· Establish a West Hawaii operation with a full-time, 2 person crew
with vehicle and equipment to conduct control operations and community outreach
and education. This group will be supported by volunteers and summer
help from the local area.
The results of hiring a full time crew for West Hawaii were positive.
Allowing the team to focus on fewer sites showed that a thorough and complete
effort can be accomplished. Outreach, education and volunteer projects
were also a big part of the field work. All mature and near mature trees
were destroyed, and seed production has stopped. The site boundaries
were defined by combining data from ground and air surveys using global positioning
satellite (GPS) receivers and a global information systems (GIS) database.
· Identify all Miconia populations that need special handling due
to hazardous or remote locations. Treatment of some populations will
require helicopter support or rappelling for access.
Mature or near mature plants were found in the following locations, and still
remain due to hazardous access and the need for safety ropes. The field
team received introductory rope safety & rappel training that has increased
the safety of operations and will allow our staff to pursue some of the hazardous
plants. Others will have to be contracted out to private, more experienced
rappellers. Sites with trees remaining on the gulch banks are: Ninole
(4), Hakalau (5), Kapue (10), and Honolii (11).
· Arrest further spread of large populations by removing large flowering
individuals of Miconia, especially around the periphery of the infestation.
This should curtail reproduction and dispersal, and slow expansion of large
infestations.
Miconia eradication is ongoing at older established sites with mature trees,
especially when volunteers or forestry crews (Dept. of Land & Natural
Resources, Division of Forestry & Wildlife) are available to help.
During this grant period work continued at the largest and oldest sites where
many mature trees were destroyed by mechanical and chemical control methods.
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Big Island Invasive Species Committee/Operation Miconia 16 East Lanikaula Street - Hilo, Hawaii - 96720 Ph: (808) 961-3299 - Hotline & Voice Mail Alt. Ph: (808) 974-4140 - Office & Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture Reception Desk FAX: (808) 974-4148 |
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