Senators call for funding to fight beetle outbreak

Senators call for funding to fight beetle outbreak Following discovery of new infestations of the Asian longhorned beetles in Queens and Staten Island, New York and New Jersey senators are calling for sufficient federal funding to help eradicate the beetle in parts of the two states.
   In a letter to the Senate Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez, of New Jersey — who say they have the support of Sen. Frank Lautenberg — are requested $48 million in federal funds to help stop the infestation by the wood-boring pest, which is believed to have arrived in the United States from Asia in wood packaging material.
   “Reports that infestations of the Asian longhorned beetle have spread across New York City and New Jersey demand that we act swiftly and effectively,” Clinton said.
   She said the beetle “poses a severe threat to New York City, with a potential to wipe out nearly half our city’s trees at a cost of more than $2 billion. It is essential that we provide adequate financial support for our efforts to eradicate this dangerous and costly infestation.”
   First discovered in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1996, the beetle is said to have destroyed 8,400 trees already.