USDA Blog

In a symbolic gesture of friendship, Japan ceremoniously gifted the United States with two live cherry trees at an event held on the D.C mall last month. The trees represent a future gift of 250 trees that will replace the historic cherry trees to be removed in a project to repair the Tidal Basin...

Think 'boots on the ground' means desert camo and squad leaders? Nope, for me, it meant swapping press releases for pest prevention in Redlands, California. As an APHIS public affairs pro, I'm used to writing articles on agriculture, but this past December 2023, I traded my computer keyboard for a...

The 2024 Black History Month theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” intersects with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Program’s dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility as we celebrate African Americans’ artistic...

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) closed out another successful year of protecting domestic plants from invasive threats while enabling safe trade. In 2023, APHIS employees inspected at least 2.82 billion pounds of imported crops from 19 countries—a testament to the year...

Shelter dogs that are often rejected are getting a new lease on life. Plus they’re helping wildlife and people! These conservation canines climbed the Jemez Mountains, clambering over rocks, running from smell to smell, to track where rare Jemez salamanders, a species found nowhere else in the world...

For centuries, the Mohawk community of the Akwesasne (pronounced AHG - weh - SAUCE – knee) have created traditional basketry from the abundance of ash trees found along the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Thousand Islands area in New York. But for the last three years, the trees and the matchless...

Hurricane Sandy brought together an un-tested coalition of animal welfare groups, local governments and federal agencies focusing on one primary goal: Using already established human assistance networks to help states feed pets impacted by the massive storm. A team of animal care experts from the U...

The “Don’t Pack a Pest” campaign went international last month as Jamaica enthusiastically kicked off its own version of the outreach initiative in Montego Bay and Kingston. The Florida-based program warns the public about the risks of bringing undeclared agricultural products—and hitchhiking...

Years passed, but no one was able to get near the stray dog roaming the 90 acres of the Ely Shoshone Tribal District in Nevada. Tribal members had tried many times to corral her, to no avail. Then, in 2011, the stray became pregnant, giving birth to a litter under a walkway at the tribe’s clinic...

USDA/APHIS’ Animal Care program enforces the federal Animal Welfare Act, which sets standards for humane care and treatment that must be provided for certain animals that are exhibited to the public, bred for commercial sale, used in biomedical research, or transported commercially. Individuals...