08-29-2014, 04:08 PM
Eradication is very difficult to accomplish, and certainly can't be achieved by an army of idiots recklessly poisoning the environment with toxic chemicals. But I expect we will see a huge increase in the sale of "milestone" and the state will quietly extract their 4.166% on each and every legal transaction.
Biological problems are best moderated by well researched biological solutions. Sure, chemicals are one "tool in the toolbox" but there really isn't any single silver bullet to solve all our problems, and all chemical controls have unintended consequences. What is really needed is a combination of insects, fungi, mycoplasmas and other small critters that attack only a single species or a limited group of species within a genus or family we wouldn't mind harming here in Hawaii.
The real solution is to send a team of scientists/ researchers to the native habitat of the invasive species and find what natural parasites/ predators have co-evolved with the invasive species and to import and release them here in order to try to balance the population. But just look at the uproar created when the USFS tried to bring in tectonia scale to slow the spread of strawberry guava. Sis Singer got a bunch of people hyped up about how dangerous the scale could become and a band of ignorant people jumped on board and claimed they couldn't live without guava jelly.
What we really need is a multifaceted approach to Albizia containment and on the social front what also need are laws and fees that discourage people from being absentee landlords and hold them responsible for the damages they impose on others.
Another thing that would really help is a large pool of money that people could access at low to no-interest rates for Albizia removal. The fund could be seeded by fees and taxes charged to irresponsible absentee landlords. The money should be set up in a revolving pool that politicians and bureaucrats can not raid for pet projects that are completely unrelated.
Biological problems are best moderated by well researched biological solutions. Sure, chemicals are one "tool in the toolbox" but there really isn't any single silver bullet to solve all our problems, and all chemical controls have unintended consequences. What is really needed is a combination of insects, fungi, mycoplasmas and other small critters that attack only a single species or a limited group of species within a genus or family we wouldn't mind harming here in Hawaii.
The real solution is to send a team of scientists/ researchers to the native habitat of the invasive species and find what natural parasites/ predators have co-evolved with the invasive species and to import and release them here in order to try to balance the population. But just look at the uproar created when the USFS tried to bring in tectonia scale to slow the spread of strawberry guava. Sis Singer got a bunch of people hyped up about how dangerous the scale could become and a band of ignorant people jumped on board and claimed they couldn't live without guava jelly.
What we really need is a multifaceted approach to Albizia containment and on the social front what also need are laws and fees that discourage people from being absentee landlords and hold them responsible for the damages they impose on others.
Another thing that would really help is a large pool of money that people could access at low to no-interest rates for Albizia removal. The fund could be seeded by fees and taxes charged to irresponsible absentee landlords. The money should be set up in a revolving pool that politicians and bureaucrats can not raid for pet projects that are completely unrelated.