DRAFT EA POSTED FOR STRAWBERRY GUAVA MANAGEMENT IN HAWAI‘I

This just came in the mail so I thought I'ld pass it on because I know a lot of us care very much about this topic.

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For Immediate Release: June 22, 2010


DRAFT EA POSTED FOR STRAWBERRY GUAVA MANAGEMENT IN HAWAI‘I


HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture has posted a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the release of a natural predator (Tectococcus ovatus, a Brazilian scale insect) for the sustainable management of strawberry guava in Hawai‘i.

This action is proposed to mitigate the impacts of strawberry guava on native forests, the water supply, and agriculture.

The draft EA is available in the Environmental Notice on the Hawai‘i Department of Health’s Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) website and will be open for public comment for one month, June 23-July 23, 2010. Visit the OEQC website at
[url=http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/environmental/oeqc/index.html ]http://hawaii.gov/health/environmental/environmental/oeqc/index.html [/url]

Only written comments will be accepted, and may be submitted to the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture Plant Pest Control Branch at 1428 S. King St. Honolulu, HI 96814, with a copy sent to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813; or emailed to hdoa.ppc@hawaii.gov


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For more information news media may contact:
Deborah Ward
DLNR Public information specialist
Phone: (808) 587-0320

Dr. Neil Reimer
Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture
Phone: (808) 973-9522
Email: hdoa.ppc@hawaii.gov -

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This is your chance to voice your concerns, disapproval, or support. If interested, you have one month to read the EA and send your comments in by July 23rd. After the public comment period, they will address all comments and come out with a final EA.

Nic, I copied and posted here

i just sent a email to reconsider and i'm againts them doing that and to turn thier efforts to controlling or eliminating the Clidemia hirta and the Guinea grass instead.

the problem i see with this form of bio control in that its intended to just make the plant weak or sick. that will just open the door for parasites and disease which by nature prey on the weak and sick. a bunch of sick dying plants in the forest cant be good. i think the posibility for unintended negative effects on other plants is too great to risk it.

Just some one sided BS ive found so far:

Substantial decrease in the pig population is unlikely, and hunting will not be adversely impacted
and may actually benefit, along with hiking, birding and other activities that depend on forest
access, from fewer and less dense thickets. I adressed this in our meeting with them they had no answer yet they print it with a biased opinion.

T. ovatus is
expected to reduce vegetative growth along with fruit and seed production, decreasing the spread
of strawberry guava over a period of years. T. ovatus is known in Brazil to reduce strawberry
guava vigor by as much as 25 to 40 percent and fruiting by 60 to 90 percent. Thier talking about Brazil here in Hawaii the lead person on this project told us they were seeing 100% fruit reduction this is from the horses mouth folks so hmmmmm just the typical BS still going on.

Just how fast T.
ovatus will spread following its release is difficult to predict, but populations of the insect are
expected to disperse gradually from release sites, mainly carried by wind. T. ovatus is not
expected to disperse long distances in the wind except perhaps in rare, major wind events. This is another point I addressed in our mtg with them I had them tongue tied, they were trying to say that it cant go long distances when Tracy himself stated just 5 minutes before that that they could blow it with thier breath and it stay suspended for long periods of time in a con trolled env. my question to them was if that was the case how much more will it be when blown by the trades? They ignored my question and continued

This is just from a small sampling of the EA but just wanted to keep you guys on your toes. All im saying here is that the only reason I know these things is because of the work I do and that they came out to our program and spoke to us about this. And of course they were more lenient to say things that obviously they arent saying in the draft EA or that they would say in a public setting and thats what makes me SICK!!! If I hadnt attended these mtgs I wouldnt know the difference so how can I expect you to know yourselves. And that my fellow huntas is how they win the fight, we need to get educated and equipped to fight these battles or we will lose one battle at a time until when it comes to it the war itself.

So who will stand with me on the field of battle and at the least to say in the end we fought a good fight. I hope there will be more with me but if need be I will fight this battle alone. I do not believe in this biocontrol nor do I trust those who are trying to release it. Beacause I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THEY ARE LYING. This has written all over it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alohaz,

Bradda Muns

I tried to tell you guy's this was going on UH has been doing similar projects testing has been going on for years
I know where there is some steal boxes chained to trees I will fill them and these came with the bug traps not sure what they do maybe someone can answer this question NOW MORE THAN EVER WE NEED TO JOIN TOGETHER or the hunt will be gone forever

I've just read that whole assesment which seemed very repetitive! Here are a few things that caught my attention!

1.Removal of feral pigs is the sine qua non (essential) and first step of successful management of strawberry guava because pigs
disperse prodigious quantities of seed. This must be followed by manual, mechanical,
and chemical control measures. These have proven successful when tested on a small
scale, and recruitment is low in pig-free intact forest, even with dispersal into the treated
area from densely infested adjacent areas.

So they admit they are after the pigs and without doing this their lil experiment won't work??

2. Their first release spot is in the Ola'a F.R which according to their map isn't very "densely" populated by Strawberry guava compared to other forests.

So why start there??

3.Just how fast T. ovatus will spread following its release is difficult to predict, but populations of the insect are
expected to disperse gradually from release sites, mainly carried by wind. T. ovatus is not
expected to disperse long distances in the wind except perhaps in rare, major wind events.

They make this statement and then a few sentences down throw in this statement?

Release of this biological control agent at one site in Hawai‘i can be considered equivalent to release over
the entire area of the State in which strawberry guava occurs and in which the climate is suitable
for reproduction and survival of the insect.

Just wanted to bring these points up, I also want to point out they're only accepting written comments!

"Some non-native animals, such as birds and wild pigs, eat strawberry guava and
spread this invasive species, but none is dependent on strawberry guava for its survival.
Substantial decrease in the pig population is unlikely, and hunting will not be adversely impacted
and may actually benefit, along with hiking, birding and other activities that depend on forest
access, from fewer and less dense thickets."






I like the way they say Not dependent ..the pigs were i hunt are skinny right now the gauva is the only thing that puts the weight back on them when it starts to fruit, the rosie apple was the only other fruit in my area that sustained the fat on the pigs, lilikoi is a short season and there is no other fruit in my area that i hunt..... so whats gonna happen to them when they dont get the gauva?....theyll die or get so skinny they get sick and spread diseases to the others. better yet they will turn to the native plants even more trying to survive and dig even more so now our forest will be so plowed that the rain is gonna run all the dirt in the ocean!!!!hahahaha good job goverment! good job! oh wait the best part is still to come what happens when there is no gauve does the insect just die?....highly doubt it ,it will evolve to eat another plant maybe the lehua yea lets get rid of that or how about the kukui we dont care about that tree right state?...bunch of clowns!

Guys sit down write the letters and send them off.....Koa is there a way we can get a petition going maybe something online or something? email whoever is your rep hell even the governer.....JUST DO IT!

Yea my 2 cents is last night we split the stomach open and most of the food inside was strawberry guava. So that being said the pigs are heavily relying on the guavi.
Aloha

http://www.savetheguava.com/
Here's the enviromental assesment
http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Statewide/2010s/2010-06-23-ST-DEA-Biocontrol-Strawberry-Guava.pdf

Bottom line theyre out to get rid of da pigs indirectly if da pigs no moa food dey no breed dea for dey are soon out of da picture and like hypa said wen da waiwi is all gone den what dey goin eat next? some native plants ? dat bug goin look fo something else to live off.....lf one petition is being made up we will find the people to sign it and fill ti up....good job boys fo bringing dis up to our attention...and jes one moa thing please support the bradahs who is trying to set up our representation for "HAWAII SPORTSMAN ALLIANCE" so we can have a voice wen dis politicians and anti hunting groups get together for coffee and donuts and talk about taking away hunters rights and anything to do with our way of life and life style.....aloha hawaii malama pono.......T.C...K.P.....

Ladybugs are a possible answer. They eat the same type of insects as the T. ovatus.
Just thought id let you guys know if your interested....google it theyre cheap. haha like 80.00 for 72,000 bugs. thats good enough for 10 acres... Might help rosie apple in the area if its the same kind of bug affecting it. So if your worried about your area being heavily reliant on waivi(strawberry guava). This could possibly be an anwser to the problem...
Aloha
Here's my info sites
http://gardeningzone.com/product_info-g%29-Live-Ladybugs--gallon--72,000-approx..html