Despite a long record of non-cooperation on the `alala program, McCandless Ranch recently signed an agreement with the state that will provide the ranch with a federal subsidy of about $122,000. The agreement calls for the ranch to plant some 600 acres in koa for eventual harvest. The subsidy is from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Stewardship Program, providing matching funds for reforestation done under a state-approved plan.
The plan calls for logging “merchantable” koa trees now on the site as a “forest management tool.” The resulting openings in the forest “will be scarified to encourage natural koa regeneration.” If no regeneration occurs, koa seedlings will be planted, 435 per acre. Finally, “scarification work will be conducted in the `ohi`a forest on a trial basis and koa seedlings will be planted to establish a mixed koa-`ohi`a forest.” “When this phase of the project is in progress, many native plant species will be destroyed,” the plan states.
There is a provision for dealing with “special areas,” where rare and endangered plants and animals are to be found. “McCandless Ranch will seek guidance from various individuals,” the plan states, “and make decisions that would best fit the management, protection and preservation of these special areas.”
“McCandless Ranch will regulate all entry of persons to the land stewardship project,” the plan states. State agents “will provide technical forestry assistance as requested …and will request the approval for access for every visit to the project area.” The state, however, must inspect and approve “all work that qualifies for federal matching funds.”
Projected costs for the five-year plan are $243,727, with the federal contribution coming to $121,863.50. The contributions of McCandless Ranch will be in-kind, based on the going rates for fencing, labor, and the like in Hawai`i County, as set by several county, state and federal agencies.
Volume 1, Number 10 April 1991
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