A key facility on Guam "crucial in controlling the Brown Tree Snake" is in danger of being shut down, and Congressman James Moylan is spearheading calls to keep it open.
In a letter signed by a bipartisan group of all Pacific area delegates, Moylan asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the General Services Administration to maintain the lease for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services (WS-Guam) facility.
Moylan wrote that the lease termination has the potential to significantly disrupt mission-critical activities that are essential for biosecurity in the Pacific.
"WS-Guam’s biosecurity mission not only protects Guam’s ecosystems, but also protects the biosecurity of our regional allies, Pacific territories, Hawai’i and beyond," Moylan wrote.
It’s not clear from the March 28 letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian if the lease termination is part of the new Department of Government Efficiency's effort to pare down costs in the federal government.
The letter refers to efforts by the GSA to consolidate office space by terminating leases across multiple agencies, "but the unique operational requirements of WS-Guam make relocation within other civilian agency spaces impractical," the letter stated.
The Brown Tree Snake is believed to have arrived on Guam aboard a visiting ship and lacks a natural predator on the island.
It has been blamed for nearly wiping out many of Guam’s bird species.
"Preserving this lease is vital to ensuring continued biosecurity and safety across the region. Your immediate intervention is needed to prevent disruptions to these essential programs," Moylan wrote.
The letter was also signed by fellow congressional delegates Amata Coleman Radewagen of American Samoa, Kimberlyn King-Hinds of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Ed Case and Jill Tokuda of Hawaii.