"A federal hold on funding could upend a novel approach to preventing mosquitoes from sending a number of Hawaiian bird species into extinction."
"A dramatic battle to save rare Honeycreeper birds that exist only in Hawaii is itself fighting for survival, as approved funding for an ongoing assault on avian malaria now is frozen by the Trump administration, according to state officials.
“The current federal funding situation remains uncertain, creating challenges for programs like ours. Ninety percent of our previously protected funding is currently frozen by the federal government,” according to an email Thursday from Hanna Mounce, manager of the Maui Forest Birds Recovery Project. The email was sent to stakeholders and potential donors and was obtained by National Parks Traveler.
The program, seen as a potential savior for bird species that had been on a short path to extinction, is a state, federal and local partnership focused in Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. In a massive attack on mosquitoes that transmit the disease, the project each week for the past 15 months has been releasing droves of male mosquitos that are incompatible with the region’s females, causing their eggs to fail."
Rita Beamish reports for National Parks Traveler February 27, 2025.
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