{"id":15047,"date":"2023-04-02T07:05:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T17:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15047"},"modified":"2023-04-02T07:10:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T17:10:56","slug":"board-talk-board-approves-mosquito-control-ea-rejects-request-for-contested-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=15047","title":{"rendered":"Board Talk: Board Approves Mosquito Control EA, Rejects Request for Contested Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Above photo: “Avian malaria, a fatal disease, is the primary cause for the dramatic decline for\u00a0six remaining species of Hawaiian honeycreepers: \u02bbi\u02bbiwi, Maui \u02bbalauahio, Hawai\u02bbi \u02bbamakihi, \u02bbapapane, kikiwiu, and \u02bb\u0101kohekohe (pictured here).\u00a0\u00a0For critically endangered species,\u00a0like kiwikiu and \u02bb\u0101kohekohe, the increasing presence of invasive mosquitoes has put them on a trajectory for extinction within\u00a0the next two to ten\u00a0years,\u201d states a press release from the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Courtesy of Jacob Drucker<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2014 pushed to the brink of extinction by avian malaria \u2014 using a technique that hinders the mating success of mosquitoes that spread the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ITT has been successfully deployed throughout the world to suppress mosquito-borne diseases that affect humans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast majority of public testimony at last month\u2019s 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\u2019s populations of the invasive southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefascuatus<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina Lia of the non-profit group Hawai\u02bbi Unites, which she formed in January, requested a contested case hearing on the Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Division of Forestry and Wildlife recommendation to approve the EA and issue a FONSI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lia testified that the project was an experiment that could increase pathogen events and could actually cause the extinction of endangered birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She demanded that a full environmental impact statement be done and added that Land Board chair Dawn Chang and board member Vernon Char \u201cmust recuse given that they have clear conflicts of interest.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Land Board voted to deny her contested case hearing request, noting that the court is the proper venue to challenge an EA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before voting to deny Lia\u2019s request, the board heard from many people who have been on the front lines in the fight to save Hawai\u02bbi\u2019s critically endangered forest birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Koa Matsuoka, tasked in 2019 with acclimating endangered kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill) that were to be translocated to Maui\u2019s Nakula Natural Area Reserve on south Haleakala, explained to the board that forest restoration alone isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after years of restoring and creating a forest that could sustain the kiwikiu, he said, \u201cI watched the first translocated kiwikiu close its eyes and die in my hands just days after arriving at Nakula.\u201d The bird, and many others that were part of the failed effort, died from avian malaria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mosquitoes must be removed from the landscape, he said. Otherwise \u201cthere will be no inch of native forest where endangered birds can survive into the future. \u2026 We are running out of options. Wolbachia is one of the last tools available,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that the \u02bbakikiki (Kaua\u02bbi 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. \u201cI refuse to let the remaining 17 do the same. \u2026 How many more pieces of our culture do we have to lose at the hands of invasive species and colonization?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matsuoka also derided critics of ITT, some of whom are also anti-\u201cdrug makers\u201d or have erroneously claimed that the technology is the same that\u2019s used in mRNA vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 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,\u201d Matsuoka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before voting to approve DOFAW\u2019s recommendations, board member Aimee Barnes, also a native Hawaiian, echoed some of Matsuoka\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere used to be so many, their sound was like music, their shells touching each other \u2026 The loss our people have had, I think sometimes it\u2019s easy to lose context of how far down on this road of extinction we already are. This is a tidal wave \u2026 accelerated by a warming climate. \u2026 It\u2019s so important that we do whatever we can to make sure that future generations have the opportunity to meet these kupuna,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With respect to the opposition\u2019s concerns about \u201cthe unknown,\u201d Chair Chang added, \u201cWhat we do know is if we do not act they [the birds] will not be here, and then the question is moot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSometimes leadership is you need to make a hard decision [and] move forward with the best information you have. \u2026 I am extremely comfortable with this document. It has gone through numerous studies. It has been peer-reviewed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the board approved the EA and authorization for Chang to issue a FONSI, Lia said she planned to appeal the board\u2019s decision to deny her contested case hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Slaughterhouse Operators Detail<\/strong> Plan for \u02bbEwa Feedlot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last month, representatives from Hawai\u02bbi Meats and Hawai\u02bbi Land & Livestock presented the Land Board with their plan for the 110 acres that the latter company leases from the state Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Land and Natural Resources\u2019 Land Division was not impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, the division recommended that the board seek to reclaim the former feedlot from the DOA. Four years ago, at the DOA\u2019s urging, the land was transferred from the DLNR to the DOA via an executive order from then-Governor David Ige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s reserved right to issue a lease for one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HLL\u2019s Bobby Farias and Aaron Eddington of Hawai\u02bbi 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\u2019 request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s waste. Suma would require about 40 acres for these projects, they stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land Board chair Dawn Chang said they seemed to have a viable plan for the former DLNR property. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t appear to have any room for the solar farm,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farias testified that HLL had actually considered developing its own solar project, but \u201cwe couldn\u2019t find viability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeightening the panels further compounded the cost. If you\u2019re going to do agriculture under solar panels, you start to minus off the amount of sunlight, you sacrifice one or the other,\u201d he said. Spacing the panels farther apart further reduces the energy produced and sold, he noted. \u201cSolar isn\u2019t going to be the opportunity. Feeding cattle is an opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land Division staff, however, stated in a report to the board, \u201cEurus 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\u2019s and HLL\u2019s use of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that it was also skeptical of Suma farms\u2019 plans to grow 40+ acres of bana grass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt 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,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chang asked Farias how long he thought it would take to consummate the agreements required to bring the plan to fruition. \u201cWe can do renewable energy so long as it does not interfere with your ag use. It does now appear it would interfere,\u201d she said. However, she added that given the pending Eurus proposal, she was interested in setting a time frame to fulfill HLL\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDOA has those mechanisms. \u2026 We want to get the project going, too,\u201d Farias replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,509,13,11,26,14,25],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-15047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-april-2023","category-board-talk","category-climate-change","category-endangered-species","category-energy","category-invasives","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}