Molokai is the state’s last populated island still free of palm tree-decimating coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRBs). To keep it that way, residents, legislators and advocates urged the state Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity to take “bold action, without delay” — and temporarily ban shipping plants, soil, compost or other materials that harbor invasive CRBs to Molokai from other parts of Hawaii.

The Legislature added “Biosecurity” to the Ag Department’s name and mission last year — but plant quarantine branch manager Jonathan Ho seemed to have missed the memo, protesting, “We’ve never done that before.” The board moved the ban on to advisory review.

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