Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Records --

The Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association (HSPA) was established in 1895 with two main objectives. First, as a consortium of sugar plantation owners, it set out to conduct scientific studies and gather accurate records to enhance the growth of Hawaii’s sugar industry. Over the years, the HSPA became a key repository of knowledge for Hawaii’s sugar industry. The group’s second key mission involved lobbying Congress for favorable legislation that would support Hawaii’s burgeoning sugar industry.

Hawaii's climate is extremely favorable for growing sugarcane, and also for supporting large rat populations. Consequently, the HSPA turned to the US Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS) for help in controlling Hawaii’s rodent population in 1935. With funds made available from a 10% sugar processing tax, the BBS Control Methods Research Laboratory in Denver established a rodent control field station in Hawaii. The HSPA hired BBS experts F. E. Garlough, who was then the Director of the Denver lab, and H.J. Spencer, who would go on to lead the rodent control research project at the Gainesville Florida Field Station.

In 1936, US Courts prohibited the sugar processing tax from being used to enrich the sugar industry in Hawaii. The ASPA then turned its attention towards public health concerns caused by rats. The group also turned to the USDA to provide research and support for a rat abatement campaign. In cooperation with the Hawaii Agriculture Extension Service, the Territorial Board of Health, and the US Public Health Service, H. G. Hansen of the BBS led a rat abatement campaign in Hawaii that lasted until 1938.

In 1964, problems controlling rodents in Hawaii led the HSPA to again seek federal help. Weldon Robinson from the DWRC was sent to investigate Hawaii’s rodent problems. Not long afterwards, a Congressional grant provided the necessary funds for a federal research program to be operated in HSPA’s Amauulu building. As well, a new program to study basic physiological data on rats was established in Denver. By 1967, funding was made available for a separate Rodent Control building to be constructed on HSPA property in Hilo.

During the 1960s and 1970s, researchers at the Hilo Field Station worked collaboratively with the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, the HSPA, and the Food and Drug Administration to study the effects of various lethal rodent baits in Hawaii’s cane fields. In addition, DWRC's Glen Hood led a research study that utilized radio collars to study the behavior and ecology of rats.

The declining influence of the sugar industry, coupled with the development of alternative industries such as tourism, and the decreasing profitability of commercial agriculture in Hawaii resulted in the waning influence of the HSPA. In 1982, federal funding for the Hilo Field Station was cut, leading to its closure in 1983. By 1987, however, the HSPA again requested federal help in combating the rat problem in Hawaii. Congress appropriated the necessary funds in 1988 to re-open and renovate the Hilo Hawaii Field Station. The NWRC Hilo Field Station continues to offer wildlife research assistance in Hawaii today.