Above photo: “Avian malaria, a fatal disease, is the primary cause for the dramatic decline for six remaining species of Hawaiian honeycreepers: ʻiʻiwi, Maui ʻalauahio, Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi, ʻapapane, kikiwiu, and ʻākohekohe (pictured here). For critically endangered species, like kiwikiu and ʻākohekohe, the increasing presence of invasive mosquitoes has put them on a trajectory for extinction within the next two to ten years,” states a press release from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Courtesy of Jacob Drucker
On March 23, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources unanimously, and with some tears, voted in favor of saving native Hawaiian forest birds — pushed to the brink of extinction by avian malaria — using a technique that hinders the mating success of mosquitoes that spread the disease.
The board approved the effort despite concerns raised by some members of the public that not enough was known about the Incompatible Insect Technique, which involves the release of male mosquitoes that carry a strain of Wolbachia bacteria that differs from the one in their female mates and renders their offspring unviable.
ITT has been successfully deployed throughout the world to suppress mosquito-borne diseases that affect humans.
The vast majority of public testimony at last month’s board meeting was in favor of the approval of the final environmental assessment and issuance of a finding of no significant impact on plans to use ITT to suppress East Maui’s populations of the invasive southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefascuatus).
Tina Lia of the non-profit group Hawaiʻi Unites, which she formed in January, requested a contested case hearing on the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife recommendation to approve the EA and issue a FONSI.
Lia testified that the project was an experiment that could increase pathogen events and could actually cause the extinction of endangered birds.
She demanded that a full environmental impact statement be done and added that Land Board chair Dawn Chang and board member Vernon Char “must recuse given that they have clear conflicts of interest.” Lia pointed out that Chang is employed by the DLNR and also claimed that Char, an attorney, was employed by The Nature Conservancy, a partner in the mosquito-suppression effort.
Chang countered that by statute, the head of the DLNR is the chair of the Land Board. Char attested that TNC is not one of his clients.
The Land Board voted to deny her contested case hearing request, noting that the court is the proper venue to challenge an EA.
Before voting to deny Lia’s request, the board heard from many people who have been on the front lines in the fight to save Hawaiʻi’s critically endangered forest birds.
Koa Matsuoka, tasked in 2019 with acclimating endangered kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill) that were to be translocated to Maui’s Nakula Natural Area Reserve on south Haleakala, explained to the board that forest restoration alone isn’t enough.
Even after years of restoring and creating a forest that could sustain the kiwikiu, he said, “I watched the first translocated kiwikiu close its eyes and die in my hands just days after arriving at Nakula.” The bird, and many others that were part of the failed effort, died from avian malaria.
Mosquitoes must be removed from the landscape, he said. Otherwise “there will be no inch of native forest where endangered birds can survive into the future. … We are running out of options. Wolbachia is one of the last tools available,” he said.
He noted that the ʻakikiki (Kauaʻi creeper) is projected to go extinct in the wild by the end of this year and that two Hawaiian forest birds had gone extinct during his 31-year lifetime. “I refuse to let the remaining 17 do the same. … How many more pieces of our culture do we have to lose at the hands of invasive species and colonization?” he asked.
Matsuoka also derided critics of ITT, some of whom are also anti-“drug makers” or have erroneously claimed that the technology is the same that’s used in mRNA vaccines.
“In a sense, the biggest threat to our forest birds and our environment is not climate change or mosquitoes. It is misinformation and conspiracy theorists cherry-picking data and misconstruing results to fit the narrative of some alternative reality. This EA is a result of decades of peer-reviewed scientific literature and I urge you to approve this with a finding of no significant impact and not let misinformation decide whether our mana kupuna get to exist in this world or not,” Matsuoka said.
Before voting to approve DOFAW’s recommendations, board member Aimee Barnes, also a native Hawaiian, echoed some of Matsuoka’s sentiments. She noted that she was wearing a shirt picturing 13 native Hawaiian snail species and that only five of them are still alive in the wild today.
“There used to be so many, their sound was like music, their shells touching each other … The loss our people have had, I think sometimes it’s easy to lose context of how far down on this road of extinction we already are. This is a tidal wave … accelerated by a warming climate. … It’s so important that we do whatever we can to make sure that future generations have the opportunity to meet these kupuna,” she said.
With respect to the opposition’s concerns about “the unknown,” Chair Chang added, “What we do know is if we do not act they [the birds] will not be here, and then the question is moot.
“Sometimes leadership is you need to make a hard decision [and] move forward with the best information you have. … I am extremely comfortable with this document. It has gone through numerous studies. It has been peer-reviewed,” she said.
Before the board approved the EA and authorization for Chang to issue a FONSI, Lia said she planned to appeal the board’s decision to deny her contested case hearing.
Slaughterhouse Operators Detail Plan for ʻEwa Feedlot
Last month, representatives from Hawaiʻi Meats and Hawaiʻi Land & Livestock presented the Land Board with their plan for the 110 acres that the latter company leases from the state Department of Agriculture.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Land Division was not impressed.
In December, the division recommended that the board seek to reclaim the former feedlot from the DOA. Four years ago, at the DOA’s urging, the land was transferred from the DLNR to the DOA via an executive order from then-Governor David Ige.
The division has argued that HLL allowed an unauthorized trucking baseyard to flourish on the property, has not yet put the land to any agricultural use, and also refuses to entertain the prospect of placing a renewable energy project on the property, despite the Land Board’s reserved right to issue a lease for one.
HLL’s Bobby Farias and Aaron Eddington of Hawaiʻi Meats testified to the board at its March 24 meeting that they had taken steps to evict the trucking company, American Hauling, which had been relocated from the slaughterhouse parcel to the feedlot parcel years ago at Farias’ request.
They also reported that they plan to partner with Suma Farms, which will grow bana grass on the property as a cattle forage crop and build a bio-digester to handle the slaughterhouse’s waste. Suma would require about 40 acres for these projects, they stated.
Although Farias had previously told the board that HLL needed all 110 acres for cattle pens and, therefore, could not co-exist with a proposed solar-to-hydrogen energy project, he and Eddington have changed their tune, at least with regard to the area needed for livestock holding pens. They now say that only a minimum of 10 acres is required as an overflow area for cattle awaiting processing.
Finally, they noted that between three and five acres could be used for a facility that would slaughter small animals, such as sheep and pigs, though they said they would not be the initiators of that project. Hog farmers are pursuing funding for it at the Legislature.
Land Board chair Dawn Chang said they seemed to have a viable plan for the former DLNR property. “It doesn’t appear to have any room for the solar farm,” she said.
Farias testified that HLL had actually considered developing its own solar project, but “we couldn’t find viability.”
“Heightening the panels further compounded the cost. If you’re going to do agriculture under solar panels, you start to minus off the amount of sunlight, you sacrifice one or the other,” he said. Spacing the panels farther apart further reduces the energy produced and sold, he noted. “Solar isn’t going to be the opportunity. Feeding cattle is an opportunity,” he said.
Land Division staff, however, stated in a report to the board, “Eurus Energy is still exploring the possibility of elevating the solar panels for its proposed renewable energy project so as not to unreasonably interfere with DOA’s and HLL’s use of the land.”
It added that it was also skeptical of Suma farms’ plans to grow 40+ acres of bana grass.
“At prior meetings Mr. Farias has repeatedly said that the feedlot is not capable of growing much due to the coral being right below the surface. HLL/HM mention potential soil building but for an area of that acreage, it could be many years before growing anything productive is feasible,” the report stated.
Chang asked Farias how long he thought it would take to consummate the agreements required to bring the plan to fruition. “We can do renewable energy so long as it does not interfere with your ag use. It does now appear it would interfere,” she said. However, she added that given the pending Eurus proposal, she was interested in setting a time frame to fulfill HLL’s plan.
“DOA has those mechanisms. … We want to get the project going, too,” Farias replied.
— Teresa Dawson
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