Experts now fear they've lost hope of eliminating sudden oak death, but that's not stopping Congress from putting money into the fight to contain the devastating disease.
With tens of thousands of California oak trees already laid low, the House on Tuesday was set to approve some $7.5 million for research, eradication and control of the pathogen Phytopthera ramorum.
The money, including funds for scientists at the University of California, Davis, is part of a much larger Agriculture Department spending bill on track for approval late Tuesday night.
"I'd love to know how we can do a better job of saving these precious trees," said House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced.
Even as the lawmakers invest in the fight, though, front-line researchers concede there will be no final victory. Only one day before the House took up the $93.6 billion Agriculture Department funding package, federal investigators reported the consensus view that the disease is here to stay.
"None of the 16 stakeholders we interviewed believed that P. ramorum could be eradicated from California's natural environment because of the current size of the infestation, its potential for spread, and the lack of effective management tools," Government Accountability Office auditors noted.
The auditors elaborated that the disease is "likely to continue to infest and damage forest ecosystems indefinitely despite efforts to control" it. This is a conclusion with consequence, as it shapes what preventive steps are taken, and at what cost.
The state of Oregon, for instance, has maintained a policy of eradicating the disease in the wild. The aggressive stance has not met with complete success.
"They keep having new finds," noted Katie Palmieri, public information officer for the California Oak Mortality Task Force. "We would be thrilled if we could eradicate it, but I don't think that is the expectation."
The pathogen that causes sudden oak death was first identified by a UC Davis researcher in 2000. It has been found in 14 California counties, and one county in southern Oregon. The disease kills oak trees, and can kill or disfigure such commercially valuable ornamental plants as rhododendrons.
Control measures have seemingly worked to limit the spread of the disease. In 2005, inspectors found 90 infected plants in seven states.
That was an improvement over 2004, the GAO noted, when inspectors found 176 infected plants in 22 states.
But with an estimated 19,000 square miles in California already exposed, federal investigators found state and local officials to be unanimous in their dire assessment. In March alone, infected plants were found in nurseries in Sacramento, Solano and Alameda counties.
The pathogen appears to flourish in cool, moist conditions, and it has not been found in any Sierra Nevada or San Joaquin Valley forest.
"Definitely, we need money to support research and control, and those needs are not being met," Palmieri said, "but, certainly, any funding that we do get, we appreciate."
The Agriculture Department's strategy for California calls for control of the disease in the natural environment but does not insist on eradication. Some officials do believe, however, that the disease can be eliminated in nurseries.
In 2004, lawmakers ordered the Agriculture Department to prepare a national plan for the control and management of sudden oak death. The department did prepare a 19-page plan last year, declaring a goal of prohibiting or significantly reducing the introduction of the disease.
The federal plan, auditors noted, lacked any budget information or cost estimates. Palmieri said that "ideally, if we could have what we wanted," California officials would ask for $19 million for the coming year.Sacramento Bee
