Posted on: Monday, April 26, 2004
EDITORIAL
There's another way to fight invasive species
U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie's suggestion to combine homeland security with invasive species control in the Islands makes a fair amount of sense.
While checking for explosives and weapons, why not hunt for alien intruders that are wiping out Hawai'i's native species? Why not use Department of Defense money to pay for this?
It certainly looks as though the state lacks the resources to win the war against invasive species, what with all the attention focused this legislative session on education reform and crystal methamphetamine reduction.
Gov. Linda Lingle proposed allocating $5 million from the general fund for the Invasive Species Prevention and Control program for the 2004-05 fiscal year. The Legislature instead has allocated $4 million to the effort, and the governor has approved that.
That money is clearly not sufficient to control all the noxious weeds, predators, foreign insects and microbes that have been transported here from elsewhere, and are thriving because of a lack of predators and competitors in the Islands.
Hawai'i, with its fragile native species, is more vulnerable than most states. If we don't put the reins on the spread of invasive species, we could be facing acres of useless weeds and dying trees.
A report just issued by the Center for Biological Diversity says almost half of the 114 species that have become extinct in the first 20 years of the federal Endangered Species Act were in Hawai'i.
That said, DNLR Chairman Peter Young points out that the number of invasive species brought in by visitors is minuscule compared with that potentially carried in by cargo ships.
And that has spurred U.S. Rep. Ed Case to lobby for better inspection and treatment of cargo entering Hawai'i as well a blanket inspection of incoming passenger baggage.
Screening for invasive species is a daunting job that clearly requires more resources than the state can devote. If the work of homeland security can be leveraged to take some of that burden off Hawai'i, so much the better.
