Feb 6, 2020
From the Western IPM Center e-newsletter for Feb. 2020
New Risk Assessments Just Posted for Invasive Weeds
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ?recently posted Weed Risk Assessments for a dozen new weeds of concern.
Eleven of the 12 are already documented in the West.
The purpose of the assessments is to evaluate the likelihood that a weed species will escape, naturalize, and spread in the United States, and harm natural and agricultural resources. APHIS prepares an assessment when:
- A species shows some threat potential in the United States or abroad,
- Someone requests to import a species that is either new to the United States, or if present, not widely distributed and poses a potential threat; or
- A stakeholder submits a request to APHIS to add a species to the Federal Noxious Weed List.