HR4219-119

What This Bill Does

The National Wildlife Refuge System Invasive Species Strike Team Act authorizes a Fish and Wildlife Service program to eradicate, control, and reduce invasive-species harms on and adjacent to National Wildlife Refuge System lands and waters. The Secretary must establish at least one strike team in each FWS region trained for early detection and rapid response across multiple taxa. Teams conduct prevention, surveillance, eradication, containment, mapping, monitoring, active management, integrated pest management, Incident Command System exercises, outreach, and data-driven evaluation. The program can work with federal, state, Tribal, local, nonprofit, private, and nongovernmental partners, provide financial or technical assistance, contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements, assist other agencies on request, coordinate with adjacent landowners, use standardized national and regional invasive-species reporting platforms, publish reports after two and five years, and is authorized at $15 million per fiscal year from 2026 through 2030.

Who Benefits and How

National wildlife refuges benefit because each FWS region would have a trained invasive-species strike team. Native species habitat benefits from prevention, early detection, eradication, containment, mapping, monitoring, and active management. Adjacent landowners benefit from coordination and assistance when invasive species cross refuge boundaries. State wildlife agencies benefit from partnerships, standardized taxonomy, and shared reporting platforms.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Secretary of the Interior must establish and operate the strike team program across Fish and Wildlife Service regions. Fish and Wildlife Service regional offices must train teams, coordinate partners, report outcomes, and maintain data standards. Federal taxpayers fund the $15 million annual authorization for fiscal years 2026 through 2030. Invasive-species control contractors must meet program goals, data expectations, and integrated pest-management practices.

Key Provisions

• Establishes at least one invasive-species strike team in each Fish and Wildlife Service region.
• Requires prevention, biosecurity, early detection, rapid response, eradication, containment, mapping, monitoring, and integrated pest management.
• Authorizes assistance, contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, interagency support, adjacent-landowner coordination, and standardized reporting platforms.
• Requires public reports after two and five years and authorizes $15 million annually for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.