State land chairwoman Suzanne Case has approved an environmental review for a logging operation of non-native trees in the Waiakea Timber Management Area on Hawaii island.

But scientists say conditions will have to be imposed on the logging operations to prevent the spread of the fungus causing rapid ohia death. The ongoing infestation is killing thousands of ohia trees and threatening native forests and watershed areas on the island.

The environmental review, approved last month, did not include procedures for handling the infestation.

Sheri Mann, a former state forestry manager who was the primary staff person on the project, said there will be no native trees cut down, “so no spread of (rapid ohia death) is expected.”

Scientist James Friday, who works for the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture, said that while the plan is to harvest non-native trees, indigenous ohia trees grow along the main road through the logging operation, and some are infected with the fungus, also known as ohia wilt.

He said the tires on the vehicles that would traverse dirt roads in the area should have to go through a pressure wash to remove any wood dust, known as frass, that carries the fungus. “There would be contaminant in the soil. … I’d disinfect my vehicle,” Friday said.

Friday said he was in favor of the logging operation and thinks placing conditions to wash vehicles would solve the possibility of spreading ohia wilt.

In anticipation of a logging operation starting in Waiakea, the DLNR conducted an environmental assessment and found no significant impact for logging in Waiakea forest reserve.

State Land Board spokesman Dan Dennison said the environmental assessment was done at a time when no one knew of the degree of the fungus in the area.

Department of Land and Natural Resources officials said when contracts are signed for logging, conditions to avoid the spread of the fungus will be included in the contract.

“The science of this disease is still evolving,” Dennison said. “If we cannot mitigate the risk of spreading the fungus to an area that does not have the disease, then we expect it will limit what we can ultimately do with the Waiakea timber.”

With major plantings in 1959, the Waiakea forest reserve was created to establish a forest resource that could provide a consistent supply of wood and forest products.

According to the DLNR, the forest contains 16 million cubic feet of gross timber primarily composed of Queensland maple and eucalyptus.

Dennison said the state land department planned to release a request for information, seeking responses from the forest industry about their interests in the timber area. After reviewing submitted information, the department will release a request for proposals, which provides interested parties with conditions and standards pertaining to logging.