Monique R. wrote in to point out this recent posting in the US Federal Register regarding the South American cactus moth (Cactoblastis cactorum). The USDA has just opened up a public comment period soliciting opinions about an effort to protect the central and western parts of the USA from the negative impact that cactus moths can have on prickly pear cacti (Opuntia spp.) and their cactus relatives (Consolea spp., Cylindropuntia spp., Nopalea spp.). Along with a control program where sterile cactus moths will be released into the wild, the USDA is proposing a four-state quarantine zone (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina) from which interstate movement of the cactus genera listed above would be prohibited. Anyone interested in commenting on this issue can do so up until April 11, 2008.
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