05-22-2008, 05:27 PM
To Damon,
I am not sure if you really want answers to your questions. If you are open to reason, I'm willing to talk, but if your mind is already made up, then I can not help you.
Respectfully,
Kim
PS: I have no vested interest other than what was stated in my official comment. I know a little about it because I have educated myself about the subject, and made it my life's work to control invasive species.
You mentioned Coqui frogs earlier, I control them too. Sure, it's after the fact, but why do you assume HDOA is to blame? We don't pay enough taxes for our government to be pro-active, just reactive.
I want all waiawi in Hawaii to wither and die because the alternative is that it that it will eventually be the dominant forest tree, replacing ohia as the old ones die. It does not allow new ohia (or anything else) to grow in the same space. Strawberry guava is worse than Miconia, and it's going to win, unless we use every SAFE (by stringent test standards), tool available.
I know waiawi up front and personal. Have you ever had to try to catch a Coqui, while climbing on a thick spaghetti matte of strawberry guava trees ... in the rain ... and suddenly finding out that you're ten feet or more above the ground and about to eat dirt or sprain a leg?
There is no magic bullet to make all the waiawi disappear overnight, or even over a period of decades. If someone said there were I WOULDN'T trust it. This little scale is meant to be more or less benign, very specific to strawberry guava. As far as insect evolution goes, it's common knowledge, every crop has it's own pests. Ask any farmer. It's likely nobody will even notice it for at least another decade. (who even pays attention to trees anymore?) If it eats all of it's host, it will likely die out. I know that word is a red flag to you, but research exists to back up the claim, and it looks really very good. Please read the info in the appendix.
I'm not hiding the fact that I know some of the scientists involved, and so I knew the research was going on before it was done. It's a small advantage of staying in the loop, the info is out there to be found, if one looks. (try HEAR.ORG for starters)
Another message metioned albizia ... "why isn't anyone doing anything about that?" Again, uninformed. People are doing something about that too.
I am not sure if you really want answers to your questions. If you are open to reason, I'm willing to talk, but if your mind is already made up, then I can not help you.
Respectfully,
Kim
PS: I have no vested interest other than what was stated in my official comment. I know a little about it because I have educated myself about the subject, and made it my life's work to control invasive species.
You mentioned Coqui frogs earlier, I control them too. Sure, it's after the fact, but why do you assume HDOA is to blame? We don't pay enough taxes for our government to be pro-active, just reactive.
I want all waiawi in Hawaii to wither and die because the alternative is that it that it will eventually be the dominant forest tree, replacing ohia as the old ones die. It does not allow new ohia (or anything else) to grow in the same space. Strawberry guava is worse than Miconia, and it's going to win, unless we use every SAFE (by stringent test standards), tool available.
I know waiawi up front and personal. Have you ever had to try to catch a Coqui, while climbing on a thick spaghetti matte of strawberry guava trees ... in the rain ... and suddenly finding out that you're ten feet or more above the ground and about to eat dirt or sprain a leg?
There is no magic bullet to make all the waiawi disappear overnight, or even over a period of decades. If someone said there were I WOULDN'T trust it. This little scale is meant to be more or less benign, very specific to strawberry guava. As far as insect evolution goes, it's common knowledge, every crop has it's own pests. Ask any farmer. It's likely nobody will even notice it for at least another decade. (who even pays attention to trees anymore?) If it eats all of it's host, it will likely die out. I know that word is a red flag to you, but research exists to back up the claim, and it looks really very good. Please read the info in the appendix.
I'm not hiding the fact that I know some of the scientists involved, and so I knew the research was going on before it was done. It's a small advantage of staying in the loop, the info is out there to be found, if one looks. (try HEAR.ORG for starters)
Another message metioned albizia ... "why isn't anyone doing anything about that?" Again, uninformed. People are doing something about that too.