EDITORIAL
State alien-busters need more money

As its top priority in 2004, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources intends to take control of aggressive invasive species. It has put together a legislative package that includes a request for $5 million to do the job.

That's probably not enough.

Just think about 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.

Getting that lot under control is estimated to cost $50 million a year. As it is, the state's invasive species effort doesn't have nearly the money or manpower to accomplish the mission.

That's not to say there haven't been successes. Take Salvinia molesta, which was literally choking Lake Wilson this time last year. An exhaustive DLNR effort succeeded in controlling the alien weed.

But salvinia isn't the only enemy. There's miconia, brown tree snakes, coqui frogs, fountain grass, pampas grass, red imported fire ants, Kahili ginger, Christmas berry and apple snails, just to name a few.

And 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 millions of acres of useless weeds and dying trees.

This is serious.

So better we pay now than later because there's an awful lot at stake. Now that we've fought off Salvinia molesta, let's take on miconia, coqui frogs and all those other pests.