The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $650,000 to Native Tribes as part of its effort to strengthen Tribal Nations’ infrastructure for pest detection and surveillance, identification, threat mitigation, and outreach. Overall, USDA is providing more than $70 million in funding this year to support 372 projects in 49 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. USDA provides this funding under the authority of the Plant Protection Act Section 7721.
“USDA is committed to protecting plant health and food security in indigenous communities. These projects will provide Tribal Nations with the tools they need to protect their agriculture and natural resources and will contribute to keeping the U.S. agricultural economy strong,” said USDA Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt.
These funds will support projects covering a range of plant health and pest mitigation activities, including:
- $250,000 to support the Nez Perce Tribe’s effort to develop biological control and survey for invasive, noxious weeds on their lands and incorporate the weeds biocontrol program into their integrated weed management strategy;
- $182,936 to support the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s emergency response to the emerald ash borer in New York to minimize the pest’s impacts to ash trees and habitat by using mitigative actions;
- $78,000 to conduct outreach and education in Wisconsin’s Tribal communities;
- $74,920 to support an invasive species project that will protect plant health on Maine’s Tribal lands;
- $40,000 to support the Wisconsin Tribal Conservation Advisory Council’s survey for forest pests in the state; and
- $25,762 to enhance plant pest and disease mitigation and rapid response capabilities on Wisconsin Tribal lands by developing pest mitigation tools and techniques for use in pest response activities.
Since 2009, USDA has supported more than 4,800 projects and provided nearly $740 million in PPA 7721 funding. Collectively, these projects allow USDA and its partners to quickly detect and rapidly respond to invasive plant pests and diseases. PPA 7721 projects also help the nation maintain the infrastructure necessary to ensure disease-free, certified planting materials are available to U.S. specialty crop producers.
In addition to the PPA 7721 annual funding opportunities, USDA offers a variety of programs and services that are available to Tribal governments, communities and organizations, and individual Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. Visit the Office of Tribal Relations (OTR) website for information on the programs and services available to Tribal communities at USDA.
View the fiscal year 2022 Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 spending plans on the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website: www.aphis.usda.gov/ppa-projects.
