Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)

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Plant Crew – April/May 2020

Posted on May 27, 2020 by MISC

Remote East Maui – where the crew searches for pampas grass while practicing physical distancing. Photo credit Allison Smith.

The Piʻiholo and Hāna based plant crews are prioritizing plant control work in remote locations accessible by ground while remote camping trips accessible only by helicopter remain suspended. Areas that plant control crew are surveying include the upcountry/front country of Haleakalā, Pu’u o Kali, and the Hāna Highway corridor.

The American Conservation Experience (ACE) interns working in Hāna ceased operations as a precaution once national, state, and local shutdowns began. They plan to return to keep working on miconia control in and around the Hāna Highway once it is safe to do so.

Filed Under: Update Tagged With: April/May 2020, plant field crew

MoMISC – April/May 2020

Posted on May 27, 2020 by MISC

Among other tasks, the Mo/MISC crew is working on species that can be addressed while maintaining physical distancing like surveying for the invasive Australian Tree Fern, as demonstrated in this photo from 2019.

The crew of the Molokai/Maui Invasive Species Committee has adjusted fieldwork to reflect the Covid-19 guidelines: starting in April, they check- in on Zoom, rather than in person.  Staff completed online training and learning new skills through webinars from presenters across the state while all the necessary PPE was being obtained. Fast forward to May and things are starting to look a little brighter (and sweatier). Thanks to MISC staff and volunteers, MoMISC was able to get the PPE needed to resume some types of fieldwork. The MoMISC staff have identified several target species that can be worked on while keeping compliant with current safe working guidelines. After updating procedures, the crew is back in the field surveying for coconut rhinoceros beetle (not yet detected outside Oʻahu)  and tracking down infestations of rubber vine and Australian tree ferns, all activities that can be done while maintaining social distancing guidelines.  

On Molokai, one major impact of Covid-19 was that it highlighted the island’s food security vulnerabilities. One outcome is a renewed enthusiasm for home gardening among residents. In recognizing this, MoMISC outreach will be submitting press releases to the local newspaper that highlight invasive species as a major threat to both food security and agriculture and provide helpful tips for home gardeners on making conscientious planting choices, exchanging plants, and suggestions for sourcing material for the home.

Filed Under: Update Tagged With: April/May 2020, MoMISC

Little Fire Ants – April/May 2020

Posted on May 27, 2020 by MISC

Since April and through May, the MISC little fire ant crew has been working on the following surveys and treatment: 

  • Nāhiku: helicopter treatments five and six of eight.
  • Twin Falls: treatment three of eight.
  • Waiheʻe Valley:  treatment four of eight.
  • Lahinaluna High School: second treatment out of eight.
  • Huelo/Haʻikū monitoring survey: no ants found
  • Happy Valley: in the first post-treatment survey, no ants were found, though areas immediately adjacent to homes were not surveyed to adhere to physical distancing guidelines. The next survey will happen in mid – August.  If ants are detected, these “hot spots” will be treated.
  • Kaʻelekū: surveys (and ants detected) in small pockets. These hot-spots will be treated. 
  • Waiheʻe Farm: no ants detected at the first known infestation on Maui. 
  • Twin Falls: surveys downstream planned. 
  • Waiheʻe Valley: surveys downstream planned.

Interspersed with many of these treatments and surveys is a hefty amount of trail maintenance.   The upkeep of these trails is labor-intensive but helps ensure the effectiveness of MISC’s surveying and treatment efforts.

MISC has added capacity to the LFA crew. In March, Miki’ala Pua’a-Freitas became full-time and Betsy Black joined the team.  Miki’ala is a farmer and beekeeper, and Betsy was most recently an Interpretive Ranger at Haleakalā National Park. They join Monte Tudor-Long, the crew leader, and Joe Brower based in Hāna to bring the crew size to four. 

You can help! Community surveys and reports are a key step to keep little fire ants from becoming established in Maui County. Protect our community while staying safe at home: survey your yard for little fire ants today

Filed Under: Update Tagged With: April/May 2020, little fire ant

Coqui – April/May 2020

Posted on May 27, 2020 by MISC

Kayani Singh, Teri Green, and Scott Winter following physical distancing guidelines while searching for coqui. Photo by Megan Archibald

As preparations were being made for MISC’s coqui crew to safely do fieldwork during Covid-19, the field crew had the opportunity to have an extended experience of MISC’s “Coqui College.” Utilizing virtual meetings, the crew met daily in video and voice chat rooms. They created site response plans, trained new staff, and watched selected presentations from prior Hawai’i Conservation Conferences. Our current crew includes Abe Vandenberg, Coqui Crew Coordinator; Darrell Aquino and Scott Winter, Field Crew Leaders; and Megan Archibald, Teri Green, and Kayani Singh, Field Crew. MISC is currently hiring additional staff. 

Additionally, MISC’s new Coqui Community Engagement Coordinator, Susan Frett, joined Beth Speith on the coqui community project in early March. While unable to engage directly with community members in person due to Covid-19, they developed and implemented an online questionnaire to determine how MISC could further empower community members to control coqui frogs in their yards. Susan and Beth collected, analyzed, and are now following up on feedback to improve the community program going forward. 

Based in part on questionnaire responses, the crew has been out hunting down single frogs, doing habitat work, and spraying smaller amounts of citric to tackle outlying single frogs and small populations. One response alerted the crew to a previously unknown small pocket of frogs in a challenging wildland location. This area likely expanded from a known population of frogs in Haʻikū and is now being controlled. The resident who initially reported this infestation sent this update: “I woke up at 3 am and took a moment to listen outside. I didn’t hear any coqui! I will listen again this evening. Mahalo to you and the crew!”

For a full report on what we learned from the questionnaire please check out this blog post: Results from the coqui community engagement questionnaire

At the same time, the coqui community team has been busy empowering residents to control coqui on their own. The team is distributing citric acid use for frog control using the no contact food delivery model. Between April 17th and May 9th, MISC staff delivered 633 pounds of citric to 17 separate locations around Haʻikū so residents can control coqui in their own yards. Citric deliveries will be available for as long as the MISC baseyard remains closed to the public. Small (1.28 lb) and large (50 lb) bags are available for residents to use in their own yards. Please get in touch with Susan at (808) 633-6646 or skfrett@hawaii.edu to request citric if needed.

No Contact Citric Delivery
No-contact citric delivery, May 2020

As the weather continues to warm into the summer months the frogs will be more vocal. Please let us know what you are hearing especially if you hear them in a new area. We cannot always respond to reports right away but do prioritize responding to reports of frogs in new areas. Please report if you hear frogs where you haven’t heard them before. As this Maui resident said, “this neighborhood does not have coqui frogs YET.  If I were to hear one or more I would immediately inform my neighbors and urge ACTION!” Thanks for your enthusiasm! 

Report coqui frogs using the MISC Coqui Report form.

Community reporting alerted MISC and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to coqui frogs at a larger nursery in central Maui in mid-May. Check out the story on our blog!

Filed Under: Community Program Updates, Update Tagged With: April/May 2020, community coqui control program, coqui frog crew

Outreach – April/May 2020

Posted on May 27, 2020 by MISC

Physical distancing has prompted a shift to online outreach, including the Maui Mauka Conservation Awareness Training program.

In the increasingly virtual world of meetings and presentations, the  Maui Mauka Conservation Awareness Training went online.   This collaborative environmental education training from the East Maui Watershed Partnership, the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, and Maui Invasive Species Committee was first offered online to 80 Maui conservation field crew. Additionally, the MMCAT team offered a training tailored for high school students and a standard tour guide training featuring Maggie Pulver from the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC). The next online Maui Mauka Conservation Awareness Training is on May 21, and will feature guest speaker Melissa Price talking about the pueo, or Hawaiian short-eared owl (Asio flammeus sandwichensis). 

Some community events went online and MISC outreach staff participated in the first-ever virtual Maui Earth Day Event on 4/26.  The monthly MISC column in the Maui News featured an article about activities island residents can do from their backyards to protect Maui and the May submission discussed host-specificity as it applies to biological control.

MISC was featured in the New York University Scienceline editorial called Fighting for an Island based on the work done by the program to control little fire ants on Maui both from the ground and air by helicopter. Litte fire ant control efforts were also featured in a story by Vice News that came out in late May:
Fire Ants Are Invading Hawaii, so Helicopters Are Blasting Them With Birth Control.

Filed Under: Update Tagged With: April/May 2020, Outreach

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Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)
Office: (808) 573-6472
Press and Media Inquiries: (808) 344-2756
Mailing Address:
PO Box 983, Makawao, HI 96768

Acting Manager / Public Relations: Lissa Strohecker
E-mail: miscpr@hawaii.edu

Special Projects: Teya Penniman
E-mail: miscmgr@hawaii.edu

Statewide Pest Hotline: 808-643-PEST
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