90 



No State in the Nation is more vulnerable than Hawaii to the negative impacts 

 of harmful non-indigenous species. Hawaii's native ecosystems evolved for millions 

 of years in isolation, and as a consequence, over 90 percent of the native plants and 

 animals of these islands are unioue life forms found nowhere else on earth. Today, 

 the combination of Hawaii's mild climate and the State's modem role as a hub of 

 Pacific trade exposes the islands to a flood of new, harmful pests. Each year, an av- 

 erage of twenty new invertebrate species become established in the islands. Of 

 these, an average of five are pests and at least one per year proves to be of major 

 economic significance. Since 1985, for example, four new insect pests of sugarcane 

 have been established: of these, the lesser cornstalk borer alone has cost $9 million 

 to control (this does not include the cost of reduced yields). 



The magnitude of the threat posed by the continual introduction of non-indige- 

 nous species into Hawaii has led to widespread agreement among scientists, farm- 

 ers, environmental groups and government agencies that stemming the influx of 

 new pests is among the State's highest priorities. 



As a manager of Hawaiian rain forests and other habitats for endangered species 

 in the islands, The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii (TNCH) has been deeply involved 

 in efforts to control harmful non-indigenous species, including feral pigs and noxious 

 weeds. In 1992, the Conservancy teamed up with the Natural Resources Defense 

 Council (NRDC) to identify a process to address this frightening problem. Together, 

 we produced a report entitled, "The Alien Pest Species Invasion in Hawaii: Back- 

 ground Study and Recommendations for Interagency Planning" (The Executive 

 Summary is attached). 



The report found that one of the biggest obstacles to more effective prevention and 

 control of pest species is the lack of coordination and the fi-agmentation of current 

 management programs. The analysis found that over the past 100 years, twenty 

 State and Federal agency programs have arisen ad hoc to address the specific con- 

 cerns of their particular audience. This has resulted in a set of programs that are 

 generally effective within each individual jurisdiction, but together leave many gap.s 

 for pest entry and establishment. 



All twenty of the State and Federal agencies involved in non-indigenous species 

 prevention and control in Hawaii agree that a multi-agency planning effort must be 

 undertaken to move the existing system toward a cohesive and comprehensive pest 

 prevention and control system. Toward that end the Hawaii Department of Agri- 

 culture has initiated a multi-agency planning process to prepare an Action Plan 

 which will set out specific improvements in the critical areas of pre-entry prevention 

 systems, border inspection, rapid response to new invasions, and control of most de- 

 structive established pests. We feel this should be followed by a public education 

 campaign and a Phase II plan for coordinated agency training and research. The 

 Nature Conservancy intends to keep working with our agency colleagues to help 

 them improve their capacity to control the non-native species. 



III. Changes Should Be Made in Federal Policy to Address the Problem 



The Office of Technology Assessment Report, "Harmful Non-indigenous Species in 

 the United States" did an excellent job of suggesting policy options to address the 

 problems associated with invasive species. We support many oi the suggestions that 

 were made in the OTA Report and would like to underscore a few of the rec- 

 ommendations. 



To counteract the problems created by exotics, we as a nation must work together 

 to do three things. First, we must promulgate proactive policies which will prevent 

 the release of new invasive species. Second, we must require better inter-agency. 

 State and Federal cooperation and coordination to resolve jurisdictional issues which 

 leave current management efforts fi'agmented and inadequate. Finally, we must de- 

 vote more resources to research and management efforts which address existing 

 problems. 



A. Prevent the Release of New, Harmful Invasive Species 



The smartest and most cost-effective action to address the problems associated 

 with invasive species is to prevent their introduction. The old saying, "an ounce of 

 prevention is worth a pound of cure" is absolutely accurate when it comes to 

 invasive plants and animals. Imagine the money that would be saved if leafy spurge 

 had never entered the country, a plant which according to a recent study produced 

 by North Dakota State University will cost the States of North Dakota, Montana 

 and Wyoming $144 million annually by 1995. 



Current regulatory efforts have focused on preventing the release of animals and 

 plants which pose a threat to agriculture, while ignoring those non-indigenous spe- 

 cies which impact natural areas. We would like to see Congress and the Administra- 



