Board Talk

Ka‘u Community Nears Its Goal
To Add Waiohonu To Forest Reserve

“I’ve never seen a proposal so rich with prom ise as this one,” said Susan Marinelli, a Hawai‘i resident who has been doing conser vation work for 21 years.

Last August, the Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to transfer a wild stretch of Ka‘u beach in Waiohonu from its department’s Land Division to the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife to man age as part of the Ka‘u forest reserve, much to the elation of conservationists who wish to protect the area’s rare native coastal strand plant community.

Dozens of native species, anchialine ponds, petroglyph fields, and other cul tural features can be found on the 1,200-acre coastal strip of land, which is part of a larger parcel that has long been used for pasture. While the native ecosystem at Waiohonu is still largely intact, invasive species, marine debris, and other threats have prompted many to seek higher pro tection for the area.

For years, community members, in par ticular Bill Gilmartin of the non-profit Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund, have looked after the area, which has been a nesting habitat for the endangered Hawaiian hawksbill turtle and is sometimes visited by the en dangered Hawaiian monk seal.

On August 26, Department of Land and Natural Resources land agent Wesley Matsunaga recommended that in addition to approving the set-aside of the land as part of the Ka‘u Forest Reserve, the Land Board authorize DOFAW to convene an advisory council comprised of community representa tives, Hawaiian cultural and natural resource experts to develop and assist in implementing a management plan for the area.

Leimana DaMate, a Ka‘u resident and head of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, testified before the board that there is “very active use of the coastline,” including gathering of ‘opihi and wana (sea urchin).

“The local people practice ahupua‘a man agement. We don’t overfish,” she said.

DOFAW administrator Paul Conry added that his Big Island staff were ‘very enthusiastic about this project.”

On August 26, the Land Board unani mously approved Matsunaga’s recommen dation.

The land will have to be subdivided and public hearings must be held before it can be added to the forest reserve. The Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund has promised to pay for the field survey and subdivision, which will re quire a Conservation District Use Permit from the Land Board.

`Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi, a grassroots group of 1,250 members dedicated to the preservation of Hawaiian traditions through the protection of native ecosystems, is offi cially the curator of Na Pohaku O Hauwahine, a 12-acre rock outcrop overlook ing the marsh on O‘ahu’s windward coast.

On August 26, the Land Board approved a recommendation by State Parks to enter into a 5-year curator agreement with ‘Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi for Na Pohaku O Hauwahine within Kawai Nui State Park Reserve.

A State Parks staff report notes that for the past seven years, ‘Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi has replaced alien plants with ap propriate natives, has cut a trail through Na Pokahu that highlights the view and the native plants, has installed a catchment system to water the plants until they can establish themselves, and has set up tours and regular volunteer workdays to help preserve the marsh.

“They have also partnered with Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser vice, the Army Corps of Engineers, and DLNR on various projects in Kawai Nui Marsh,” the report states.

‘Ahahui president Chuck Burrows told the Land Board in August that his organiza tion has received $170,000 in-kind donations and more then $200,000 in grants from the Kailua Bay Advisory Council, other agencies and individual members to help with the care of Na Pohaku.

“Comprehensive is too loose a word,” Maui Land Board member Ted Yamamura said of the Hawai‘i Wildlife Conservation Strategy, a new 500-page document by the Department of Land and Natural Resources that, with the Land Board’s recent approval, ensures the state will continue to be eligible
for State Wildlife grants through the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service.

“In 2001, the U.S. Congress developed a Federal Aid program to address declining populations of non-game, non-endangered species and to prevent additional species from being listed as threatened or endangered. As a condition for participation in the program (now the State Wildlife Grants program), Congress required that each state and U.S. territory prepare a Comprehensive Wildlife Strategy by October 1, 2005,” a recent Divi sion of Forestry and Wildlife report states.

On September 9, the Land Board unani mously approved the Hawai‘i’s strategy, which had been prepared by DLNR’s DOFAW and Division of Aquatic Resources staff, with the “core team” coming from the University of Hawai‘i’s Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit.

To create the strategy, the team reviewed countless management plans, held public hear ings throughout the state, and posted a web page to accept advice and comments on the document.

The strategy highlights the state’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need, which in cludes one terrestrial mammal, 77 birds, more than 5,000 terrestrial invertebrates, five fresh water fishes, 12 freshwater invertebrates, 20 anchialine pond-associated animals, 26 mam mal, six marine reptiles, 154 marine fishes, 197 marine invertebrates, and more than 600 hundred plant species.

Although plants were not required to be included in the strategy, DOFAW’s Paul Conry told the Land Board that the department was trying to be as comprehensive as possible.

The strategy includes information on where species are, their abundance, the condition of their habitats, priority research needs, a de scription of conservation actions for each spe cies, monitoring plans, and plan review and updating procedures.

The strategy is available at [url]www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/cwcs/process_strategy.htm[/url].

— Teresa Dawson

Volume 16, Number 4 October 2005