Salamanders.
According to an article in the NY Times, as of Jan 28 over two hundred different species of salamander will no long be permitted to be imported to the US from Europe or elsewhere. Over 65 species of salamander on this list are also native to the US, and as a part of this restriction salamanders will also no longer be permitted to be transported from state to state with the USA.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is taking this action to try to prevent the introduction of a fungus known as Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (or "Bsal" for short), which has been discovered in salamanders in the Netherlands. It was determined that this fungus was introduced via Asian salamanders brought into the Netherlands as pets; the fungus was harmless to the Asian salamanders but proved fatal to various native Dutch species.
Personally, I think this is about par for the course for the muttonheads in Washington. Our government can't (or won't) keep drugs, terrorists, or illegal immigrants — all of which are known to cause harm, whether to our citizens, our political system, or our economy — out of our country, but they'll crack down on the importation of salamanders to protect the native US salamanders.
-"BB"-
