Bill Text: HI SB2566 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To The Rose-ringed Parakeet.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-15 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to WAM. [SB2566 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SB2566-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2566
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to the rose-ringed parakeet.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The rose-ringed parakeet, Psittacula krameri, is one of the most widespread invasive birds on the planet.  In the United States, established populations occur in Florida, Hawaii, and southern California.  In its native range of Africa and India, this bird is considered to be one of the most significant agricultural pests of important food crops.  In Hawaii, the rose-ringed parakeet population has been particularly damaging on Kauai, where its population has been growing exponentially.  Although the first pair of rose-ringed parakeets were introduced in Kauai in the 1960s, the population was estimated at one hundred fifty to two hundred birds by 1994; five hundred to one thousand birds by the late 2000s, and over two thousand birds by 2011.  The current number on Kauai is unknown, but observations suggest over five thousand birds.

     The rose-ringed parakeet poses a significant threat to local economies (through agricultural damage to lychee, longan, rambutan and other crops), ecology (through invasive seed dispersal and competition with native wildlife), and human health and safety (through potential spread of disease).  On Kauai, the rose-ringed parakeet causes more crop damage than all other birds and mammals.

     Kauai residents have complained about the noise from the rose-ringed parakeet calls, feces spread below roosts, damage to local gardens and orchards, and loss of business profits and tourism.  The rose-ringed parakeet is also a potential vector of various pathogens and diseases (e.g., Avian Influenza, Avian Malaria, salmonella) that could be passed to humans, pets, and native wildlife.

     The legislature finds that Act 31, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, appropriated $75,000 to the department of land and natural resources to support research on damage mitigation and population reduction strategies, to be carried out by the United States Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center in Hilo.  This initial appropriation will be used to hire a director for the study, support a review of existing damage mitigation tools, identify potential new tools for evaluation, develop stakeholder-specific guidelines for damage control to farmers, ranchers, tourism operators, and homeowners, and establish protocols for pilot studies to evaluate the most promising control tools.

     The legislature further finds that additional funding will be required to complete evaluation studies and carry out the second phase of the project: conducting pilot field studies to evaluate control tools and developing a management plan to reduce populations of the rose-ringed parakeet on Kauai.  This process will include tracking and mapping populations and field assessment of population reduction methods.

     The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the department of land and natural resources to provide assistance and funding to the National Wildlife Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture to continue its efforts to manage the population of rose-ringed parakeets on the island of Kauai.

     SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $284,011 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the department of land and natural resources to assist and fund the National Wildlife Research Center of the United States Department of Agriculture in its efforts to:

     (1)  Establish protocols for pilot studies to evaluate the most promising control tools;

     (2)  Conduct up to three field trials of the most promising control tools to evaluate efficacy and practicality;

     (3)  Update rose-ringed parakeet habitat uses, daily dispersal patterns, and overall range on Kauai;

     (4)  Develop an effective control plan for reducing the rose-ringed parakeet population on Kauai; and

     (5)  Implement an experimental rose-ringed parakeet population reduction as a practical evaluation of the control plan.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2018.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Rose-ringed Parakeet; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates funds to the department of land and natural resources to provide assistance and supplemental funding to the National Wildlife Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to conduct pilot field studies to evaluate control tools and develop a management plan to reduce the rose-ringed parakeet population on Kauai.

 

 

 

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