around each area, respond to calls for assistance, conduct training sessions for compliance agreement holders, and perform outreach.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today it is offering $75 million in funding for the eradication and control of feral swine through the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) in a joint effort between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The 2018 Farm Bill included this new pilot program to help address the threat that feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems and human and animal health. Additional information on the complete funding announcement and about specific pilot projects, including target areas and the roles for which partner assistance is being requested, can be found on the FSCP webpage.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today that U.S. cotton is free — after more than 100 years — of the devastating pink bollworm. This pest has cost U.S. producers tens of millions of dollars in yearly control costs and yield losses. Thanks to rigorous control and regulatory activities carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), state departments of agriculture, the U.S. cotton industry, and growers, pink bollworm has been eradicated [PDF, 176 KB] from all cotton-producing areas in the continental United States. As a result, USDA is lifting the domestic quarantine for pink bollworm, relieving restrictions on the domestic and international movement of U.S. cotton.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today the first update since 2013 of the National Road Map for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) [Sep 21, 2018; PDF, 340 KB]. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a science-based, sustainable decision-making process that uses information on pest biology, environmental data, and technology to manage pest damage in a way that minimizes both economic costs and risks to people, property, and the environment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is asking the public to look for and report the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). APHIS declares every August Tree Check Month and is asking you to look for this destructive, invasive beetle by checking trees on your property and in your community for damage. Left unchecked, the ALB can cause infested trees to die. August is an ideal time of year to look for the beetle and the damage it causes.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), together with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, is announcing that the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) quarantine on Long Island is now smaller. New York is now closer to being ALB-free.