National Wildlife Refuge System Invasive Species Strike Team Act of 2025
What changed between versions
Annual authorization of appropriations reduced from $15,000,000 to $10,000,000 per year, and the funding period shifted from fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to fiscal years 2027 through 2033.
New requirement (E) mandates that identification of and response to priority invasive species threats on lands and waters adjacent to the National Wildlife Refuge System may only be carried out at the request of the owner of such lands or waters, creating a new consent-based limitation on strike team actions off refuge land.
The list of strike team duties was simplified from 'prevention, early detection surveillance, eradication, containment, mapping, monitoring, and active management' to 'prevention, early detection, rapid response, and management,' consolidating several activities under the newly defined terms.
The provision allowing the Secretary to enter agreements with other entities was broadened from specifically naming Federal departments, State, Tribal, and Territorial agencies to any entity described in the outreach subparagraph (A), while adding the qualifier 'as appropriate.'
Coordination of management actions now explicitly includes Tribal agencies alongside State agencies, expanding the entities with which strike teams must coordinate on adjacent lands.
The standalone 'Purpose' subsection was removed; the bill no longer states its purpose in a separate paragraph but instead goes directly to authorizing the program.
Three new definitions were added: 'eradication' (removal or destruction of an entire population confirmed through post-treatment monitoring), 'prevention' (actions such as outreach, education, or inspection stations to stop introduction or spread), and 'rapid response' (a process to eradicate or contain a founding or incipient population from a specific location).
