PD BACKGROUND REPORT (PL-SPP-2022-000010)

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County of Hawaii Department of Planning Parcel 3-1-6-045-007-0000 Applicants Roy and Stephanie Bath 3G Floral and faunal resources Illegal overgrazing and bulldozing prior to our acquisition of the parcel introduced numerous invasives and impacted the ohia. The parcel was once home to ohia, hapu'u, pili grass and uluhei. Many ohia have perished. Rapid ohia death has taken more. (Thankfully some of the ohia previously thought to be lost are now sprouting new growth. We are hopeful this trend will continue.) Kukui(Aleurites moluccan us),hap u'u(Cibotium splendens),ti(Cordyline minalis), clumping bamboos, fruit trees, and a variety of other ornamentals have been introduced to create privacy screens masking undesirable views of adjacent parcels. These planting are being used as plant propagation stock for nursery operations.Reintroduction of native species is occurring. Recently the Australian big horned beetle has arriving impacting on site kukui. Jordan Zanders, Forest Entomology technician, UHH Hilo has visited the parcel, done a damage assessment, and advised us on mitigating this invasive creatures impact. One of the most massive ongoing tasks underway has been the manual removal of Costers curse (Clidemia hirta), pilau maile(Paederia foetida) and other aggressive invasives. At this time we are allowing some of the mature strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) to remain as a food source, natural buffer and source of shade. We are keeping on top of new seedlings and removing them. Bum bai this species will be eliminated as other fruit trees and alternative plantings mature. Lawn areas have been created. There are cardinals, finches,`lo, doves, pueo, hwamei, majuro, Kolea, mynah birds, bats, snake worms, red wigglers and other earthworms, an occasional mongoose, skinks, toads, chameleons, geckos, coquis, butterflies, our own honeybees and other insects to numerous to mention. Little fire ants have been in the neighborhood for years. We are fortunate that they have not taken dramatic hold at our place. We keep on top of it. There have been active signs of bovine which are currently not present. There has been cyclical evidence of feral pigs. As mentioned more recently the Australian big horned beetle has arrived.