The panel's report, commissioned by the Department of the Interior, was presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the Brown Treesnake Technical Committee meeting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The meeting continues today and tomorrow.

The report said that parts of the snake-control program are struggling or limited because of short-term planning and unstable funding and that a quick fix is needed.

"This is not a future need, it is an immediate priority given the significant threat to regional natural resources and economics that the brown tree snake poses," the report said.

The report urges the federal government to impose mandatory inspections of all cargo leaving Guam, which is home to a number of military bases. The report faults senior leadership in the Department of Defense, in particular, for lacking "a sense of ownership to the problem and solutions." These leaders haven't come through with their share of funding, the report said.

Inspectors turn up between 6,000 and 7,000 snakes annually on Guam from military and civilian aircraft and ships. At least eight brown tree snakes have been found, alive or dead, in Hawai'i, all in association with shipments from Guam.

Peter Egan, Defense Department environmental biologist and invasive species coordinator, acknowledged that the department hasn't been doing as much as it can. He said that perhaps he hasn't effectively communicated the severity of the problem to his superiors.

On the other hand, he said, the attention of military leaders has been diverted by the war in Iraq. "I wish I could meet with Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld, but he has other problems to worry about," he said.

The state Department of Agriculture also was dinged by the report, for inadequate cargo inspections and the need to better coordinate with programs on Guam.

Neil Reimer, Plant Quarantine Branch manager with the Department of Agriculture, said that since the report was compiled, more canine inspectors have been put on the job and nearly 100 percent of the military, private and commercial jets coming from Guam are being inspected.

Reimer conceded that the state is lagging when it comes to harbor inspections. A bill that would have required that ship cargo be inspected on Guam before it is accepted here was defeated in the Hawai'i Legislature both this year and last.

Brown tree snakes are believed to have been introduced to Guam in the late 1940s or early 1950s as a stowaway on military cargo. In addition to devastating the bird population, they have caused the extinction of two of 11 native lizards and contributed to the decline of the native fruit bats.

The environment isn't the only victim. Snakebites are the cause of about one in every 1,200 emergency room visits, many of them infants, and the reptiles, by coiling around electric lines, cause nearly 200 power failures a year.

A University of Hawai'i economic study estimated that if the brown tree snake were to establish itself in Hawai'i, the cost to the state would be $28 million to $405 million annually.

The Interior Department commissioned the latest study to assess brown tree snake interdiction, control and research programs.

The review panel consisted of four people from the private and public sectors with expertise in applied ecology and public policy, with specializations in environmental management, herpetology, invasive species biology, plant and animal quarantine and pest control. The only member from Hawai'i was Lloyd Loope, U.S. Geological Services biologist stationed at Haleakala National Park.

Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.