Property owners beware!
Get ready to have a bite taken out of your piece of paradise -- literally.
The USDA Forest Service, with the complicity of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) and the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), is planning the release of an alien insect pest that will attack strawberry guava trees. That's right, the agencies that are charged with keeping insect pests out of Hawaii are proposing to introduce a strawberry guava pest, and as soon as this summer. They want to spread the pest statewide, eventually infesting every strawberry guava tree. The bug severely damages the leaves producing disfiguring, unsightly galls, which also stops the trees from making fruit.
If you enjoy strawberry guava trees on your property for their ornamental and fruit value, as thousands of residents do, then the proposed release of this insect pest will cause you property damage by irreversibly harming your plants. Once released there will be no turning back. To protect private trees from their introduced pest, the government suggests we should use pesticides, which is hard to imagine for large stands of guava. And if you get tired of spraying and of looking at ugly, barren, infested plants, we are being told to change our landscaping and bring in new, native trees.
Why is the strawberry guava, which as been a cherished resource in Hawaii for generations, now being attacked by the government? It has to do with concern for the forests. Strawberry guava has been in Hawaii for 180 years, and was planted by forestry officials a century ago to stop soil erosion. Now, the thrifty plant has spread to native forest areas, and the Forest Service wants to slow its spread by eliminating the fruit with this insect pest attack -- even if it damages the plants in your backyard.
Of course, this attacks your property rights, too. Weeding the forests of strawberry guava should not prevent people from enjoying their plants on their private property. The government will effectively be releasing an invasive plant pest onto your property and should, therefore, be liable for damages and expenses you incur in mitigating this damage. And it's hard to put a value on losing strawberry guava jam, a Hawaii tradition for nearly 200 years.
Most alarming, however, is the precedent that this sets. Are we to allow the government to rob us of the use and enjoyment of a beneficial, agricultural plant? Is the loss of one's rights an acceptable price to pay for environmental management? The government needs to protect the forests, but it also needs to protect our property rights.
If you would like to be kept informed of future lawsuits to recover from damages to your trees caused by this insect pest, then send us your contact information and we will put you on our list.