08/08/06 100 Most Dangerous

One hundred most dangerous! I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Oregon`s annual list of the 100 most dangerous invasive species has just been updated and it includes three new names one of which is gross-sounding but quite accurate. This dubious list is the Invasive Species Council`s best attempt at alerting the public of the organisms that definitely should be kept out of Oregon, says Dan Hilburn of the Oregon Department of Agriculture and council member. HILBURN: These are species that are harmful in other places with similar environments to Oregon or we`ve had them come in the past, we know they would establish here, we know they would be harmful. New to the list this year is a small predatory fish called Amur goby, which has been found in Washington, and granulate ambrosia beetle, which has been found in The Dalles but has not established in Oregon yet thanks to ODA spray projects. The third new species to the list has an unappetizing name. HILBURN: An aquatic plant called rock snot. You heard me right, it`s rock snot. My understanding is that it covers the rocks in aquatic systems with a mucous-like substance. The rest of the list includes various mammals, birds, insects, weeds, microorganisms and more species that hopefully can be excluded from Oregon or at least detected early and eradicated quickly before they get established. Hilburn says invasive species already established in Oregon, like Himalayan blackberry or Scotch broom, are too plentiful and expensive to eradicate now. HILBURN: So if you want to do something, put your money up front. You exclude the things you don`t have already, and you look for things that might have come in recently that you still have a chance of getting rid of. Hilburn says the annual list of the most dangerous invasive species threatening Oregon has been updated. HILBURN: This list is the Invasive Species Council`s best attempt at putting together the 100 worst things that we should definitely keep out if we can. For more information regarding Oregon's 100 Most Invasive Species visit the ODA website at www.oregon.gov/oda and be sure to visit our website at www.aginfo.net. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.