Swarms of vegetation-destroying grasshoppers are predicted to invade 160 million acres of land in the Western U.S. this summer, but help from the USDA is falling short, according to Wyoming's congressional delegation.
In a letter to Sec. of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the Wyoming delegation, Senators Mike Enzi, John Barrasso and Representative Cynthia Lummis, called on the USDA to provide their state with "greater flexibility" - in the form of money - to help defend against the grasshopper invasion.
"The severity of the issue mirrors that of 1985 when the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) treated over 20 million acres of land for grasshoppers," wrote the delegation. "Despite these dire predictions, it does not appear as though the USDA has any sense of urgency in the face of this pending plague. For example, APHIS has currently budgeted enough funds for only 70,000 acres of treatment - a woefully inadequate number."
Illustrating their point, the lawmakers cited the USDA's recent allocation of more than $50,000 to Wyoming to fight the European Grapevine Moth, none of which exist in the state. The delegation asked that they be allowed to use the $50,000 to defend against the grasshopper invasion instead.
"We recognize the importance of taking early steps to combat destructive pests like the European Grapevine Moth where it has been discovered; however, we believe it a much better use of tax-pay dollars to cooperatively fight a destructive pest already known to exist in disastrously large quantities."
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