The Maui News
March 10, 2003
By ILIMA LOOMIS
Staff Writer
WAILUKU — Like armies of minute paratroopers, a host of invaders is attacking Maui. Their primary weapon is a bio-terror — spores.
And invading weeds aren't just a danger to fragile native species. They have a potential impact on business, according to state and local officials.
A bill being heard by the state Legislature calls invasive species "the single greatest threat to Hawaii's economy and environment and to the health and lifestyle of Hawaii's people."
That's not news to Ulupalakua Ranch's Tony Durso, who said he's concerned about the spread of a yellow flower called fireweed across Upcountry yards and pastures.
The plant is poisonous to cattle and could potentially result in a "huge" loss of usable land to ranchers.
"This is and will continue to be a real problem," he said.
At the same time, the choking tree miconia continues to threaten Maui's remote mountains and watershed.
"We could lose much of our wet native forest and lose a lot of our native species," warned Randy Bartlett of the Maui Invasive Species Committee.
Bartlett hoped that a well-publicized effort to rid a central Oahu lake of the fast-spreading waterplant Salvinia molesta would bring more public attention to the issue of invasive species.
He said he was encouraged by the legislative bill, which would give statutory powers to the Hawaii Invasive Species Council.
"I think it's a good start," he said. "It shows that the Legislature recognizes that invasive species are a threat to not only our environment but also our economy, and it shows that they want to do something about it."
Sen. J. Kalani English, who co-signed S.B. 1505 as an introducer, said senators "seized the moment" with the attention surrounding Oahu's Lake Wilson infestation to put forward a bill addressing the invasive species issue.
The bill also would give the council powers to enter, with due process, public and private lands for eradication efforts, as well as the power to add to a state list of restricted plants.
"I think it'll have great benefit for Maui, especially dealing with axis deer, fireweed, miconia, coqui frogs, dengue — the whole gamut," said English, whose district includes Upcountry, East Maui, Lanai and Molokai.
Bartlett said that of six invasive plants considered most worrisome by the Maui Invasive Species Committee, miconia was still the greatest threat.
"It has so much potential to take over so much of our wet forest, which is the source of our water supplies," he said.
The fast-growing South American tree has a foothold in low-elevation rain forests in East Maui. A single plant can produce millions of tiny seeds a year.
Bartlett said the fight against miconia was "kind of looking up," thanks in part to funds committed by Haleakala National Park to eradication efforts.
"We need to cut the populations down before they can get into the park," he said, adding that if the plant ever spread within the park's boundaries, "we'd have basically lost the battle."
But while he was hopeful about control efforts, Bartlett said residents shouldn't expect that miconia would ever be fully eradicated, comparing it to an HIV infection that can be managed but not cured.
"We're in this battle for the long haul, if we're going to win it at all," he said. "We're going to be fighting this thing on a generational scale."
The Maui Invasive Species Committee has had more success against plants like ivy gourd and fountain grass, which Bartlett said had less-established populations and had been easier to control, but the group was warning the public about a fast-growing vine that could be poisonous to people and animals.
Rubber vine, a plant with lavender flowers and native to Madagascar, has recently become a popular ornamental, but it spreads easily and smothers plants and trees, said Christy Martin of the Maui committee.
The plants also contain poisons that can damage the heart, she said, and just pruning rubber vines can release a milky sap that causes blisters and rashes.
She said people should report sightings of rubber vine to the Maui Invasive Species Committee.
Bartlett noted the Senate bill contains a provision specifically banning salvinia molesta plants from being imported or sold within the state, but he felt the rule should go further.
He said salvinia had already been listed on a federal noxious weed list but hadn't been added to the state's. Hawaii's list should be expanded to include any plant banned nationally or internationally, he said.
"It should be automatic."
He also said the state should require screening of all imported plants and animals to identify species that are potentially invasive.
Bartlett said there has been a growing recognition that the problem of invasive species is more than a "tree-hugger issue."
"This is an issue that's been gaining a lot of awareness, not only on the local level, but also on the national and global level," he said.