Appropriations Bill Contains Important Safeguards For Connecticut Agriculture, Says DeLauro
Appropriations Bill Contains Important Safeguards For Connecticut Agriculture, Says DeLauro
- Funding Will Allow Research into Sudden Oak Death -
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Fiscal Year 2006 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which passed the House last night, contains important safeguards for Connecticut agriculture, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) said today. The House voted to include a comprehensive plant health amendment to the bill that provides funding to control plant destruction like Sudden Oak Death (SOD). The New Haven Experiment Station has been researching SOD since the problem was first discovered in 2000.
"Plant diseases are continuously emerging and they can threaten not only agriculture, but our environment and public health," said DeLauro. "The funding provided in this bill is important to prevent of the disease before Connecticut forests are heavily impacted. Massive deforestation would not only be bad for our land conservation and our environment, but can contribute to the actual lowering of air quality, since trees are a major contributor of oxygen to our environment."
Sudden Oak Death, initially used to describe the rapid decline of many native tree of coastal California, is caused by a tree-eating fungus. Several shipments of plants from nurseries in California and Oregon were distributed to Connecticut, so the Experiment Station is working to protect Connecticut forests and landscapes.
The Agriculture Appropriations bill allocates $19 million to the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service for control of plant pests to include for diseases like SOD. It also includes funding for the following Connecticut projects.
The New Haven Experiment Station - $1,360,000
Funding is designated for continuing support for their West Nile Virus Project and the work they have been performing on Aquatic Weed Management.
The Northeast Area Wide Tick Control Project in New Haven - $758,000
Funding will aid this USDA Agriculture Research Service project with development of early intervention technologies to prevent lyme disease. The project seeks to better understand the root cause of lyme disease by researching it where it begins - with infection carrying ticks and ticks on host animals
The University of Connecticut (UConn) - $6,802,000
Funding will allow UConn to enter into a joint effort with the University of Vermont and University of Maine to study "invasive plants" - wildlife that self seed and choke out all the other growth. The funding will also permit the university to continue its work on Advanced Vaccine Research for Disease Control; cattle research; and Rainbow Trout Broodstock research; as well as continue the operation of the Food Marketing Policy Center.
DeLauro is ranking member of the House Appropriations Agriculture subcommittee and the only member of the Connecticut delegation on the Appropriations Committee.
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