A quagga mussel. Public domain, Wikimedia.org

     Reducing property values, hampering agricultural productivity, disrupting public utilizes, suppressing native fisheries and negatively impacting tourism and outdoor recreation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that invasives cost the U.S. economy around $120 billion annually.

     And what are the parts that make up this $120 billion dollar total? Well, as follows here are two of the larger costs in controlling invasive species on a national level.

• $13 billion - the cost to farmers from crop damage due to invasive insects
• $19 billion - the amount worth of grain destroyed by Black and Norway rats

     Beyond this, invasives can significantly raise the maintenance cost of local hydro-electric facilities and damage local property values; in Washington state $250-$300 million is spent annually for quagga and zebra mussel control, while Vermont lakefront property values were reduced about 16% by the presence of Eurasian watermilfoil.

     For the full article from readingeagle.com, click here or on the link available below.