Big Island News: Public Meetings for Proposed Strawberry Guava Biocontrol

The Forest Service is hosting a series of open house meetings to exchange information with the community about a proposed biocontrol for strawberry guava. Last year, we submitted a draft Environmental Assessment for this project, and we had a lot of community interest. All comments we received have been carefully reviewed and we are in the process of preparing a new draft Environmental Assessment.

The upcoming open house meetings will provide opportunities to learn more about native forest, invasive weeds, weed control, and biocontrol. Attendees will be able to discuss their concerns directly with experienced land managers, scientists, and cultural experts. There will also be an opportunity to provide written comments for consideration in the preparation of the new draft Environmental Assessment.

We hope that you can join us for the meeting nearest you! Once the new draft Environmental Assessment is published, there will be an additional 30-day comment period, so if you can't make it to a meeting, there will be another opportunity to provide your input. Further information can be found on our website,
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/ipif/strawberryguava/ .

The meetings are open from 5:30 to 7:30, and you may come in at any time during those hours as is convenient for you.



* Hawaii Island, Hilo—on Thursday, May 14, at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Room UCB 127 (the glass room); and

* Hawaii Island, Kona—on Monday, May 18, at NELHA Gateway Center, Kailua-Kona (near the Kona airport).

Mahalo for your time and interest!


Frances Kinslow

Phone: ext. 201