All seven members of the Big Island’s state House delegation are co-sponsoring a bill that would bolster efforts to combat invasive little fire ants.
All seven members of the Big Island’s state House delegation are co-sponsoring a bill that would bolster efforts to combat invasive little fire ants.
The bill, HB 1607, establishes a pilot program allowing Hawaii County residents with documented little fire ant infestations to receive a coupon for a free one-year supply of the appropriate pesticide treatment. It also calls for the state Department of Agriculture to create a map detailing all infestation sites.
“The fire ant has been on our island since the late 1990s … it’s a problem that’s just been growing because we’re not getting any help,” Rep. Richard Onishi (D-Hilo, Keaau, Kurtistown, Volcano) told the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday.
Onishi introduced a similar bill last year that passed the House but got held up in the Senate.
The little fire ant is considered one of the worst invasive species in Hawaii and is distinct from the tropical fire ant, which is a larger species that nests exclusively on the ground (little fire ants also nest in trees).
Native to Central and South America, it is thought to have been introduced to the Big Island via a commercial potted palm nursery. Uncertainty about how it first got here led to a slow initial response, which allowed the opportunistic ant to begin spreading across the island.
The House bill attempts to address the disproportionate impact the ant has had in Hawaii County as compared to other islands.
“On the Big Island, it’s really bad,” said Kiyoshi Adachi, a research associate with the Hilo-based Hawaii Ant Lab. The lab hosts ant management clinics once a month and is working on education efforts in Naalehu and Waipio Valley. It has taken over treatment efforts at the Hilo airport.
“We also go up to Kauai and Maui — we’re trying to get rid of infestations there,” Adachi said.
The lab has had good results on Kauai and Maui, he said: “We caught it early.”
The lab is primarily funded by the Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Invasive Species Council, with additional grants coming from federal sources.
State departments also are at work managing little fire ants on Oahu, where the pest was discovered in 2013.
“The biggest thing that still needs to be addressed is just getting everybody on the same page to fight this properly,” Adachi said. “Sometimes, we have people being real diligent on their property, doing all the correct stuff, and then their neighbor’s doing nothing.”
In some cases, that might be because the neighbor doesn’t know about the ant problem, a scenario the site mapping component of the bill would address.
After people request coupons from the DOA, Onishi said, the department could begin a public information campaign in that area.
The bill does not include an amount to be appropriated for the coupon program and site mapping. That ultimately will be determined by the Finance Committee, Onishi said. He expects the cost to be approximately $200,000.
Rep. Joy San Buenaventura (D- Puna) said the coupons would be a boon to low-income residents who could not otherwise afford little fire ant treatment.
“The more people who have access to the pesticide necessary to control it, the higher the likelihood of eliminating (the ant),” she said.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.