Help with pigs
Regarding the pigs in Hilo (“The problem of feral pigs,” Tribune-Herald, Dec. 25): We need to apply pressure to have the Department of Land and Natural Resources and county government quit making excuses and remove the pigs from Hilo town now, while they are young and docile.
There are guys to hire to remove the pigs. Spend our tax dollars to be useful to citizens.
We have to pay to set traps in the neighborhood.
William King
Hilo
Military mess
I read with interest the “Volcano Watch” article in your Nov. 19 edition about the unique volcanic nature of the Saddle region of Hawaii Island, but the author of the article was careful to avoid the elephant in the room: the effects of military training at Pohakuloa Training Area on that fragile environment.
I have asked the current commander of PTA if he was aware of any study of the effects of their training on this unique volcanic structure, and he said he was not aware of one. Maybe I am alone in my appreciation of this area of Hawaii Island, but I do not think it is responsible to continue training there unless the potential consequences of that training are fully understood.
When I was examining a document from the environmental impact statement process that the Stryker project initiated, I saw a reference to the scope of the EIS and among them was impacts to natural resources, including sensitive geologic areas.
The land beneath PTA is shared by three distinct volcanoes at different stages of development, with unique chemical compositions. This creates a situation that is probably as extraordinary as any on our planet, with an ecosystem that reflects it. The Saddle region is undoubtedly a sensitive geologic region, as well as an important part of the cultural landscape, and the entire area should be considered a bird sanctuary.
If the U.S. military is ever going to be serious about promoting peace instead of endless war, they need to clean up the mess they create wherever they go, and what better place to begin that process than PTA?
Geoffrey Shaw
Keaau