The annual brown tree snake working group meeting held at the Pacific Islands Club was attended by individuals from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Guam Division of Fish and Wildlife, the CNMI Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Hawaii DLNR.
Representatives from the U.S. military based on Guam also attended the meeting.
CNMI DLNR Secretary Ignacio Dela Cruz noted that despite its proximity to Guam, the commonwealth is still free of brown tree snakes.
“But for how much longer, that is anybody’s guess,” he said.
Earl Campbell, U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s invasive species coordinator, conducted the meeting.
CNMI brown tree snake program coordinator Nate Hawley said the participants shared ideas regarding the best conservation measures to mitigate the impact of whatever development the military buildup on Guam may bring.
Hawley said the CNMI brown tree snake program was also discussed.
Although there have been 76 credible sightings of brown tree snake on Saipan, not one has been caught in nine years.
But since 1986, 11 brown tree snakes have been caught on island.
“So if you look at those numbers, we probably have snakes on Saipan,” Hawley said.
The rapid response and containment of possible brown tree snakes continues, he added,
Typically, he said, the sites they search are near the seaport and the airport.
Currently, he added, there is an ongoing search near the airport.
“We get a lot of goals accomplished every year,” he said, adding that the CNMI has a lot of the endangered species that are no longer on Guam.
“So if they ever want to be restored on Guam we really have to protect what we have here for future generations,” he said.
The meeting also tackled funding issues and priority projects.
