Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 375, the Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2025.

The ohia lehua tree forms the backbone of Hawaii's forest and watersheds making up 80 percent of our native forests. It is the very first tree that you will see spring up from a recent lava flow. It grows from sea level to 8,000 feet above, and it protects our communities by literally holding up our mountains from eroding, keeping them together.

Ohia lehua also provides critical habitat for Hawaii's federally endangered forest birds and many culturally important species.

These trees are a keystone species in Hawaii's forest, and it is catastrophic to see its decline. It has the potential to trigger major imbalances in our ecosystem that would impact watersheds, cultural traditions, natural resources, and the safety and quality of life of our people.

Because of the vital role they play in maintaining Hawaii's forest canopies and watersheds, rapid ohia death, or ROD, poses an existential threat to the ecological balance of our islands and the everyday life of our people.

Initially reported in 2010, ROD has already spread to tens of thousands of acres and killed over a million trees on Hawaii island alone. If you visited the Big Island of Hawaii where our volcano erupts from time to time, literally, we have lost a million trees just on that island. Large swaths of dead ohia trees leave environments more prone to habitat-modifying noxious weeds and trees like miconia and strawberry guava, all of which are known to harm watershed health and alter ecosystem functions.

Efforts to contain ROD have also failed to prevent its spread to the islands of Oahu, Kauai, and Maui. With no known cure for ROD, it has the potential to kill off ohia trees statewide and devastate our island ecosystems.

In addition to its impacts on delicate native ecosystems, ROD has the potential to create deadly consequences for our local residents and visitors alike. The death of tens of thousands of acres of native forests, turning them into brittle tinder, creates acres of deadly fire fuel for wildfires that pose a growing threat to our communities. One of the things that people love about Hawaii is the greenery and the vegetation in and around our communities. Tragically, we know all too well the risks that come when our greenery and vegetation are no longer green and the consequences that can happen as a result of fire.

Despite the dire implications of ROD on Hawaii's natural resources and communities, Federal support for combating ROD has been extremely limited. For example, the Lyon Arboretum, a local research facility on Oahu, relied on funding through a GoFundMe campaign to further the vital seed banking for ohia lehua.

My bill, the Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act, seeks to address ROD and the urgent threat that it presents. The bill requires the Department of the Interior to partner and collaborate with the Department of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address ROD. It also supports ongoing detection, prevention, and restoration efforts to combat rapid ohia death. By empowering the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fully assist the State of Hawaii in its ROD efforts, we can begin to not only more effectively prevent the spread of ROD but move to restoring native forests throughout our State.

Mr. Speaker, I very much thank and send our sincerest ``mahalos,'' ``thanks'' to Chairman Westerman, Ranking Member Huffman, and their staff, especially the Federal lands team, for the support, assistance, and continued prioritization of this very important bill.

We cannot afford to wait. We cannot afford to stand alone and continue to lose our native forests in Hawaii. They protect and sustain our people and provide critical habitat for native species. This bill can also help to turn the tide in the fight against Rapid Ohia Death and, in doing so, protect and preserve ohia lehua and Hawaii's unique ecosystems for our future generations.

Mr. Speaker, I thank again all who have supported our bill, and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes.''

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