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Last week, President Obama issued an executive order that directs member agencies of the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) to consider human and wildlife health, climate change, and innovations in science and technology when working on issues relevant to invasive species.

Waynesboro, VA - The Journal of Wildlife Management has just published an extensive 11-year study conducted by the Wildlife Center of Virginia which shows that domestic cat attacks are one of the most frequent and most lethal causes of animal admission to this world-renowned wildlife hospital.

Redonda, a Caribbean island that is part of Antigua and Barbuda, was once a brilliant ecosystem. The island is home to a variety of plants and animals including endemic lizards. It’s also an Important Bird Area (IBA), meaning that it supports globally significant seabirds. Due to the presence of invasive species, the once thriving island has been transformed into a barren rock. Invasive goats have heavily grazed the island, decimating the native vegetation and thereby exhausting the very source of food they depend on.

The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) will enter into force on 8 September 2017, marking a landmark step towards halting the spread of invasive aquatic species, which can cause havoc for local ecosystems, affect biodiversity and lead to substantial economic loss. Under the Convention’s terms, ships will be required to manage their ballast water to remove, render harmless, or avoid the uptake or discharge of aquatic organisms and pathogens within ballast water and sediments

From the Zika, the mosquito-borne virus recently making headlines across the globe, to Cheatgrass, which increases the danger of wildfire as the plant spreads across the Western U.S. – invasive species come in all shapes and sizes. But the one thing they have in common is the threat they pose.

Invasive species are simply that—invasive. They are non-native species whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human and animal health. If left to spread, invasive species can cost billions of dollars to manage and can have devastating consequences on the Nation’s ecosystems, economy, and human health. Invasive species was one of many topics being discussed this week at the World Conservation Congress held for the first time ever in the United States in Honolulu.

We are saddened to announce that former ISAC member Sarah Reichard passed away while in South Africa, leading a UW Botanic Gardens tour. Professor Reichard joined ISAC in 2000 and served for its first three terms through 2006. In 2011 she became Director of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. We offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to her friends and families.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - One-sixth of the Earth's land is highly vulnerable to invasive species, and most countries have a limited capacity to protect their natural resources from non-native animals, plants or microbes, a global analysis shows. Invasive species can spread quickly and dramatically alter landscapes, ecosystems and human health and livelihoods, often with harmful consequences. Notable examples of invasive species in the U.S. include Burmese pythons, West Nile virus, emerald ash borers and tumbleweed.

LIVINGSTON —Montana’s governor on Monday signed an executive order declaring the fish kill on the Yellowstone River earlier this month an emergency, a move that makes available millions of dollars for unemployment benefits and other labor programs.

A planned roundup of wild horses from the Three Fingers herd in Malheur County, Ore., has been canceled due to a rangeland fire in the area. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management decided to withdraw its decision to gather 100 of the herd’s 200 horses near Jordan Valley, Ore., in late August, forestalling at least temporarily an animal rights group’s lawsuit seeking to block the action.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs recently awarded the Department of Planning and Natural Resources’ Division of Fish and Wildlife $10,000 for the development of an invasive species action plan, according to DPNR. The plan will provide guidance to local and federal governments on invasive marine and land-based species affecting the territory. The plan, due to be completed by the end of this year, will be authored by DPNR with contributions from the University of the Virgin Islands, the National Park Service, and other local and federal entities.