Inspector cuts endanger Hawaii farms, environment

HONOLULU (AP) — Cuts in the number of inspectors who check cargo and passengers entering Hawaii have some worried that more pests will get established in a state that is especially vulnerable because of its tropical weather and few natural predators.

Hawaii has a history of non-native animals and bugs that established a foothold and then spread like wildfire, from the mongoose, a weasel-like animal native to India, that has helped drive native birds to the brink of extinction, to a beetle from Central Africa that is destroying prized Kona coffee crops.