Department of Agriculture

For the third year in a row, HDOA plant quarantine inspectors are traveling to Oregon to observe the  harvesting and packing of Christmas trees and wreaths destined for Hawaii this holiday season.

Three crews of two inspectors will visit Christmas tree farms over three weeks to see what types of insects and critters may cause a problem if they hitchhike to Hawaii with the Christmas cargo.  Depending on the weather conditions, each year has different pests at various populations that are not known to occur in Hawaii such as wasps, slugs and other creatures.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has posted a story on the first HDOA crew arriving last week.

PQ inspectors Carrie Itoman and Noni Putman return on Nov. 7, Ronnie Harada and Mike Miyashiro left today  and Glenn Sakamoto, Theresa Manzano & Kent Dumlao leave on Nov. 10. Each crew will spend a week visiting farms.

When the trees arrive, inspectors from ODA will also arrive to see what shakes out of the trees.This program has been successful in reducing the number of pests arriving on Christmas trees, which decreases the cost of decontaminating shipments and rejecting shipments.cmas

Here’s a link to the ODA story:  https://odanews.wpengine.com/hawaii-says-aloha-to-pest-free-oregon-christmas-trees/