Senator J. Kalani English
Majority Floor Leader
State Capitol, Room 205
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone: (808) 587-7225
E-mail: english1@capitol.hawaii.gov

Contact: Kalei Keolanui, Communications Specialist
Phone: 586-6812

PRESS RELEASE
February 11, 2002

EMERGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL WORKFORCE BILL PROGRESSES THROUGH LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES

Today Senate Majority Floor Leader J. Kalani English (DÑWailuku, Kahului, Upcountry Maui) joined his colleagues in voting for SB 2900. "It was passed unanimously by the Labor Committee and the Committee for Water, Land, Energy and Environment today, and is now in Ways and Means. I'm greatly encouraged by the strong show of support from the public and other legislators."

SB 2900 makes an appropriation to continue the efforts of the emergency environmental workforce established after last year's Third Special Session. These trained crews are actively working to eradicate alien species that threaten our island environment, essential work that needs to be continued to preserve our fragile ecosystem.

Senator English added, "The work this emergency workforce has accomplished in the few months of its existence is remarkable. All islands have benefited visibly with hundreds of thousands of miconia plants being destroyed, hundreds of coqui frogs eradicated and many other alien species removed. Acres have been cleared that provided breeding areas for mosquitoes that carry dengue. We need to continue this program to maintain the progress that has already been made."

Tom Ishii, Project Coordinator for the Emergency Environmental Workforce, reported that tons of bulky items providing breeding areas for mosquitoes have been cleared out of Central Maui and Hana, and 140,000 miconia plants have been removed from the forest area above the Hana airport. Crews are aggressively removing invasive plants from Koke'e State Park on Kauai. On the Big Island miconia crews removed 30,000 miconia seedlings, 1200 saplings and 1100 trees. The pickleweed that smothers the Kaloko Pond in Kona is currently being removed, and while 5 acres of fountain grass has been cleared, there are at least 70 acres remaining.

On Oahu, the crew at Kaneohe Marine Corp Base Hawaii has maintained about 150 acres and removed 30,000 invasive plants. 300 acres at Fort Ruger and 40 acres at Bellows are being maintained by the Hawaii Army National Guard, controlling the fountain grass that dries out during the summer, posing a major fire hazard. 10 tons of thorny kiawe have been removed from Maile Stream by the Department of Agriculture team, and they have started removing Kiawe from Barber's Point and our city parks.

Mr. Ishii said that, "I have spoken to many individuals working throughout the state and everyone is grateful for being employed and for doing a job that they feel is meaningful and important."

END

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