Testimony of Lloyd Loope, Ph.D., Research Scientist

USGS, Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, Haleakala Field Station, Maui, Hawaii

In response to questions posed by Senator Daniel Akaka

Field Hearing on Invasive Species

Subcommittee on National Parks

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

August 9, 2005, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

Senator Akaka: What are some of the invasions that pose the worst threats to the parks

in Hawaii?  How did these invaders get to Hawaii in the first place and what damage

do they do? What measures are needed to prevent more of the same?

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Senator Akaka and Senator Wyden, thank you so much for the opportunity to give the best answers I can to these challenging questions. I came to Hawaii in 1980 as the first Research Biologist for the National Park Service at Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. My job was to conduct research and advise the park on strategies and techniques for protecting its biodiversity and ecosystems. I was transferred to my current agency, U.S. Geological Survey, in the mid-1990s, with little change in mission and fortunately more authority to work outside the park.

In the 25 years I’ve been in my job on Maui I’ve learned the hard way that

by far the greatest threat to the national parks and the highly endemic island biota is the barrage of  invasive non-native species introductions. Many of them are introduced intentionally, including most of our worst invasive plants, as for example the invasive tree Miconia, which was regarded as just another pretty plant when it was introduced to Hawaii in about 1960. Many others – including insect pests and diseases – are not introduced on purpose but are hitchhikers primarily on horticultural and other agricultural goods that come in through our ports-of-entry – our airports and harbors – both from foreign countries or from the U.S. mainland

Hawaii, an isolated oceanic archipelago with 10,000 endemic species that occur nowhere else in the world, is especially vulnerable to biological invasions. One consultant to USDA (Russell McGregor) back in the 1970s noted that per unit area, the rate of alien insect introduction in Hawaii is 500x that of the continental United States. And it’s no better today, yet remarkably Hawaii still has largely intact natural areas. Yet Hawaii doesn’t get any special consideration from the federal government’s effort at our borders for prevention from invasive species. Allowing the NPS to work with and assist in funding of partnerships to combat invasive species before they  reach park boundaries seems to me to be a sound first step in untying the hands of the NPS to more fully address the invasive species threats to our natural and cultural heritage.

Often there are huge gaps among agency mandates. An important event in my personal education was an outbreak of rabbits at Haleakala National Park that took place in 1990, 15 years ago this month. The park dodged a bullet and eradicated the rabbits, but not until we had removed 100 rabbits. Afterward, we learned that a thoughtless pet owner had released about 6 rabbits in the park 10 months earlier. It was one of the more spectacular success stories I’ve ever been involved with. If we hadn’t succeeded, the island of Maui, including the cabbage farmers in the upcountry agricultural area, would have had to deal with millions of rabbits within a few years. Maui people instinctively realized this, and the park has never enjoyed so much praise from the local community as during those months right after we eliminated the rabbits. But we learned that if the infestation had been outside the park, no one other than the landowner would have had a mandate to eliminate the rabbits. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture told us that their mandate was to encourage rabbit raising, in cages, of course.  We wondered whether, and still wonder, if the rabbit infestation had occurred just outside the park boundary on ranch land, for example, would the park have been able to legally act to eradicate rabbits in cooperation with the ranch?  The national parks definitely need such a mandate.

The rabbit incident inspired me while still working for the NPS, to take on the Miconia issue in 1991 after that destructive neotropical tree was first discovered on Maui in the Hana area, about 5 miles from the park. Then park superintendent Don Reeser, though very supportive of my efforts, cautioned me that people might question whether a NPS employee had any authority to get involved with on-the-ground work on land outside the park. Fortunately, partners recognized the severity of the situation and came forward to work with us in a succession of events that eventually led to formation of  the island invasive species committees. But the National Park Service desperately needs authority to work with partners and spend funds outside park boundaries to protect the parks. There are many examples of this need, but I believe there are no better examples than rabbits and Miconia on Maui.

I mentioned above that many of the destructive invasive species that threaten the parks and Hawaiian biodiversity were introduced intentionally and many others were introduced unintentionally. Prevention of such introductions to Hawaii, both intentional and unintentional, at U.S. and State borders (ports of entry), is almost entirely under the mandate of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA).  Prevention of invasive pests that threaten natural areas is, however, at best a secondary priority for any of these federal or state departments. For Homeland Security, the priority is obvious – national security. For the agriculture departments, the priority (quite understandably) is protecting agriculture.  Border protection is of course an extremely difficult undertaking and secondary priorities understandably tend to fall through the cracks. But Hawaii needs special protection if there is to be hope of protecting more than fragments of its natural heritage into the future. I must say that in my opinion HDOA’s Plant Quarantine Branch under Neil Reimer is striving as best they can to prevent threats to natural resources as well as agriculture. Dr. Reimer as well as Mark Fox of The Nature Conservancy, part of the second panel today, will address the phenomenon of federal preemption and some measures that could be effective toward shoring up the best prevention efforts of HDOA.

Some very damaging invaders of have recently breached federal and state border control efforts. Many of these are not just threats to natural areas but threats to horticulture, agriculture, and in some cases human and animal health as well. HDOA has an informative system of New Pest Alerts at http://www.hawaiiag.org/hdoa/npa.htm

Adequately conveying the severity of Hawaii’s current invasive species crisis as it affects national parks, endemic biodiversity, and Hawaiian culture in Hawaii is a daunting task, but I’ll briefly summarize the status of just six recently introduced pests that are especially damaging. I could be wrong (and would be delighted to stand corrected) but I’m pretty sure that the ones that likely came to Hawaii from foreign countries would not have been considered actionable quarantine pests if intercepted by DHS/USDA at the international Ports of Honolulu or Kona, because none of them would be considered threats to mainstream U.S. agriculture. This may well be a rational national response to the challenging demands of protecting U.S. agriculture from foreign pests in this age of free trade. But I think it is important to at least consider the cumulative toll being taken on the natural and cultural heritage of Hawaii and Pacific islands, as manifested in national parks and elsewhere.

Erythrina gall wasp (Quadrastichus erythrinae): This species was first reported on Oahu in April 2005. It was originally probably from Africa but most likely passed to us from Taiwan (where the species is invasive and recent outbreaks occurred) in flowers or nursery material. All of a sudden, this very tiny wasp (males are 1mm long, females 1.5mm) is currently in the process of killing almost all Erythrina on Oahu, both the endemic species (wiliwili) and the cultivated species. There are recent reports of new neighbor island records of the gall wasp near the Kona (Hawaii island) airport (7/21/05), the Kauai airport (7/26/05) and downtown Kahului, Maui (7/30/05). Sadly, the prospects for Maui’s Pu'u-o-Kali wiliwili preserve and the wiliwili in all the national parks on Hawaii island are absolutely frightening. As little as three years ago, the magnificent native wiliwili trees on Maui seemed to be "bulletproof." Three years ago a seed-eating bruchid beetle (Specularius impressithorax) from Africa suddenly arrived and was soon attacking almost all wiliwili seeds. Today, as a result of arrival of the Erythrina gall wasp, the possibility of survival of wiliwili, until now one of the few abundant endemic tree species in remnant areas of lowland dry areas of Hawaii, into next year is even in doubt. This is especially unfortunate because of the traditional importance of wiliwili for native Hawaiians in making outriggers of canoes, surfboards, and lei.

For updates on this rapidly evolving issue, see http://www.hear.org/issues/wiliwilionmaui/

`Ohi`a rust disease (Puccinia psidii): Another plant trade-related introduction, this newly established (April 2005) rust, most likely arrived with a plant shipment from Florida or possibly a foreign country somewhere in the neotropics, poses a potentially formidable threat to Hawaii's `ohi`a (Metrosideros polymorpha) forests. This is of course alarming since `ohi`a comprises over 80% of Hawaii’s still-intact forest. The rust seems to have a broad host range within its family (Myrtaceae, including mountain apple, guavas, eucalyptus, etc.). This rust disease that attacks new, actively growing leaves is not just a threat to Hawaii’s forests. New Zealand will be looking out to protect its beloved Metrosideros forests. Australia is definitely concerned for its 600+ endemic species of Eucalyptus. Though it has so far been detected only in forests on Oahu, Maui HDOA has found `ohi`a rust disease in shipments from Oahu to at least two big box stores on Maui.

Nettle caterpillar (Darna pallivitta): Another one from Taiwan, this is a human health threat (various levels of discomfort ranging to occasional anaphylactic shock and blindness) as well as a serious environmental pest, attacking palms and related plants. Dr. Arnold Hara of UH-CTAHR in Hilo has stated (quoted in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin) that it is a worse pest than the notorious coqui frogs. The vector via which it arrived is obviously nursery material, and it is likely spread daily on Hawaii island (along with coqui, etc.) by infested nurseries. In spite of HDOA efforts at interisland quarantine, Maui HDOA has documented it at least once in a shipment from the Big Island to a Maui nursery. Unless some biocontrol agent is located and processed rapidly through the extremely restrictive system, this pest will soon be in rain forests of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata): This tiny neotropical ant has devastating effects on biodiversity and human quality-of-life in its invaded range in far-flung parts of the world (e.g., Galapagos, New Caledonia, West Africa). It was first detected here in Puna, Hawaii, in 1999, and HDOA is now reporting it from 50 sites on Hawaii island. Its localized spread after its initial discovery has been associated with transport of nursery plants. There is an HDOA interisland quarantine for little fire ant, and to date it remains confined to Hawaii island, except for a small population on Kauai that is under control but not eradicated. The poorly understood effects of this species in blinding mammals, perhaps by stinging their corneas [e.g., P.W.Walsh, P. Henschel, and K.A. Abernathy, 2004, Logging speeds little red fire ant invasion of Africa. Biotropica 36(4):637-641] are just now starting to appear in housecats in the Puna area of Hawaii island. 

Scale insect of hala (Thysanococcus pandani): Hala (Pandanus tectorius) is common to abundant in many Hawaiian coastal ecosystems and an extremely important plant species for native Hawaiians, who have traditionally used it for cordage, thatching, healing, decoration, etc. The scale insect arrived on the island of Maui in 1995, apparently on a shipment of  hala brought in to a botanical garden from somewhere in the western/southern Pacific. Hala is currently sickly with yellowing leaves over much of windward East Maui, though the insect’s effects have not yet reached the Kipahulu section of Haleakala National Park. Hala is an important component of the national parks in the Kona area of Hawaii island. Long-term effects of scale attack on hala populations are likely to be severe, but that is uncertain at this point in time. The South Pacific island of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, apparently lost its Pandanus in the 1920s from a similar accidental insect introduction.

Cycad scale or sago palm scale (Aulacaspis yamatsui): This hearing is focused on national parks in Hawaii, but my agency, the USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, also does work in other Pacific islands, including Guam, the location of War in the Pacific National Historical Park. Guam has more than one million trees of the Micronesian endemic cycad Cycas micronesica, a magnificent tree that reaches heights of 80-100 ft, and all currently seem to be at risk from attack by this scale insect. Cycad scale reached Florida, transported on cycads from native Thailand in 1996, reached Hawaii (which has no native cycads) on cultivated cycads from Florida in 1999, and reached Guam from Hawaii in 2003. There are said to be 30 nurseries in Guam that bring in nursery stock from Hawaii. Guam is said to be tightening up its regulations for horticultural imports because of recent pest incursions, including cycad scale and coqui frogs.

And finally I must mention a species not in Hawaii or any Pacific island yet -- the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA, Solenopsis invicta) that is poised to invade from either side of the Pacific Rim – from California (where Hawaii gets most of its goods and where RIFA was first discovered in 1998) and China/Taiwan/Hong Kong (where RIFA first got a foothold in 2004-05). It seems clear that RIFA can invade Hawaii and Pacific islands based on various models of potential habitat, as well as by the fact that it has invaded many Caribbean islands over the past two decades.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit for the record as well my article "The Challenge of Effectively Addressing the Threat of Invasive Species to the National Park System.” This was published last fall in the journal Park Science, and I have an electronic copy.  

Note: The views expressed in this testimony are those of the author, given as a conservation scientist in response to Senator Akaka’s questions, and do not necessarily reflect the views of USGS, the Department of the Interior, or the United States Government.

Testimony of Mark R. Fox, Director of External Affairs

The Nature Conservancy, Hawai‘i Program

Field Hearing on Invasive Species

Subcommittee on National Parks

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

August 9, 2005, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

INTRODUCTION

Senator Akaka, thank you for hosting this hearing and for the opportunity to testify on invasive species issues and legislative solutions to this serious threat.  My name is Mark Fox, and I am the Director of External Affairs for The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i.

The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.  With the support of approximately 1 million members, The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 120 million acres and 5,000 river miles around the world.  

The Hawai‘i Chapter of the Conservancy has been in operation for 25 years and we currently manage a network of 12 preserves encompassing about 32,000 acres across the main Hawaiian islands.  In addition to our core field work on our own preserves, we work with public and private colleagues throughout the state to organize and operate partnership entities that help protect and manage the islands’ globally unique, but extremely fragile natural resources.

Examples of these partnerships include the five Island Invasive Species Committees that you hear a lot about today, and nine watershed partnerships around the islands that are managing nearly 1 million acres of Hawaii’s most important forested watersheds.  Another example of such collaboration can now be enjoyed here at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.  With leadership from the entire Hawaii Congressional delegation, we acquired and transferred to the Park Service the 115,000-acre Kahuku Ranch.  That single transaction, valued at $22,000,000 and completed in 2004, expanded the Park’s land ownership by one-half and is the largest single conservation land acquisition in the history of the State.

BACKGROUND ON INVASIVE SPECIES

Our organization’s experience over the last quarter century demonstrates that the single greatest threat to the survival of Hawaii’s natural environment is the damage done by non-native, invasive species.  Indeed, more than 90% of our field work and that of our conservation partners in Hawai‘i is directed to preventing, detecting, and controlling invasive species, both plants and animals, that alter and ultimately devastate the islands’ natural environment.

As you know, however, this is not just an environmental problem.  Under unfortunate circumstances, we are finding strong allies across a wide variety of sectors including the visitor industry, health care, agriculture, and real estate as we all try to figure out how to deal with pests ranging from alien algae that blanket coral reefs, mosquito borne diseases, fire ants and stinging caterpillars, forest-choking weeds, ear-splitting coqui frogs, and costly crop diseases.

We have been working hard over many years to physically control invasive species once they have arrived and become established.  However, it is only in the last 10 years that we have undertaken an organized effort in Hawai‘i to affect public policy with respect to invasive species.  Our work at the county, state and federal levels includes efforts to enhance recognition of the ecological, economic, health, and lifestyle threats from invasive species, to secure more funding to address these threats, and to support improved government policy in this area.

INTERIOR DEPARTMENT LEGISLATION

We appreciate the leadership of Senator Akaka and Senator Wyden in sponsoring important bills that move us in the right direction of addressing pressing invasive species policy needs.  The Natural Resource Protection Cooperative Agreement Act (S. 1288) will help with a very practical problem that has challenged the National Park Service.  This important legislation addresses the fact that no authority now exists to allow a park to expend resources or enter into partnerships to control imminent invasive species threats outside park boundaries.  The provisions of S. 1288 would simply and effectively resolve this problem, as well as provide additional authority for the Park Service to enter into collaborative relationships that will benefit park resources.  We trust the Administration will support this legislative version of the principles underlying the President’s Executive Order on Cooperative Conservation.

The Park Service has the expertise to provide significant national leadership in this area.  For example, using the teams that fight wildfires as a model, the National Park Service established Exotic Plant Management Teams (EPMT) across the country to serve as a highly-trained, mobile strike force that now protects hundreds of National Parks from the threat of invasive plants. Thanks to this program, the Pacific Islands EPMT proactively manages aggressive weeds in all the national parks in Hawai’i, protecting rare native communities from invasion.

We also appreciate your planned reintroduction of the Public Land Protection and Conservation Act (S. 2598, 108^th Cong.). This measure creates an excellent framework of federal granting authority to assist states with assessment and rapid response to invasive species threats, and to foster partnerships to control pests on and adjacent to Interior and Forest Service lands. This bill would provide an important additional source of revenue to leverage existing state and local funding for invasive species, including funding for rapid response programs to eradicate incipient invasions before they become widely established. Together with other members of the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species, the Conservancy endorses this legislation and looks forward to working with you to gain passage of this bill.

PREVENTION AND QUARANTINE

We can and will spend vast amounts of time and money battling pests that become established in Hawai‘i and elsewhere in the United States.  However, it is a documented fact that the most effective, especially cost effective, way to deal with invasive species is to prevent their introduction in the first place.

Legislation designed, in part, to prevent the further introduction of aquatic invasive species to the United States, has already been introduced in both the House and Senate (S. 770 and H.R. 1591/1592). The Conservancy supports the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act (NAISA), which is a comprehensive legislative approach to the threat of aquatic invasive species. This bill will cover all waters of the U.S., including marine and coastal waters, as well as inland lakes and streams.  The provisions providing for the pre-screening of intentional introductions and the establishment of an early warning system coupled with rapid response capability are important new authorities that would protect all of our nation’s aquatic resources, whether Great Lake, trout stream, bayou, or coral reef.

The need for NAISA is demonstrated by existing invasions of national parks.  For example, the New Zealand mud snail was accidentally introduced into Yellowstone National Park by recreational fishermen. This tiny snail is now alarmingly abundant and could prove to have major effects on some of the most pristine streams in the country. Likewise, the hitchhiking zebra mussel has spread to Wisconsin and is now smothering rare and endangered native mussels in the NPS administered St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

Another major threat to the resources of many National Parks is the existing and potential effects of introduced forest insects and diseases.  The forests of such eastern parks as Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park no longer represent the primeval forest of the Appalachians.  The most noticeable missing tree is the American chestnut, which was virtually eradicated during the early 1900s by the introduced chestnut blight.  Other trees in the Appalachians have succumbed to and are threatened by a succession of invasions.  Increasing attention is currently focused on the hemlock woolly adelgid pest, which is killing the towering hemlocks that form unique ecosystems of great beauty and biological importance.  This year, the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Health Management program will fund more than $350,000 to map and develop a response to this pest in Great Smoky and Shenandoah National Parks, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and several smaller historic park units.  The response to this alien invader will probably rely largely on biological control and attempts to breed resistant trees.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park might soon face an even greater menace, the sudden oak death pathogen.  This plant disease, currently found in California where it is killing oaks and infesting other trees and plants in Redwoods National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore, can easily be spread by the movement of nursery stock.  If the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Protection Service (APHIS) fails to prevent such transmission, sudden oak death could infect a high proportion of the oak trees in Great Smoky Mountains and other parks, as well as the rhododendron shrubs that contribute so much to spring floral displays.

In addition, white pine blister rust is killing ninety percent or more of high-elevation five-needle pines in Glacier, Yellowstone, and Crater Lake National parks.  The disease was recently found in the mountains above Great Sand Dunes National Park.  As the disease continues to spread in the Rockies, it will threaten pines in Rocky Mountain and Great Basin National parks.

As noted above, much of the National Park Service’ current effort to combat introduced forest insects and pathogens is funded through the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Management Program.  Chairman Charles Taylor of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee has provided key Congressional leadership to increase funding for this program.  However, the agency responsible for preventing introductions of forest pests and eradicating those that evade border controls is USDA APHIS.  Unfortunately, APHIS has not received adequate funding to carry out effective eradication programs targeting even the pests which pose the greatest risk, such as the emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle.  Congress and the governors of affected states have urged the Administration to provide emergency funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation, but the Administration has so far rejected such requests.

Turning more directly to the issue of prevention and the threat of new pest introductions in Hawai‘i, I would like to offer some specific comments on inspection and quarantine activities at ports of entry.  While this may not be directly within the jurisdiction of this subcommittee, it is an area of critical importance to any entity trying to manage invasive species threats. 

As a direct result of National Park Service leadership, a model for prevention is being realized on the island of Maui where we are all benefiting from improved understanding of pest risks and enhanced quarantine and inspection capacity at Kahului International Airport.  These enhancements include additional inspectors and a modern and secure inspection facility that will soon be constructed at the airport. 

This process, which began with a proposed runway extension, was not easy for anyone involved particularly on an island that relies heavily on visitor and cargo arrivals to support its economy.   However, the model now being established at Kahului airport is the product of hard work and understanding by a number of individuals and agencies like the National Park Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Hawaii Department of Transportation Airports Division, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, and others.

The important progress at Kahului airport traces back to Haleakala National Park leadership, particularly Superintendent Don Reeser who is here today, that insisted on the importance of protecting against new pest introductions.  This position by the Park Service was primarily for the protection of the globally unique resources at Haleakala National Park, but it also was based in the much broader appreciation of the role of natural landscapes on Maui and across the island chain.  After all, Hawaii’s natural environment is what drives our visitor economy, provides the year-round climate for our diversified agriculture industry, delivers the most basic necessities like clean fresh water from healthy forested watersheds, and allows us the lifestyle that all residents enjoy.

It is also worth noting that the Park Service in Hawai‘i and Channels Island National Park has been a leader in protecting globally significant resources from feral animals, including pigs, goats and sheep.

Federal Preemption

Even with this spirit of collaboration and example of success at Kahului airport, there are formidable challenges to developing a truly effective prevention system—right up to and including the United State Constitution and the free market principles this nation is founded upon.  For centuries this country has promoted the important notions of free trade and open boarders to commerce.

The Constitution’s Commerce Clause (Art I., Sec. 8, Clause 3) and Supremacy Clause (Art VI, Clause 2) set that stage by giving Congress the authority to regulate commerce with other nations and between the states, and confirming that federal law is the supreme law of the land.  In the area of pest prevention, the federal Plant Protection Act takes it a step further by specifically preempting states from being more restrictive than the federal government in regulating the movement of plants and plant products.  (7 USC § 7756)  The federal government is not so preemptive with respect to regulating the movement of animals, both terrestrial and aquatic. 

The differences in Hawai‘i state law regarding the introduction of plants and non-domestic animals (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §§ 150A-6.1 and -6.2) directly reflect the preference for movement of plants through federal preemption of state regulatory regimes.  Basically, Hawaii uses a black list (noxious weed list) approach to plants, and a white list approach to animals.  What this means is that virtually all plants are allowed to be introduced to Hawai‘i unless on a very short noxious weed list (~80 identified plants).  Conversely, no non-domestic animals are allowed entry into the state unless on one of two short approved lists.

The State of Hawai‘i runs directly into federal preemption if it wishes to strengthen its statutes regarding plants or implement stricter state quarantine regulations.  The only available choice is a long and laborious process of securing approval for heightened restrictions on a species-by-species basis from the Secretary of Agriculture.  (7 USC § 7756(b)(2)(B))

With this problem in mind and recognizing Hawaii’s unique risk from invasive species, a bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would provide Hawai‘i with additional federal support on incoming quarantine inspections and establish an expedited process for the State to implement regulations to protect itself from pest threats.  In particular, H. R. 3468, the Hawaii Invasive Species Prevention Act, would:

§         Mandate federal quarantine protection for the State of Hawai‘i to prevent the introduction of invasive species, including a system of post-arrival protocols for all passengers and cargo;

§         Allow for federal enforcement of State quarantine laws;

§         Establish an expedited review process for the State of Hawai‘i to impose restrictions on the movement of invasive species or diseases that are in addition to federal restrictions; and

§         Allow the State of Hawai‘i to impose limited emergency restrictions upon the introduction or movement of a pest or disease.

We hope you will review this bill and consider introducing a companion measure in the Senate.

Brown Tree Snakes and the Department of Defense

The build up of U.S. military activities in the global war on terrorism has resulted in unprecedented growth and movement of military personnel and cargo at many installations in the United States and abroad.  Current and planned expansion of military facilities on Guam are putting enormous pressure on military facilities there and, as a result, on U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services personnel tasked with inspecting the vast amounts of cargo leaving Guam.  Available funding from the Departments of Defense, Interior and Agriculture for Wildlife Service’s inspection operations has been level for about a decade and has, therefore, not kept pace with the military’s massive operational expansion on Guam and elsewhere in the Pacific.  Additionally, Wildlife Services personnel, equipment and canines are being housed in substandard facilities, if not crowded off Anderson Air Force Base altogether, and cargo is regularly leaving Guam without any inspection. 

In the last two weeks of June alone:

§         7 military aircraft left Guam uninspected by Wildlife Services personnel.

§         These aircraft contained 131 military household goods packouts.

§         These packouts included 312,780 lbs. of cargo.

§         This cargo was bound for locations throughout the Pacific, the U.S. mainland, and Europe.

§         Final destinations included temperate locations such as Hawai‘i, American Samoa, Okinawa, Puerto Rico, California, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Louisiana where brown tree snakes could survive year-round and pose significant ecological, economic and human health threats.

(Source: USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services, Guam)

The 2003 reauthorization of the federal Sikes Act  (16 USC §§ 670a-670f) included a pilot program requiring that the Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan (INRMP) for Anderson Air Force Base on Guam contain specific elements on invasive species.  We recommend a review of this pilot test, including consideration that it be applied to all Defense Department INRMPs through either further amendment to the Sikes Act or the annual Defense Authorization Act. 

We also recommend specific requirements concerning not only the impact of invasive species to natural resources on military bases, but also the threats posed to outside locations as the result of exports of pests in military transport.  Further, it is important that invasive species mitigation, especially regarding the movement of pests in military transport, become an integral component of the budgeting for base operations and military readiness.  Important language that would have required this type of consideration was stricken from the Brown Tree Snake Control and Eradication Act of 2004 before it passed the Congress last year.

CONCLUSION

Thank you again for this opportunity to offer The Nature Conservancy’s comments on the critical issues related to invasive species policy.  The global economy and our ability to quickly and efficiently move people and goods around the globe benefit all of us.  However, these same modern advancements are exponentially elevating the potentially catastrophic threats of invasive pests and diseases.  We greatly appreciate your recognition of this serious issue and your willingness to take a leadership role in enhancing federal policies and resources to address this problem.

Testimony of  Julie Leialoha - Manager

Big Island Invasive Species Committee

Field Hearing on Invasive Species

Subcommittee on National Parks

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

August 9, 2005, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

As the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) Manager, I am responsible for ensuring that our program complies with our strategic plan.  A plan that was developed with the aid of all of our participating partners, including staff of the National Park Service who have been instrumental in developing control strategies of invasive species within its boundaries.  BIISC is a voluntary partnership of private citizens, community organizations, businesses, land owners, and government agencies such s the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, Institute of Pacific Island Forestry, the National Park Service, the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, the University of Hawaii, the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, and the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, united to address invasive species issues on the island of Hawaii.  Partnerships of this nature are imperative in today’s complex world of dealing with invasive species.  Others have already pointed out the tremendous influx of invasive organisms we face everyday.  How do we fully address the impacts of invasive species on our natural environment, cultural heritage significant to Hawaii, as well as meet economic goals and growth of our islands.   I refer back to partnerships such as BIISC.

Though agencies may have boundaries, invasive species have no boundaries and very few environmental limitations.  BIISC along with the other island invasive species programs was formed to fill a void in assisting other agencies in its war on invasive species.  We strive to avoid the creation of a new bureaucratic structure, and instead focus on working with existing organizations and agencies to achieve goals.  We are one of the few agencies that deal’s with invasive species on private property while also assisting partner agencies, such as the State Department of Agriculture, Department of Land and Natural Resources and the National Park Service.  Our program priorities are organized around a key list of “target” invasive species, a hit list of sorts.  This hit list is intended to identify plants and organisms that pose a serious threat to Hawaii so control measures can be organized.  The main goal is for effective pest prevention before it becomes a serious problem requiring enormous resources.  We call this early detection and rapid response.  Like all the other ISC, we prefer to measure success in terms of pest infestations prevented, contained or eradicated.  The only way we can do this, is to work with our partners.  Like any other program, our resources are limited.  We are happy to assist our partners when we can, and often request services of our partners as well.  Most of the federal lands on the island of Hawaii are identified as “high resource value” lands.  Lands immediately adjacent to federal lands are also considered high priority for protection purposes.  BIISC spends a portion of our financial resources to ensure that invasive species stay out of high value resource zones like Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and would like to see park service employees involved in these control efforts as well.  Invasive species will breach federal lands from the outside and vice-versa.  All available resources should be utilized to attack the problem as a whole.   We should not allow political boundaries to dictate invasive species control efforts.  Obviously for this reason, the islands invasive species committees were formed to fill that gap.  However, we simply cannot do it alone.  It is imperative that our Federal brethren be authorized to work with its partners including fiscal expenditures outside of its jurisdictional boundaries.  Though scientific partnerships help programs like BIISC create solid control efforts on the ground, we lack the staffing resources many of these organisms require to make a dent.  Combining efforts makes the most sense.  Our goal is not only to work with our partner agencies, but create community cooperators to help control targeted species within their own communities.  Community partnerships are also instrumental in invasive species control efforts.

Our community partners have been very involved in invasive species control efforts, particularly with controlling coqui frogs, which has been the focus point of invasive species lately.  I call it the flavor or the month, since there are other invasive species that require the same amount of attention this little frog is currently getting.  There are other threats that pose a much larger problem and they don’t make any noise, such as the little red fire ant, that can blind domestic animals, which many of us believe will be a much larger problem than coqui, or a new species of mosquito recently identified on the Big Island known to be a carrier of west nile virus.   

The question was posed of what invasive species poses the greatest threat to the National Park.  For Hawaii Island, I would have to say coqui frog.  This tiny frog is now zapping  a tremendous amount of BIISC resources.  Breeding populations exist on the boundaries of this park and the march continues, as there have been confirmed captures of this pest within the parks boundaries.  The next species could be the Little Fire Ant, or perhaps the stinging nettle cattepillar, or a host of invasive plant species.  The list is endless.  The key is to identify the threat before it becomes a problem, coordinate a rapid control response, and utilize all existing means to eradicate the threat immediately.