Presenters/Co-Authors:

Stephen M. Mosher, Regional Biosecurity Manager, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Marianas - Naval Base Guam: stephen.mosher@fe.navy.mil

Marc Hall, Brown Treesnake Program Manager, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Marianas, Marc.Hall@fe.navy.mil

Dana T. Lujan, Planning & Conservation Product Line Coordinator, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Marianas, dana.t.lujan.civ@us.navy.mil

Abstract:

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Marianas (NAVFAC MAR) is in the fifth year of implementing a comprehensive biosecurity program within the Joint Region Marianas (JRM) Area of Responsibility (AOR) on Guam and in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). To prevent the accidental spread of invasive species, biosecurity measures from the 2015 Mariana Islands Training and Testing (MITT) Biological Opinion (BO) and several key action items in the 2015 Regional Biosecurity Plan for Micronesia and Hawaii (RBP) have been identified as management actions within JRM’s Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP). In order to implement MITT BO conservation measures, RBP recommendations, and INRMP actions NAVFAC MAR established a multifaceted cooperative agreement with Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CSU CEMML) through the Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Units (CESU) Network. The priority actions being implemented are: 1) early detection surveys to inventory invasive species on military training areas and within cargo staging areas (i.e. freight yards and piers/wharves) on Guam installations, JRM-leased training areas in the CNMI, and CNMI ports on the island of Tinian; 2) rapid response capability and capacity for implementation of response deployments for high risk species detected within the JRM AOR; 3) development of standard operating procedures that detail control and eradication actions for high risk invasive species encountered or established within the JRM AOR that pose a high risk to contaminating the military transportation network; 4) implementation of invasive arthropod interdiction measures for the highly invasive Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) and Little Fire Ant (Wasmannia auropunctata); 5) implementation of the Armed Forced Pest Management Board - Technical Guide No. 31 cleanliness standards for the movement of all cargo/equipment supporting military training events and/or DoD disaster relief cargo movement support within the JRM AOR via biosecurity arrival and pre-departure inspections; and 6) development of a programmatic pathway risk analysis based on biomaterial interceptions during biosecurity arrival and pre-departure inspections and high risk invasive species identified during early detection surveys. The JRM Biosecurity Program continues to focus on ensuring cleanliness standards are adhered to for all cargo and equipment supporting military training events that take place on Guam and in the CNMI. These efforts continue to support the DoD mission in the JRM AOR and prevent the accidental transportation of invasive species in the DoD and commercial transportation networks.