When it comes to pests, Matthew Wagner says Texas is a bit of a menagerie.
“I think when you look at Texas, you know we’re kind of living in a Twilight Zone of invasive, exotic species,” said Wagner, the executive director of Texas’ chapter of The Wildlife Society.
There’s no shortage of examples, from zebra mussels that infest lakes, to fever ticks that can kill cattle, to moths that eat the prickly pear cacti.
“And so having an alert system that notifies locals about pests will be very useful in attacking [them] as best we can,” Wagner said.
A new law in effect on Sept. 1 sets up just such a system: House Bill 1592 creates a statewide alert system for pests and diseases that affect plants and wildlife.
Right now, multiple state agencies collect and distribute this kind of information. For example, the Texas Department of Agriculture handles citrus greening — a big problem for South Texas orange growers. When there’s an anthrax outbreak near Del Rio, the Texas Animal Health Commission gets the word out. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission tracks chronic wasting disease, a contagious neurologic condition spreading through the state’s deer.
Under the new law, all that information will be findable online through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. People will also be able to sign up to receive alerts directly.
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State Rep. Mary González, a Democrat from El Paso County, says this comes at a critical moment as risks from pests and disease are growing, thanks to climate change and global trade.
“We are now facing different types of agricultural pests and wildlife pests that are dangerous,” said González, who co-sponsored the bill. “And so in order for us to navigate these dangers, having an alert system is critical for producers.”
The owners of businesses like farms and nurseries may be particularly interested in the alerts.
At Native Texas Nursery, which sits on 40 acres in East Austin, rows of Mexican Buckeye trees, live oak saplings and agave plants line the long gravel road to its office.
The nursery’s longtime owner, Bill Carson, went to the Capitol to testify in support of HB 1592. Carson recently sold the business but has stayed involved as a consultant.
“All of the [alert] information is being prepared by the different state agencies,” Carson said. “We didn’t have anywhere that was one central source to find all this information. And that was the missing link. And now with this together, that should close that gap so that producers and homeowners and everyone else involved can find the information in one place.”
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One of the pests Carson has kept his eye on is the emerald ash borer, an insect that’s decimated ash trees in the east and Midwest. They’ve spread steadily for decades and were first detected in Texas in 2016.
“We decided to withdraw ash trees from our inventory for the sole purpose that if we sold a tree to someone, then the emerald ash borer spreads throughout Texas, and their beautiful tree dies, and we didn’t want to be in that position,” Carson said.
The system is not up and running yet, though. A spokesperson for the AgriLife Extension Service said rollout plans are still in the works.
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