APHIS Wildlife Services in Hawaii/Brown Tree Snake Control ($2,000,000)
The requested funding would be used to support Wildlife Services operations in Hawaii and Guam, particularly focusing on preventing the Brown Tree Snake from entering Hawaii.
This agency fills a void in the Pacific Island area where there is limited expertise available to deal with vertebrate pest problems over large geographic areas. A key part of the operations program is to prevent movement of Brown Tree Snakes from Guam to Hawaii. The Brown Tree Snake has devastated Guam’s endemic bird species; its introduction into Hawaii, with its rich biodiversity and large number of endangered bird species that exist nowhere else on earth, would be an ecological disaster.
The agency also administers the only research organization dedicated to managing vertebrate pests in the region through its National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) Hilo Field Station. Although the primary activity of this Center initially focused on rodent control in macadamia nut and tropical fruit orchards, the scope of activities has expanded broadly to development of controls for other pests such as the coqui frog and alien bird populations.
The huge troop build-up in Guam, to offset a reduction of troops in Okinawa, will further increase the risk of Brown Tree Snake introduction into Hawaii and other subtropical areas of the United States.
Recipient: USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
3375 Koapaka Street, Suite H420
Honolulu, HI 96819
Why this is a good use of taxpayer dollars: The project will protect Hawaii's unique biodiversity by helping to prevent entry of the Brown Tree Snake, which would doom Hawaii's endangered native birds to extinction.
