RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, preserving and protecting our natural environment and resources are critical to ensure a promising future for our citizens, especially our children; and

WHEREAS, invasive alien species, such as miconia, coqui frogs, brown tree snakes, and other species, represent dangerous threats to Hawaii's fragile and complex ecosystem; and

WHEREAS, miconia, a South American plant that grows rapidly and shades out native vegetation in forests, causes erosion and reduces the ability of underlying aquifers to store fresh water; and

WHEREAS, coqui frogs, which have reproduced at a frightening rate with distinct populations numbering over two hundred seventy on the island of Hawaii alone, are not only a nuisance but, if left unchecked, may also affect the tourism industry and disrupt native bird populations that compete with the frogs for insect prey; and

WHEREAS, brown tree snakes, which have been directly responsible for the extinction or local extirpation of twelve out of twenty-five native forest bird and lizard species in Guam, continue to threaten Hawaii, with eight known cases of brown tree snakes found in transit from Guam to Hawaii since the mid 1980s; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has developed a comprehensive network of groups and entities to deal with these and other invasive species; and

WHEREAS, Act 85, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003, established the Hawaii Invasive Species Council, a cabinet-level body that provides leadership, direction, and coordination for invasive species prevention and eradication programs statewide; and

WHEREAS, prior to the Council, the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, primarily comprised of management-level participants from every major federal, state, county, and private agency and organization, conducted various initiatives to combat invasive species, including media campaigns, research, improving coordination and collaboration among agencies, and facilitating the formation of Invasive Species Committees on all major islands; and

WHEREAS, the Invasive Species Committees are voluntary partnerships between private and public organizations and other concerned individuals that supplement the efforts of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Land and Natural Resources and are responsible for inspecting an average of one hundred thousand acres statewide each year; and

WHEREAS, funding for the activities and programs of the Council, the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, and the Invasive Species Committees come from a combination of federal, state, and private sources; and

WHEREAS, their efforts have been weakened by recent actions of the federal government that have drastically reduced the resources necessary to effectively combat invasive species; and

WHEREAS, a recent funding proposal for nearly $9,000,000 in United States Department of Agriculture grant money to address the coqui frog problem was denied by the federal Office of Management and Budget; and

WHEREAS, the denial of United States Department of Agriculture grants may jeopardize the eradication efforts under way and planned for the island of Hawaii where the coqui frog problem is most severe; and

WHEREAS, actions such as these deprive Hawaii of the funding desperately needed to protect the native environment and preserve the native ecosystem; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the President of the United States and the United States Congress are urgently requested to restore funding for programs and measures that are intended to contain and eradicate invasive alien species in Hawaii and prevent the introduction of new invasive alien species into Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, President of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

Report Title:

KAWAINUI MARSH NATIONAL PARK