[APWG] Anyone working on getting Sahara mustard listed as noxious?

[Craig Dremann]

Dear All,

I got an interesting ---almost one year late ---response from the USDA
on getting the Sahara mustard listed as a Federal noxious weed.

Their response is in effect: If no State Dept. of Ag. considers it a
problem, they don't either.  Apparently the Feds only confirm the
finding of a group of States and don't take action on their own. 

Is there any action within any State, to get this species listed?  

You would think that the Federal employees trying to battle this plant
in the Southwest, would be working on getting it Federally listed?

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333

==============================

Subject: 
        Re: Any Emergency Listing of the Saharan Mustard as a Fed.
Noxious weed?
   Date: 
        Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:42:52 -0400
  From: 
        Alan.V.Tasker at aphis.usda.gov
    To: 
        Craig Dremann <craig at ecoseeds.com>
    CC: 
        Anthony.L.Koop at aphis.usda.gov, Brian.M.Spears at aphis.usda.gov,
        Polly.P.Lehtonen at aphis.usda.gov, Donald.R.Givens at aphis.usda.gov


In filing and clearing old email, I'm sorry to see I seem to have
neglected to answer your email from last year RE: Saharan Mustard
(Brassica tournefortii).

I referred your question to the APHIS New Pest Advisory Group (NPAG) for
a preassessment as a possible Federal Noxious Weed.   In order to be
added to the Federal Noxious Weed list a plant taxa needs to an exotic, 
new to the continental United States (reported in the last few years)
AND meet the International Plant Pest Convention (IPPC) definition of a
quarantine pest.

Under IPPC, an international treaty of which the US is a signatory, a
country can prohibit or restrict importation only of regulated pests,
which, in the case of federal noxious weeds, are quarantine pests. A
quarantine pest is defined as "a pest of potential economic importance
to the area endangered thereby and not yet present there, or present but
not widely distributed and being officially controlled." (emphasis
added). APHIS lists in the regulation Federal noxious weeds which meet
the definition of a quarantine pest.

I received an answer from the assessment team in July of 2005, but
neglected to provide to you the conclusion we came to.
Brassica tournefortii (Saharan mustard) is a plant pest that has been
documented as being in the United States since 1927 (Sanders and
Minnich,
2005).  

It was most likely introduced with date palms from the Middle East
during this time.  During most of this time, it was not very common, but
it went through a population explosion during the late 1970â*™s which
coincided with a few years of above normal rainfall.  

Currently, it is distributed in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas
and Nevada.  This species is a serious weed, however, B. tournefortii is
not listed as a regulated noxious weed by either the U.S. government or
any of the state governments. 

It is listed as a noxious weed by the California Invasive Plant Council
(Sanders and Minnich, 2005), however, this type of listing is advisory,
not regulatory.  

Because this weed has been in the U.S. for a very long time, and is in
at least 5 states without official regulation or official control
programs, it is not an appropriate candidate for federal listing.  This
doesn't mean that control of this serious pest is not appropriate, just
that it is too widespread to become a Federally listed species. The
individual States may promulgate State regulations for non-quarantine
pest weeds under State law, if they see fit. Normally the State regs are
more appropriate for management pests.  APHIS concentrations on
exclusion and eradication pests.

Thank you for your interest.  In the future if you provide us with
potential pests for assessment I'll try to be more timely in my
response.

Sanders, A., and R. Minnich. (2005). Brassica tournefortii. California
      Invasive Plant Council. Web site:
     
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/datastore/detailreport.cfm?usernumber=12&surveynumber=182
      . Last accessed: April 17, 2006.



==========================

                                                                                                                                 
                      Craig
Dremann                                                                                              
                      <craig at ecoseeds.c        To:      
Alan.V.Tasker at aphis.usda.gov                                            
                      om>                      cc:      
craig at ecoseeds.com                                                      
                                               Subject:  Any Emergency
Listing of the Saharan Mustard as a Fed. Noxious weed?    
                      07/21/2005
12:26                                                                                           
                     
AM                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                 

Is there any current activity towards an Emergency Listing of the
Saharan mustard (Brassica tournefortii) as a Federal Noxious weed?

I have a web page on the problem here in the Southwest, at
http://www.ecoseeds.com/mustards.html

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333

==============================