Monday, January 25, 2016

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, Jan. 25, 2016

As part of Volcano Awareness Month in Ka`u, researchers discuss How Communities Protect Themselves from Vog Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. See more below. Photos from USGS/HVO
KA`U RESIDENTS CAN SUBMIT COMMENTS on a Draft Environmental Assessment for a proposed forest stewardship and management plan. The Black Rhinoceros Foundation seeks to turn a 190-acre parcel at the southeast corner of Kama`oa and South Point Roads into a native forest of a variety of species. According to the document, the nonprofit’s goal is to establish a thriving mixed species forest there, maintaining a sustainable yield of valuable forest products, while preserving cultural sites as well as the health and function of Pu`u`eo Ahupua`a and the South Point Watershed. Twenty percent of total plantings would be introduced hardwood timber trees that would “provide wildlife habitat and continued productivity for the project.” Trees would be selectively harvested and regenerated to support the foundations goals and to continue management of the property as a working forest.
A 190-acre parcel in Ka`u could become a native
forest. Map from Draft EA
      The land is currently covered in a mixture of introduced noxious and invasive weeds that would be controlled and replaced with more desirable and productive vegetation throughout the project. The primary species to be established are Hawaiian sandalwood, iliahi and koaia (Acacia koaia) in addition to a variety of other native, Polynesian and non-native, non-invasive species. The site would also serve as a seed bank for these valuable Hawaiian endemics, as well as serve as a demonstration site for a viable and productive investment strategy for formerly forested agricultural lands.
      Two sites that contain burials were found during the archaeological inventory survey of the parcel. One is a small lava tube in the west-central portion of the parcel that contains a Historic Period burial. Another is a lava tube lin the northwestern portion of the parcel that contains two sets of presumably Precontact Period human skeletal remains along with some habitation debris. Four additional archaeological sites were recorded on the parcel during the inventory survey: historic boundary walls enclosing the entire study parcel, two collapsed lava tube depressions with modified edges and the remains of a large platform interpreted as a heiau. With the exception of the boundary walls, all of these sites are slated for preservation.
      The Black Rhinoceros Foundation, based in New Mexico, seeks funds by a cost-share grant through Hawai`i’s Forest Stewardship Program.
      The public can offer comments through Feb. 22. Send comments to DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325, Honolulu, HI 96813. The draft EA is available at http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/default.aspx. Click on EA_and_EIS_Online_Library, Hawai`i and 2010s.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Josh Green listed his legislative priorities.
Photo from Sen. Green
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 2016 Hawai`i Legislature, Ka`u’s Sen. Josh Green shared his top five legislative priorities.
      “The Well Being of the People Comes First. Everyone gets a livable wage of at least $16/hour. We end the homeless crisis by funding Housing First and strategically building homeless shelters. We pass a tax on luxury developments to pay for rental housing initiatives and to build affordable homes.
      “Healthcare for All. We establish a true healthcare safety net in Hawai`i, greatly improve access to mental healthcare and drug and alcohol treatment, and strengthen the state hospital system.
      “Protect our Environment. We ensure pristine air quality in Hawai`i, address the pesticide and GMO concerns many in Hawai`i share through total transparency, guarantee clean water, and fight for 100 percent renewable energy for Hawai`i.
      “Support Public Education. We improve teacher wages to compete with mainland pay, dramatically decrease class sizes, and make community college free for all who choose it.
      “Real Economic Growth. We encourage job creation in emerging fields such as clean energy, healthcare and technology to complement our critical tourism and agriculture base.
      “I will also be spearheading initiatives to lower the legal limit for a DUI from .08 to .06 and to ensure that helmets will be required for all moped riders under the age of 25.”
      Green’s asked constituents to share their thoughts at  facebook.com/senatorjoshgreensengreen@capitol.gov or 808-586-9385.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY’S stop on its geologic tour of the Hawaiian Islands in the current issue of Volcano Watch is Maui, as well as the islands of Lanaʻi, Molokaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe, all of which form Maui County.
      “To imagine the landscape of Maui County as it would have appeared about one million years ago, think of the Island of Hawaiʻi today, with several large, coalesced volcanoes that form a single large island,” the article states. “Such was the heyday of ‘Maui Nui,’ when at least seven volcanoes built an island that was about 50 percent bigger than the Island of Hawaiʻi is today. 
      “The oldest of Maui Nui’s volcanoes, Penguin Bank, is now submerged off the west coast of Molokaʻi. From there, successively younger volcanoes are West Molokaʻi and East Molokaʻi. When these three volcanoes began to grow on the seafloor is poorly known, but they probably range from slightly over two million years old (Penguin Bank) to slightly less than two million years old (East Molokaʻi).
      “The sequence of volcanoes then progressed with Lanaʻi, West Maui, Kahoʻolawe, and finally, Haleakalā on East Maui. The formation of these four volcanoes probably occurred between 1.5 and two million years ago.
      “Why so many volcanoes in such a small area? Studies of the entire chain of Hawaiian volcanoes and seamounts suggest that magma supply to the surface began increasing a few million years ago. More magma means more eruptions, which might explain why the Hawaiian hot spot went from forming individual island volcanoes (Niʻihau and Kauaʻi), to an island with two volcanoes (Oʻahu), to islands made up of several volcanoes (Maui Nui and the Island of Hawaiʻi). 
The islands of Maui County were once a land mass 50 percent
larger than Hawai`i Island. Map from USGS/HVO
      “Despite their close proximity, the volcanoes of Maui Nui have quite different eruptive histories. For example, Lanaʻi was short-lived, going extinct after its vigorous shield stage, with no eruptions since about 1.35 million years ago. West Molokaʻi and Kahoʻolawe were also short-lived, but they experienced minor postshield volcanism before going extinct about one million years ago. East Molokaʻi and West Maui persisted longer and were the sites of rejuvenated eruptions just 300,000 years ago (the most recent such eruption on Molokaʻi formed Kalaupapa Peninsula).
      “Haleakalā, the longest-lived of the Maui Nui volcanoes, is currently waning from a long postshield sequence of volcanism. Eruptions there occur about as frequently as they do on Hualālai volcano on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The most recent eruption on Haleakalā took place about 400 years ago, well within the time that Polynesians settled on the Hawaiian Islands. Future eruptions at Haleakalā are likely, which is why the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory maintains a monitoring network there.
      “Because all of the Maui Nui volcanoes are beyond their vigorous shield-building stages, erosion has dominated for the past one million years or so. Water and landslides have helped create dramatic valleys, including the summit ‘crater’ of Haleakalā.
      “The most spectacular of the Maui Nui landslides occurred from East Molokaʻi, where the massive Wailau slide sliced off the volcano’s summit, creating spectacular sea cliffs on the island’s north side. This landslide deposited rocky debris over 160 kilometers (100 miles) across the ocean floor.
      “The islands of Maui Nui have also subsided over time – a normal consequence of the volcanoes’ weight on the sea floor in addition to their motion away from the buoyant hot spot. It was this subsidence, plus rising sea levels, that flooded the land between Maui Nui’s volcanoes, creating the separate islands we see today, probably within the last few hundred thousand years. With continued subsidence at present rates, Haleakalā (East Maui) itself could become isolated from West Maui by a seaway within another 10,000 to 20,000 years.”
      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

FAFSA FILING WORKSHOP is tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Ocean View. Church members help with filing Free Applications for Federal Student Aid that are required for access to federal and state financial aid for college.
      Applicants should bring with them student and parent Social Security numbers, email addresses and adjusted gross incomes for 2014 and 2015.
      See stjudeshawaii.org or email cindycutts00@yahoo.com for more information.

THE LAVA FLOW THAT CAME TO HILO is the topic at After Dark in the Park tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist Jim Kauahikaua and HVO volunteer Ben Gaddis present the story of the 1880 - 81 Mauna Loa eruption using maps, art and photographs.

KUMU HULA PELE KAIO presents Hei: Traditional Hawaiian String Figures Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Kilauea Visitor Center’s lanai in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.

HOW COMMUNITIES PROTECT themselves from vog is the topic of a Volcano Awareness Month program Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist Tamar Elias provides an update on Kilauea’s gas emissions, and Dr. Claire Horwell shares results of her 2015 study.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.