Biodiversity Conservation in Pennsylvania: View From the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

• Author: Karl Valley
• Pages: 539-543

Chapter 33

Biodiversity Conservation in

Pennsylvania: View From the

Pennsylvania Department of

Agriculture

by Karl Valley

I. Introduction

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA’s) Bureau of Plant In-

dustry functions as a consumer protection service organization. By regulat-

ing certain industries (apiary, feed, fertilizer, horticulture, lime, pesticide,

and seed) the bureau, through its trained field inspectors and support staff in

Harrisburg, helps ensure that consumers (both industry and residents) re-

ceive quality agricultural products. Bureau regulatory programs in plant in-

spection and noxious weeds include the responsibility of surveying for

known, new, and little-known pests. These programs are extremely impor-

tant; not only do they help to protect Pennsylvania and U.S. agriculture, but

they also benefit biodiversity conservation.

Introduced plant pests, whether plants, insects, fungi, or other organ-

isms, pose a significant threat to native biodiversity as well as agricultural

operations. American agriculture has battled exotic pests since at least the

Revolutionary War. The immigrants who came to the New Worldwith their

plants, seeds, and animals and the trade ships from the Old World whose

ballast was dumped on our shores both provided an easy means for exotic

organisms to cross the large bodies of water that had effectively insulated

the Americas from such events. Prior to the passage of the Plant Quarantine

Act of 19121in the United States, there was virtually unrestricted importa-

tion of plant material, which allowed a number of organisms to hitchhike

their way to North America.

539

1. 7 U.S.C. §§151-167.