Among proposed appropriations outlined in a state House budget bill is nearly $2 million to help combat rapid ohia death throughout Hawaii.
House Bill 1600, which passed its final reading in the House on Wednesday, includes $1.7 million for the Department of Land and Natural Resources for various programs to mitigate the spread of the fungus that causes rapid ohia death.
“That the House agrees that this is a priority issue is a great sign,” said Rep. David Tarnas (D-North and South Kohala, North Kona), a co-introducer of HB 1769, which outlines how the funds would be allocated within DLNR.
Rapid ohia death is caused largely by the fungus Ceratocystis lukuohia, and has killed more than a million ohia on the Big Island alone. The fungus can linger for months inside a tree, but when outwardly visible symptoms appear, death will inevitably follow within weeks.
Animals or the wind can then carry material from infected trees that can then spread the fungus to other trees.
“The fungus has been detected on Kauai, so the spread is already happening,” Tarnas said. “So we need to do something now to keep it contained.”
Tarnas explained that the funds would be split among four separate DLNR initiatives: surveying, applied research, animal removal and public outreach.
Animal removal within fenced areas would receive the lion’s share of the funding, $900,000, Tarnas said.
Ungulates such as wild pigs can wound trees, creating an opening for the fungus to infect the ohia. A University of Hawaii study in 2021 found that rates of rapid ohia death in an ohia forest skyrocketed after wild pigs breached a protective fence.
Surveying and research would each get $350,000. Tarnas said the surveying funds would pay for helicopter overflights to monitor the spread of the disease.
The remaining $100,000 would be spent on public outreach programs to educate people about how they can mitigate the disease’s spread.
The proposed appropriation is less than what the DLNR requested in a January report, where the department concluded it needed $2.25 million to properly combat the disease. In particular, that report concluded that fencing, animal control and possibly seeding forests with genetically fungus-resistant ohia might be the best options for combating the disease on the Big Island.
Meanwhile, the DLNR report said it is imperative that survey efforts are funded to ensure that the disease does not spread from Hawaii Island or Kauai to any of the other islands.
HB 1769 received universal support during its House committee hearings, with individuals and state agencies alike touting ohia’s ecological and cultural value.
“(Rapid ohia death) is one of the most challenging and heartbreaking issues that we have ever worked on,” wrote Christy Martin, program manager for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species before a committee hearing Wednesday. “There has never been a successful eradication of a fungal disease in natural areas, and the focus must be on protecting the forests we have, and finding ways to perpetuate disease-resistant ohia. … Managing this rapid conversion of native forest to weeds will need to be the focus of biological control programs and restoration work in the near future.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.