Once again the environmental scientist types are bragging of their successes in rearing captive alala and feeding them with hand-held puppets allegedly so the chicks “imprint” themselves to what looks like their natural mother. But, do these artificial crows and their human counterparts speak “alala”? According to these scientists, once these captive-bred alala “imprint” to their captive surroundings, they will ultimately be released to the wild. It is no secret that anyone can get straight A’s in the classroom but out in the real world, alala-la-la … good luck. I predict the reintroduction of alala into the wild will be another “F” for the Fish and Wildlife Service at the wasted expense of our tax dollars. Keep in mind; they will not let up brainwashing you because their paycheck depends on it.
In its Environmental Assessment to Congress to justify condemnation of a Hawaiian family’s 5,300 acres to “save” the alala from going extinct, FWS asserted said acreage to be prime habitat for the alala. Then these experts said the alala went extinct in the wild because of habitat destruction, introduced predators and avian disease. The Hawaiian family had a forest restoration program in effect that today, would be a showcase of Hawaiian reforestation the birds could be flourishing in. This reforestation effort was killed thanks to a lawsuit by the Sierra Club. Thus, the FWS has had possession of these 5,300 acres for the last 17 years and has done nothing to restore habitat, hence the alala went extinct … Grade “F”. Its destruction can be directly attributed to FWS ownership and wrongful condemnation.
Introduced predators are the introduced human, i.e., biologists, predators who climbed nest trees, grabbed nesting pairs to poke them with needles to draw blood samples, and interfered with nesting birds to reach under them to candle their eggs. Are these not intrusive predatory actions that would cause the parents to abandon eggs or trample their young because of human activity, scent, etc.? Twenty-seven of 29 captively bred young released into the wild from 1991-1997 turned up dead or missing. More than 90 percent of those found dead were determined to have died because of predation by the endangered Hawaiian hawk — a natural phenomenon. Why aren’t they “crowing” about these defeats on the front page? Who appointed these biologists God, to interfere with evolution while faulting the endemic human species? Grade “F”.
As for avian diseases, if the scientific community wants to be accepted in our Hawaiian ecosystem, why aren’t they spending our tax dollars ridding the islands of mosquitoes instead of talking about it for the past 41 years? Grade “F”.
The captive alala program is said to be a partnership with San Diego Zoo, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife and FWS. What a pity our DOFAW foresters have to operate with their hands tied behind their backs because of FWS subsidies. The FWS flexes its muscle, drives the cart, gets paid with our tax dollars, and does nothing but to tell the locals what we cannot do with our lands as if they are almighty and we are ignorant. DOFAW and the private sector that have spent generations growing up in the forests know more than these scientists will ever hope to know. Selfishness precludes them from being in a foreign environment and working with the locals, their lifestyle, culture and traditions — Grade “F”. Remember that paycheck.
A caution to all, expect more bragging, propaganda and brainwashing from the environmental community. Know the facts and the truth as the truth can only offend the guilty.
Bill Rosehill is a resident of Kailua-Kona.
Viewpoint articles are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of West Hawaii Today.