Appropriates an unspecified amount to mitigate effects of the genus Eleutherodactylus frogs on the Big Island.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds many of Hawaii's flora and fauna are both rare and unique to our islands, comprising one of the most beautiful and irreplaceable natural environments in all the world. The geographical isolation that has allowed Hawaii's ecosystem to thrive also make for a fragile web of indigenous and endemic life, and any introduced species can easily cause irreparable harm. Animals such as rats and mongooses have reproduced at an astonishing rate due to the almost total lack of predators, and once foreign disease-spreading pests such as mosquitoes are now rampant since their introduction. The effects of these and other organisms have been devastating to local plants and animals, especially native birds, with many populations completely wiped out in recent years.

The introduction of certain Caribbean frogs to Hawaii, namely those of the genus Eleutherodactylus, have already begun to pose a threat to native species by consuming insects and other food sources in competition with native life, while providing a greater food source for mongooses and rats, increasing their numbers and predatory threat to native birds. The frogs also pose a threat to local businesses as their extremely loud and incessant calls can cause sleepless nights for visitors and residents alike. The number of these frogs has not yet reached epidemic proportions, and efforts to curtail their expansion would be much cheaper and effective now, while their numbers are still relatively few.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002, for mitigating the harmful effects of the genus Eleutherodactylus (Caribbean) frogs on the Big Island of Hawaii.

SECTION 3. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of agriculture for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2001.