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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