Robert L. Bendick
Director, US Government Relations The Nature Conservancy

Statement of Robert L. Bendick
Director of Government Relations
Before the Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife
Committee on Environment and Public Works
December 3, 2009
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of The Nature Conservancy I
appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony in support of legislation before this subcommittee
on three major themes:
(1) Control of exotic invasive wildlife that harm native ecosystems;
(2) Expressly authorize and formalize landscape-scale habitat conservation collaboratives such as
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Joint Ventures for Bird Habitat Conservation and, the similar
activities authorized by the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act; and
(3) Amendments to the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (referred to as NAWCA).
My statement today will provide support and comments on seven bills before you today:
• S. 373 and S. 1421 that will prohibit exotic invasive Pythons and Asian Carp from being
shipped or imported into the United States.

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S. 373
If passed, S. 373 would immediately place all species of the Python genus on the federal injurious
species list under the Lacey Act. While we do not feel that there is the body of scientific evidence to
support the listing of the entire Python genus, we do recommend that this bill be amended to include
all 9 large constrictor species assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the report, "Giant
Constrictors: Biological and Management Profiles and an Establishment Risk Assessment for Nine
Large Species of Pythons, Anacondas, and the Boa Constrictor," dated 2009. This comprehensive
scientific risk assessment reviewed nine species of large constrictor snakes and found that all nine
pose high or medium risk to our environment. Two of these species, the Burmese and North African
pythons are already present in conservation lands in Florida and are predicted to spread farther
north. The harm caused by the Burmese python to the native wildlife of Florida is well documented
and includes predation on state-listed wading birds, the federally-endangered Key Largo wood rat
as well as more common species from round-tailed muskrats to small bobcats.
The South Florida Water Management District petitioned the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service to
include the Burmese python as an injurious wildlife species under the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. 42) in
June 2006. The Nature Conservancy has written letters to support this petition as well. To date, the
Service has not made a determination for listing this species. This delay in listing is not unique to
the Burmese python. In October of 2007, the black carp was designated as injurious by the Service,
seven years after the original petition. During that time, the black carp spread to Arkansas, Illinois,
Mississippi and Missouri, harming both native fish and mussel populations. This delay in regulatory
action highlights not only the current need for S. 373 to expedite the overall listing process for the
Burmese python and the other 8 large constrictor species in the USGS report, but it also
demonstrates the need for an overall revision to the Lacey Act and the process for listing species as
injurious.
Robert Bendick full testimony


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Cindy Steinle
PHFaust
Email Cindy
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