WSSA and APMS Urge Army Corps for Renewed Aquatic Plant Control Program Funding

In a letter to US Army Corps of Engineers leadership, 11 prominent US aquatic plant management science organizations expressed deep concern for an absence in Aquatic Plant Control program funding for FY 2025

WESTMINSTER, Colo., Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weed Science Society of America (WSSA), the Aquatic Plant Management Society (APMS), and nine other aquatic plant research and/or resource protection organizations recently urged renewed funding for the long-standing federal Aquatic Plant Control program in the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) budget. In a recent letter to USACE leaders, these organizations outlined the reasons why continued funding is so vital to the nation's water resources and environmental health. USACE did not provide funding for the Aquatic Plant Control program for 2025, nor did they include it in their budget for 2026.

"As the nation's only federally authorized program for research and development of effective, science-based strategies to manage invasive aquatic weed species, we highlight here the strong positive impact and critical funding need for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Aquatic Plant Control program," states the letter, signed by Hilary Sandler, Ph.D., WSSA president, and ten other likeminded organization representatives. "Without the Aquatic Plant Control program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal and state water resource agencies lack the ability to effectively meet today and tomorrows' challenges in aquatic and wetland invasive plant management and aquatic ecosystem restoration. Due to limited resources and the need to serve immediate local public water needs, state and local government programs lack the long-range goals necessary to protect and enhance national environmental and water resources missions now being provided by the Aquatic Plant Control program."  

The letter further states, "Within the Aquatic Plant Control program, funding for research has ranged from $5 to $7 million from 2018 to 2024. That research has returned its value hundreds of times over in the control of aquatic invasive weeds and plant growths and the restoration of our aquatic resources. The value of research and technology transfer gained from such endeavors far outweighs the cost of maintaining this small but nationally significant research program. Not having funding for the Aquatic Plant Control program in FY 2025 has jeopardized the continuation of ongoing research and development of new and improved technologies to protect our nation's aquatic resources."

WSSA, APMS and nine other professional organizations whose representatives signed the letter have affirmed that they stand ready to work together with the newly confirmed Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Adam Telle, to advise and answer questions in efforts to strengthen the nation's aquatic plant management efforts.

About the Weed Science Society of America 
The Weed Science Society of America is a nonprofit scientific society, founded in 1956 to encourage and facilitate the development of knowledge concerning weeds and their impact on the environment. The Society promotes research, education and extension outreach activities related to weeds, provides science-based information to the public and policy makers, fosters awareness of weeds and their impact on managed and natural ecosystems, and strengthens cooperation among weed science organizations across the nation and around the world. For more information, visit www.wssa.net.

SOURCE Weed Science Society of America