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Controlling the spread of coconut rhinoceros beetles, little fire ants and other pests is increasingly critical as people rebuild Lahaina and Upcountry Maui after the August fires, invasive species experts say.

They are especially concerned about the risk of bringing these unwanted hitchhikers to the Valley Isle through shipments of compost and mulch, which are needed to help plant life recover and prevent erosion from burn scars across thousands of acres.

Maui County lacks a government-run composting facility so the island relies on Oahu for the lion’s share. And unfortunately Oahu has become overrun by palm-killing rhinoceros beetles that nest and breed in compost and mulch, making the transport of such products a key pathway to other islands. 

Hawaii’s inadequate ability to control the movement of known and unknown pests between and within islands is fueling fears that a deluge of new pests into Maui will wreak havoc on reeling communities shipping in goods to help in the yearslong process of restoring burned landscapes and rebuilding Lahaina. 

Rhinoceros beetles are already spreading across the island chain and little fire ants are causing anxiety after being found in vehicles, pallets and untreated lumber on the Big Island and throughout Oahu’s Windward Coast. The issue has put the state Department of Agriculture’s pest management role under the microscope. 

The had serious concerns in the immediate aftermath of the fire that recovery efforts would leave the island vulnerable, according to public relations and education specialist Lissa Strohecker. 

“Unless we’re moving in a safe way and being very conscious and aware, it’s not going to facilitate recovery,” Strohecker said. “It’s just going to, you know, spread destruction.”

Since May, CRB has found its way to Kauai, Maui and the Big Island after almost a decade of containment on Oahu.

The scarab beetle has also been found to target more than palm trees, which has come to be a serious concern for the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, according to rare plant program coordinator Matthew Keir.

“CRB is one of the worst things that I’ve seen in my 25 years working with native plants.”

Matthew Keir of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife

“Loulu, our native fan palms, are being killed by CRB on Oahu and we fully expect that to happen on all the islands if it’s not controlled,” Keir said.

Meanwhile four of Hawaii’s most popular crops — bananas, coconut palms, kalo and hala (pandan) — are in the beetles’ crosshairs too.

“There are not four more iconic Polynesian plants that we don’t want to lose,” Keir said. “CRB is one of the worst things that I’ve seen in my 25 years working with native plants.”

Revising The Rules

The spread of CRB across the state and invasion of little fire ants on Oahu has this year underscored the public’s fears that without proper regulation of the plant nursery industry, the state is at the whim of invasive species.

A state Senate briefing was called late last month to clarify the state Department of Agriculture’s process in implementing rules that it had almost finalized but later withdrew earlier this year. The rules would effectively give them more power to stop pest-infested nurseries from trading infested products. The DOA did an about-turn on the withdrawal because of the public outcry.

An interim rule could be put in place as soon as January to stem the spread of little fire ants, while the public input period — the final stage of the rule-making process — will being that same month, according to DOA.

At the briefing, West Maui Sen. Angus McKelvey raised his island’s acute vulnerability to invasive species ahead of the “flurry” of goods that would be brought to the island to rebuild and restore affected areas.

Plant material such as compost is seen as a key pathway for invasive species globally, but pests travel in several other ways too.

But monitoring non-agricultural shipments coming into Hawaii and between and within islands is something the DOA is neither sufficiently funded or staffed to do, DOA Chair Sharon Hurd told lawmakers last month.

The long-known gap was identified at least as far back as 2016, in the .

Hawaii Invasive Species Council planner Chelsea Arnott said that the DOA’s inability to regulate the interisland movement of non-agricultural commodities was a “huge hole.”

“They need to get that authority and then they definitely would need to build up capacity to take on that additional task of inspecting non-agricultural commodities,” Arnott said in an interview.

DOA Deputy Chair Dexter Kishida said that current controls over the movement of non-agricultural products currently relies upon partnering with the businesses working out of the ports, who would report sightings and deal with the issue.

That partnership extends to building materials and other paraphernalia too, he added.

“One of the discussions that we have started is to have more formal relationships and articulations of roles and responsibilities for this work,” Kishida said in an interview.

DOA recognizes the myriad pathways for new and already established invasive species, Kishida said, but properly addressing them would require more inspectors — DOA has 80 inspectors for the entire state.

For the agency to cover everything from cars and pallets to plant materials, it would “roughly” require close to 400 staff, Kishida said.

“Hawaii Grown” is funded in part by grants from Ulupono Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

Civil Beat’s coverage of climate change is supported by The Healy Foundation, the Environmental Funders Group of the Hawaii Community Foundation, Marisla Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation.