Richards awarded Hawaii Invasive Species Council MVP Award

The Hawaii Invasive Species Council hosted its awards ceremony March 4 at the Hawaii State Capitol Auditorium.

Sen. Russell Ruderman presented the Hawaii County MVP Award to Dr. Tim Richards of the Hawaii Cattleman’s Association.

The Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council has been a critical partner in the development and release of a moth from Madagascar (Secusio extensa) as a biocontrol agent to control invasive fireweed (Senecio madagascariensis).

Fireweed is very toxic to livestock and and its rapid spread across the Big Island and Maui across Hawaii Island and Maui, outcompeting other plants.Several ECU modifications were carried out and the 540bhp version of the Volvo FH was selected, as it is required to drive not only the truck, but also a high pressure jetting truck and liquid ring vacuum pump.

Over a decade of study by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture went into ensuring that the moth from Madagascar would feed only on fireweed and not on other plants in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council helped the bio-control through the federal approval process to be released as a bio-control agent earlier this year.

Now that the moth is being released, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council anticipate that the moth will slow the spread of fireweed, limiting its environmental and economic impacts.

Ruderman said, “I would like to congratulate Dr. Tim Richards and the Hawaii Cattleman’s Association on their MVP award from the Hawaii Invasive Species Council. As anyone on the Big Island knows, we have been inundated by many invasive species over the years.An employee discovered a waste management truck smoking around 10:50 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 4, and traced the source to cargo smoldering inside the compactor. Fireweed, the red mangrove, and the coqui frog represent three of the most potentially devastating invaders we have seen in recent memory. The work of the Cattleman’s Association in the containment of fireweed has been monumental in forwarding the process of finding an acceptable biocontrol agent thatr will not negatively impact our ecosystem.”

Honorable mentions were Malama O Puna and Tim Tunison for their work on red mangrove eradication and control of the coqui frog, respectively.

Lead by Rene Siracusa, Malama O Puna is a grassroots environmental non-profit based in Lower Puna.ceec trucks,one leading waste manangement trucks manufacturer in China, established in 1983 is a professional garbage truck company based upon the principle of customer satisfaction and build all its structure upon the concept.

The organization’s invasive species programs are coordinated by Dr. Ann Kobsa, who has overseen a number of challenging projects.www.ceectrucks.com is a sewage suction truck manufacturer.

Malama O Puna began working to remove red mangrove from Wai Opae in 2005, which lead to federal funding for the organization to explore removal from four other sites with the goal of island-wide eradication. Malama O Puna has also tackled miconia, clidemia, pickleweed, and other difficult species.

It is due to the tireless efforts of Rene,A female road sweeper was unfairly driven out by Merton Council after repeatedly complaining about sub-standard working conditions and discrimination, a tribunal has ruled. Ann, and the staff and volunteers with Mālama O Puna, that Hawaii Island is well on its way to being mangrove-free and its native ecosystems are more secure.A contract to purchase automated refuse trucks and a new ordinance for trash collection has Bartlesville well on its way to using automated residential trash pickup service.