$20 million sought for invasive species war

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gov. Linda Lingle said the threat of invasive species to Hawai'i's environment, native species and the economy is so serious that she has proposed spending $20 million over the next four years to fight non-native plants and animals.

Lingle spoke yesterday at a meeting of the federal Invasive Species Advisory Committee at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Last year's battle with the invasive Salvinia molesta plant at Lake Wilson provides the most dramatic example of what can happen when a foreign species takes hold, the governor said.

She said the state is on alert after a report of a mongoose on Kaua'i and continues to deal with problems with miconia, a plant that takes hold in forests and kills native vegetation, and a variety of other alien invaders. And she remembered years of problems with an algae bloom off Maui when she was mayor.

Lingle said these challenges show why protecting the environment against such threats is critical to the economy, which relies on tourism. She has set aside $5 million each year for the next four years in her proposed budget, submitted to the state Legislature.

The administration is seeking matching money from federal and county government as well as private organizations.

Lingle recalled first hearing about Salvinia molesta at a meeting with lawmakers and state land board chairman Peter Young about a problem with Lake Wilson in Wahiawa.

"They showed me a picture of a meadow," she said, and then explained to her that it was a photo of Lake Wilson after the plant took over.

Young said it took about $1 million and several months to remove the invasive plant from the lake. He said no mongoose has been trapped on Kaua'i, but the tracking effort continues.

Mongooses are on O'ahu, Maui, Moloka'i and the Big Island but not on Kaua'i, Lana'i, Ni'ihau or Kaho'olawe. They were introduced to the Islands in 1883 to get rid of rats in sugar cane fields. But the mongooses, which come out during the day, had little effect on the rats, which roam at night.

When the brown tree snake took hold on Guam, the island lost many native species.

"There are no native birds left," Lingle said.

Young said the costs of invasive species are pervasive. He pointed to the problems associated with noise from the coqui frogs. When he lived on the Big Island, he said "people would call in in the morning crying because they couldn't get any sleep."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.