08-26-2007, 09:58 PM
You're so right ef9 ... a weed indeed! The weed (I mean tree), is actually nitrogen fixing and that's one of the reasons it grows so rapidly. Judging by the growth rate over the last twenty-five years, it's destined to change the whole ecological balance here on the Eastside,and as usual, the County & State officials have dropped the ball on eradication efforts, and in fact, they have simply given up from what I can see, since a few pamphlets here and there just doesn't cut it! We're basically left under siege
here in Puna by this beautiful yet tremendously envasive plant.
I've talked to kapuna who say that they don't recall the tree anywhere before about 1970 to 1975 and look at where it is now. It's gone beyond the point where any reasonable person would admit that even a full-scale eradication process spearheaded by the government isn't possible, and the loss of endemic species in the rain forest is now underway,(simply drive to the lookout at the end of the road at the gravel pit across from the steam vents and you'll be shocked. There is a massive arm of Albizia streaching out of Black Sands Subdivision heading west into the rainforest chocking our native species.
The only way to save the environment here in Puna (and keep it from looking like Lava Tree State Park),is the creation of a largescale energy system to be developed which would use the tree as the prime-mover for fuel in a boiler system which would produce 660 volt AC, 3-phase electricity. A bagging system would insure no particulate escapes into the atmosphere ... the boiler's ash would be used in agriculture and an extrodinary amount of jobs would be created in all construction
trades,falling(logging),transporting,clerical,legal,security, administration et. al. (and of course kilowatt hour cost would eventually drop rather than esculate, which it is about to do now.
But, alas, our leaders arn't really leaders are they? Or this would never have become a problem of such magnitude.
So your are correct, ef9, it should be viewed as a weed, but a weed with tremendous economic potential and at some point the County and State needs to wake up and be driven from the industrial stone age they're languishing in by burning mostly bunker fuel for the production of electricity. What is needed is a local person (who's really a leader who's not afraid to be heard),to come forth and raise their voice over the government's inaction in this arena ... >because if it's not done soon, we're going to enter an ecological hell. We need cheap to [at least], moderately priced energy ... we need jobs for all these young adults graduating from the high schools each year, and we need to get this albizia infestation under control ... and most of all, we need leadership.
Ravy
here in Puna by this beautiful yet tremendously envasive plant.
I've talked to kapuna who say that they don't recall the tree anywhere before about 1970 to 1975 and look at where it is now. It's gone beyond the point where any reasonable person would admit that even a full-scale eradication process spearheaded by the government isn't possible, and the loss of endemic species in the rain forest is now underway,(simply drive to the lookout at the end of the road at the gravel pit across from the steam vents and you'll be shocked. There is a massive arm of Albizia streaching out of Black Sands Subdivision heading west into the rainforest chocking our native species.
The only way to save the environment here in Puna (and keep it from looking like Lava Tree State Park),is the creation of a largescale energy system to be developed which would use the tree as the prime-mover for fuel in a boiler system which would produce 660 volt AC, 3-phase electricity. A bagging system would insure no particulate escapes into the atmosphere ... the boiler's ash would be used in agriculture and an extrodinary amount of jobs would be created in all construction
trades,falling(logging),transporting,clerical,legal,security, administration et. al. (and of course kilowatt hour cost would eventually drop rather than esculate, which it is about to do now.
But, alas, our leaders arn't really leaders are they? Or this would never have become a problem of such magnitude.
So your are correct, ef9, it should be viewed as a weed, but a weed with tremendous economic potential and at some point the County and State needs to wake up and be driven from the industrial stone age they're languishing in by burning mostly bunker fuel for the production of electricity. What is needed is a local person (who's really a leader who's not afraid to be heard),to come forth and raise their voice over the government's inaction in this arena ... >because if it's not done soon, we're going to enter an ecological hell. We need cheap to [at least], moderately priced energy ... we need jobs for all these young adults graduating from the high schools each year, and we need to get this albizia infestation under control ... and most of all, we need leadership.
Ravy
Ravy