Bills that would fund efforts to combat a disease that is rapidly killing Hawaii Island’s native ohia trees continue to advance in the state Legislature.
Bills that would fund efforts to combat a disease that is rapidly killing Hawaii Island’s native ohia trees continue to advance in the state Legislature.
Senate and House finance committees will decide today whether to recommend the bills for floor votes before moving them across the aisle to be considered by the other chamber.
House Bill 1597, introduced by state Rep. Nicole Lowen, D-Kailua-Kona, seeks funding for the state Department of Agriculture for research and mitigation efforts, and would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the cause of the disease, possible control strategies and more.
The bill was approved unanimously with amendments by the House Committee on Agriculture after a hearing Feb. 10. The hearing featured testimonial support from people such as Suzanne Case, chairwoman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, who said her department would support the measure as long as it does not negatively impact appropriations for other priorities.
“The recent spread of rapid ohia death on Hawaii Island threatens the state’s most important forest species and requires urgent action,” she said. “Recent surveys conducted by the department preliminarily found 34,000 acres of ohia forest affected by this disease, which is more than double the area mapped in 2014.”
Other supporters include Hawaii County Councilman Dru Kanuha, the University of Hawaii, the Nature Conservancy, the Hawaii Farm Bureau and others.
Following the hearing, agriculture committee members recommended legislators consider appropriating at least $200,000, with one member pushing for $300,000, to research preventative and treatment methods to control and contain the damage caused by the fungus, which has rapidly spread throughout Puna since its discovery around 2010 and recently was confirmed to be established in West Hawaii.
The bill’s sponsor said she is optimistic it could become law this year.
“I would venture to say that I feel fairly positive” that the bill will make it through the House, Lowen said. “It’s still possible it could be deferred,” but other bills also are looking to address the problem.
She added that “the latest news on rapid ohia death is not good,” saying that some people are concerned the impacts of the disease could be similar to what happened with the American chestnut tree. Between 3 billion and 4 billion of the chestnut trees were destroyed in the first half of the 20th century by a fungal disease after it was discovered in 1904, according to the American Phytopathological Society.
HB 1597 is scheduled for decision making by the Committee on Finance at 11 a.m. today.
The measure’s companion Senate Bill 2271, introduced by state Sen. Russell Ruderman, is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means at 1:30 p.m. today. It features largely the same language as its companion.
Meanwhile, House Bill 2675, introduced by state Rep. Richard Onishi, D-Hilo, takes a more focused approach, just providing money to fund the research being done by researchers at the Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center in Hilo.
While the bill does not currently request a specific amount, Onishi said Monday he’s hoping for an appropriation of $325,000 or whatever is necessary to employ pathology post-doctoral fellows, technical support for pathology research, materials and supplies for pathogen and molecular detection.
“Right now, we only have one researcher, Dr. Lisa Keith, looking into” rapid ohia death, he said. “Initially, she was working on many other projects, but she was taken off of those to focus on ohia death. But she needs additional help.”
Finding ways to control and stop the spread of rapid ohia death is vitally important, Onishi said, because the stakes are high.
“The ohia makes up a huge portion of our natural forest in Hawaii, especially on the Big Island,” he said. “… At this point there’s no effective treatment we know of to stop it from spreading, which is a real key. If we don’t have any treatment, eventually the entire forest could be wiped out. … To replace these trees in our native forest, it’s almost impossible to do. We’ve got to come up with a way to protect our existing forest.”
HB 2675 is scheduled to be heard by the House Committee on Finance beginning at 11 a.m. today.
For more information about rapid ohia death, visit www.rapidohiadeath.org.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.