HomeMy WebLinkAboutMetzler, Glenn
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:G Metz <metzeco@gmail.com>
Sent:Saturday, July 18, 2026 12:57 PM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:Testimony or Res. 603-26
Aloha,
My name is Glenn Metzler from Keaau and I STRONGLY SUPPORT Resolu?on 603-26, urging the Department of
Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) to fully implement the interim “emergency” coconut rhinoceros beetle
(CRB) rules for West Hawaiʻi, adopted by the Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity (BAB) in March.
The CRB situa?on on Hawaiʻi Island is dire and real emergency. With CRB detec?ons in a region that now stretches from
Waikōloa to Keauhou, we must do everything we can to stop or slow its spread - before it is too late. As outlined in the
resolu?on, the need for much more ?mely ac?on by DAB has been and con?nues to be a cri?cal gap in this all-hands-on-
deck effort.
DAB’s months-long delays in advancing regula?ons to mi?gate high-risk vectors, such as businesses selling po?ed plants
and other CRB host material, has contributed significantly to the current crisis.
Now, DAB’s con?nued delay in implemen?ng these interim rules, adopted in March, is leaving the en?re island at daily
risk of becoming the next CRB-infested region.
The stakes are extremely high, and the threat is imminent. While the drier condi?ons in West Hawaiʻi s?ll give us a
chance to contain this devasta?ng pest, should breeding popula?ons of CRB be established in places like Hilo, Puna, or
anywhere else with high levels of vegeta?on, containment and eradica?on may quickly become impossible. The
meaningful implementa?on and enforcement of DAB’s interim rules will give us the best chance at preven?ng such an
outcome.
Please help us avoid the tragic consequences now unfolding on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi, where CRB has become established
a?er years of DAB inac?on. Please pass this resolu?on and its common sense, extremely reasonable call for DAB to treat
our CRB situa?on as the emergency it
is: by designa?ng a dedicated staff point of contact for the rules, raising public awareness of their requirements, and
enforcing their provisions as necessary.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to tes?fy.
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