Ka`u News Briefs June 14, 2012

Trails recently reopened at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park taking hikers and runners through craters.
Photo by William Neal

TROPICAL FISH COLLECTING has targeted Ka`u for many years, with its 80 miles of uninhabited coastline and pristine near-shore waters. However, a poll released by the U.S. Humane Society of the United State yesterday revealed that most Hawai`i residents want the business of collecting fish and other wildlife on the reef for aquariums to end. Sixty six percent of those Hawai`i residents questioned, statewide, support a ban. Sixty nine percent of the Big Island residents polled want the practice to end. The poll was conducted by Ward Research, which queried 669 people. 

More than 500 yellow tang were among the 600
 reef fish found in dumpsters at Honokahau Harbor in Kona,
the work of tropical fish collectors.
Photo from reefbuilders.com

       Hawai`i is the third largest supplier of reef life to the U.S. aquarium industry.

       "Millions of reef animals collected annually suffer and die at rates that are unacceptable,” said the state director of the Humane Society of the U.S., Inga Gibson. “These results support what we and other marine, environmental and native Hawaiian groups have been saying to our state lawmakers for some time: The commercial collection of Hawai`i’s cherished reef wildlife is not supported by the majority of Hawai`i’s residents, nor does it provide any public benefit,” she said.

       According to the Humane Society, some 1.5 million to 3.75 million wild fish and invertebrates from Hawai`i’s native reefs are taken annually, with most of them going into saltwater aquariums in private homes. 

Yellow tang clean a green sea turtle in Hawai`i waters.
Photo from holland-herald.com

       Robert Harris, director of the Sierra Club, said “It’s encouraging to see Hawai`i’s residents recognize the aquarium trade’s negative impacts to our reefs. Our reef and ocean ecosystems are all connected. Depleting Hawai`i’s fish populations for the aquarium trade directly impacts the viability of other species such as seals, sharks, turtles and other fish,” he said.
      The national Humane Society organization became particularly concerned about fish collectors in Hawai`i in 2010 when more the 600 reef fish, including 551 yellow tang, were found in a dumpster at Honokohau Harbor in Kona.

SEN. GIL KAHELE has announced a legislative update session next Wednesday, June 20, at Hilo High School Cafeteria on Waianuenue Ave, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The report will be on Kahele's current Senate district, which includes all of Ka`u and Volcano. However, he will be running for the Hilo district in the Senate race in August since redistricting put his home outside of the district representing the South side of the island. 

CRATER RIM DRIVE AND CRATER RIM TRAIL have been opened to limited access by walkers and hikers in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Access is available to a .8 mile section of Crater Rim Drive near the Devastation Trail parking lot to Keanakako`i Crater, and a .7 mile portion of Crater Rim Trail from Chain of Craters Road to the south side of Keanakako`i. 

A ranger shows hikers the limited access to trails and Crater Rim Drive. Photo from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park

      On the Crater Rim Drive, hikers and visitors enjoy an easy roundtrip walk on pavement through koa and ohi`a forest to Keanakako`i Crater overlook. Across the road, another overlook provides panoramic views of Halema`uma`u Crater and Mauna Loa. 

Kimberly Walker,
a traveling nurse at
Ka`u Hospital, gets her
exercise on the newly
reopened Crater Rim Trail.
Photo by William Neal

      On Crater Rim Trail, hikers wind through native forest, along the flows of 1974, to the south side of Keanakako`i Crater. Keanakako`i Crater likely formed during the 1400s, during Kilauea’s great summit collapses. Until 1877, Hawaiian kahuna kako`i, carving experts, sought the crater’s superior and rare basaltic rock for making ko`i, or adze heads. Bound to a sturdy `au ko`i, wooden handle, this valuable tool was used to carve vital objects like canoes and houses. But the famous adze quarry was covered by lava, first in 1877, then again during the fissure eruption in July 1974. Today, the crater floor is 115 feet deep. 

       The park closed Crater Rim Drive from Jaggar Museum to Chain of Craters Road and portions of Crater Rim Trail for public safety after Halema`uma`u began to erupt in March 2008 and volcanic fumes caused poor air quality. 

      “Thanks to a new sulfur dioxide monitoring network, and an increase in air quality monitoring tools at our fingertips, we can effectively evaluate air quality conditions,” said Park Ranger and Chief of Interpretation Jim Gale. “We encourage park visitors to take advantage of the newly opened section of road and trail,” he said.
      The Keanakako`i area may still experience high levels of volcanic fumes with changing wind conditions. Should this happen, the park will temporarily close the site to visitation. Interpretive signage in the area features a QR code for smart phones, which connects to the national award-winning Hawai`i SO2 Network website, hawaiiSO2Network.com. 

Photo from scientificamerican.com

NAVAL WEAPONS TESTING AND WAR GAMES IN WATERS AROUND HAWAI`I and extending to California are the subject of a public meeting in Hilo today at the East Hawai`i Cultural Center at 5 p.m.
       The Executive Summary in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement says these activities are necessary to protect the country but can have an impact on the environment. However, the Draft EIS adds that these Navy operations have far less impact on turtles, marine mammals and other sea life than the fishing industry and pollution.
       Read the entire Draft EIS and all about other Navy activities in Hawai`i by visiting http://www.govsupport.us/navynepahawaii/.
       Comments can be submitted today at the meeting, and through July 10, online and by mail to Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, Attn: HSTT EIS/OEIS Project Manager-EV21.CS; 1220 Pacific Highway, Building 1, Floor 3, San Diego, CA 92132-5190.

KA`U COUNTY COUNCIL CANDIDATES have been invited to a public forum ahead of the Aug. 11 elections, but no upcoming forum is yet scheduled in Ka`u. The organization, Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, has invited candidates Maile David, Brenda Ford, Lee McIntosh and Bradley Westervelt to the forum at Kealakehe High School Cafeteria on July 23 at 6 p.m. The Ka`u Chamber of Commerce held a forum for the council candidates in April.

PUBLIC COMMENTS FOR KA`U FOREST RESERVE Draft Environmental Assessment are due by next week Friday, June 22. The plan calls for fencing a portion of the 61,000 acres of state forest, between Na`alehu and Pahala. The fencing would be mauka of 4,000 feet. 

Aerial view of Ka`u Forest Reserve. Photo by Rob Shallenberger

      The plan is to restore and maintain key watersheds and to protect native species from the negative effects of invasive animals, particularly ungulates. Once invasive threats are under control, the DLNR hopes to release the `alala, native Hawaiian crow, from captive breeding after being extinct in the wild since 2002. The plan includes public access for hunters, gatherers and hikers and stresses the importance of many native forest species for Hawaiian cultural use. The plan would be implemented over a 15-year time frame. 

      The DLNR held a public meeting in Na`alehu on June 2 and plans to come up with a final Environmental Assessment for the Ka`u Forest Reserve. Copies of the plan’s Draft EA can be read at Pahala and Na`alehu Public Libraries and online at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw.

      Send original comments to Ron Terry: Geometrician Associates, P.O. Box 396, Hilo, HI 96721. Copies should be sent to Tanya Rubenstein: Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife,1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 131,Honolulu, HI 96813.
      For information regarding the plan, contact Mililani Browning of DOFAW at 933-3171 or mililani.browning@gmail.com. For information regarding the Environmental Assessment, contact Ron at (808) 969-7090 or rterry@hawaii.rr.com.

Watercress, taro, ginger and pipinola
grow in overflow water at Ha`ao Springs.
Photo by Elaine Klitgaard

HA`AO SPRINGS AG WATER COOPERATIVE meets today at 2:30 p.m. at Wai`ohinu Park. Residents are in the preliminary stages of forming a co-op to restore the springs and sugar plantation water delivery systems and develop new delivery systems so that water can be available for ranching, and crops from Wai`ohinu toward South Point and Ocean View. All interested parties are invited.

RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS MEET at H.O.V.E. Road Maintenance Corp. office in Ocean View tonight at 7 p.m. Current volunteers and those interested in becoming volunteers are welcome. For more, call Hannah Uribes at 929-9953.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED tomorrow for the Volunteer Forest Restoration Project in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers will help locate native plant seedlings and clear vegetation around them in preparation for controlling pasture grass in the area. Pre-registration is required, call 985-7373 or email forest@fhvnp.org.

KEOKI KAHUMOKU teaches free `ukulele and slack key guitar classes tomorrow and every Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Na`alehu United Methodist Church. He also offers the classes on Wednesdays in Pahala at the Olson Trust Building. Call 935-0463.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs June 13, 2012

`Alala may be reintroduced into the wild in the Ka`u Forest Reserve. Photo from San Diego Zoo program at Volcano

A RECORD EIGHT `ALALA CHICKS HATCHED IN MAY AND JUNE at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on Kamehameha School lands in Volcano. The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research runs the hatchling program for the endangered Hawaiian crow, last seen in the wild in 2002.

Helping hands peel back a shell to allow
an `Alala chick to hatch safely.
Photo from Keauhou Bird Refuge in Volcano

     Richard Switzer, a director of the program wrote yesterday in the organization’s Hawaiian Birds news that “May 13 was an exciting day: our first `alala of the 2012 season …eagerly awaited and anxiously nurtured through its first few days. Over the past three weeks, another seven `alala chicks have hatched. Crucially, on May 31, we celebrated reaching the major milestone of 100 ‘alala in the entire world ...This is quite an achievement for a population that was down to a low of 20 individuals in 1994 and is currently considered extinct in the wild. In fact, following subsequent hatches, the population currently stands at 102 birds. We are hoping for several more chicks in the weeks to come.”

     Several hatchlings’ necks were trapped in a position so they could not use their beaks to break out of the shells on their own. Refuge workers peeled back the shells to help the hatchlings escape. See more at http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/category/conservation/hawaiian-birds/.
     A proposal to reintroduce the `Alala into a high altitude section of the Ka`u Forest Reserve is contained in the management plan for the state land. Call Ron Terry at (808) 969-7090 or email rterry@hawaii.rr.com.
     To download the Ka`u Forest Reserve Management Plan EA, visit http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Hawaii/2010s/2012-05-23-DEA-Kau-Forest-Reserve-Management-Plan.pdf.

Rep. Mazie Hirono

REP. MAZIE HIRONO blasted congress this week for blocking her initiative to put $333.4 million into the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency. The money would have gone into the development of alternative energies and would have come from trimming fossil fuel research funding to $420.6 million.
     Instead of supporting alternative energy, the majority in the House of Representatives is pushing through an “Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill that promotes an outdated focus on fossil fuels, keeping Hawai`i and our nation dependent on foreign oil,” Hirono wrote.
     She referred to the U.S. Census, saying that “last year oil was Hawai`i’s top foreign import costing us $4.5 billion. When oil prices go up, all of us feel an immediate impact: families are forced to stretch paychecks further and businesses have to find even more room in their budgets just to keep their doors open.”
     The congresswoman said that “Hawai`i’s families know that we need to embark on a new direction on energy. But the House Majority’s bill slices in half a program to promote saving money through energy efficiency and rolls back efforts to decrease carbon pollution.”
     She said the House majority also cut investments by $75 million in clean energy innovation through the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, which supports projects such as algae-based biofuels, smart grid technology and electric cars. “Yet, the bill increased funding for research on fossil fuels to $554 million, an increase of over $200 million from last year’s amount.”
     Hirono recently met with clean energy leaders of Hawai`i who told her to keep supporting R&D for clean energy. Warren Bollmeier of the Hawai`i Renewable Energy Alliance told Hirono: “The path we need to take to energy independence is one where we level the playing field for clean energy.”
     Hirono said there are more than 11,000 jobs in clean energy in Hawai`i generating $1.2 billion for the local economy. “The clean energy industry keeps jobs and money in Hawai`i, and moves us one step closer to energy self-sustainability,” Hirono declared.

Naval war games and weapons testing moves to waters around Hawai`i,
extending to California. Photo from greengopost.com

NAVAL WEAPONS TESTING AND WAR GAMES IN WATERS AROUND HAWAI`I and extending to California are necessary to protect the country, says the Executive Summary in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that goes to public meeting in Hilo tomorrow. The summary says, however, these activities can have an impact on the environment:
     “Major conflicts, terrorism, lawlessness, and natural disasters all have the potential to threaten national security of the United States. National security, prosperity, and vital interests are increasingly tied to other nations because of the close relationships between the United States and other national economies. The Navy carries out training and testing activities to be able to protect the United States against its enemies, as well as to protect and defend the rights of the United States and its allies to move freely on the oceans. Training and testing activities that prepare the Navy to fulfill its mission to protect and defend the United States and its allies potentially impact the environment. These activities may trigger legal requirements identified in many U.S. federal environmental laws, regulations, and executive orders.”

Proposed Hawai`i Range Complex Study
Area for U.S. Navy. Image from U.S. Navy

     The Draft EIS says, however, that these Navy operations have far less impact on turtles, marine mammals and other sea life than the fishing industry and pollution. ““Compared to potential mortality, strandings or injury resulting from Navy training and testing activities, marine mammal and sea turtle mortality and injury from bycatch, commercial vessel ship strikes, entanglement, ocean pollution and other human causes are estimated to be orders of magnitude greater (hundreds of thousands of animals versus tens of animals),” the document says.
     Read the entire Draft EIS and all about other Navy activities in Hawai`i by visiting http://www.govsupport.us/navynepahawaii/.
     The public meeting to submit comments will be held tomorrow at the East Hawai`i Cultural Center at 5 p.m. in Hilo. Comments can also be submitted through July 10 online and to Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, Attn: HSTT EIS/OEIS Project Manager-EV21.CS; 1220 Pacific Highway, Building 1, Floor 3, San Diego, CA 92132-5190.

Keoki Kahumoku

KEOKI KAHUMOKU teaches free `ukulele and slack key guitar classes today and every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Olson Trust Building in Pahala. He also offers the classes on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Na`alehu United Methodist Church. Call 935-0463.

KA`U FARMERS MARKET begins its second week at Shaka Restaurant in Na`alehu today. Shaka general manager Rory Koi offered the grounds after the market was shut down without notice from Ace Hardware, following a customer threatened a lawsuit after falling down at a previous Ka`u Farmers Market.

HA`AO SPRINGS AG WATER COOPERATIVE meets tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Wai`ohinu Park.
     Residents are in the preliminary stages of forming a co-op to restore the springs and sugar plantation water delivery systems and develop new delivery systems so that water can be available for crops grown for personal use or markets. All interested parties are invited.

RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS MEET at H.O.V.E. Road Maintenance Corp. office in Ocean View tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Current volunteers and those interested in becoming volunteers are welcome. For more, call Hannah Uribes at 929-9953.

Artist Ken Charon teaches in Volcano tomorrow. Photo from charon-artfarm.com

NATURE DRAWING, taught be Ken Charon, is offered tomorrow at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. From 10:30 a.m. to noon, Charon teaches basic drawing techniques and offers tips before waking to a scenic location suitable for sketching. Bring sketch pad/drawing paper and pencil (portable chair optional) or borrow supplies for a donation. Ages 8 and up register that day on a first-come, first-served basis. Free; park entrance fees apply. Donations are welcome. For more, call 967-8222.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED Friday for the Volunteer Forest Restoration Project in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., volunteers will help locate native plant seedlings and clear vegetation around them in preparation for controlling pasture grass in the area. Pre-registration is required, call 985-7373 or email forest@fhvnp.org.

KICK ICE sign waiving takes place Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants are asked to meet in front of the Na`alehu School gym.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs June 12, 2012

Loggerhead turtle escaping from a net with a turtle excluder device. Photo from NOAA

LEATHERBACK AND LOGGERHEAD sea turtles could be taken accidentally in larger numbers by the Hawai`i-based, shallow-set pelagic longline fishing fleets if a proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service passes.
      The federal government issues 164 longline permits, and about 25 to 30 vessels are active, mostly going after swordfish, also called shutome and a`u, in the colder currents of Hawaiian waters.
      The rules allow for the incidental entanglement and hooking of a limited number of endangered turtles without fines or shutting down the fishery for the season. Once the limit is reached, however, the federal government closes the fishery for the rest of the year. Such rules that allow limited taking increase cooperation between conservationists and the fishing industry and have led to such innovations as installing turtle excluder devices in fishing nets.

Leatherback turtles are caught in Hawaiian longline
fishing nets. Photo from Scott Benson/NOAA

      The limit on loggerheads and leatherbacks was set by Fisheries in 2004 to a maximum annual accidental taking of 16 leatherbacks and 17 loggerheads for the entire Hawaiian waters fishery. However, Fisheries now proposes increasing that limit to 26 leatherbacks and 34 loggerheads per year. When a similar proposal was approved in 2008, the community groups KAHEA, Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the federal government. The court rejected the increase and set the limit for taking the endangered turtles back to the 2004 level.
      The comment period on the newly proposed increase in the limit is open through July 11. Opinions can be mailed to National Marine Fisheries Service regional administrator Michael Tosatto, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814-4700. Email through an online form at regulations.gov, where the proposed rules are identified as NOAA-NMFS-2012-0068.

ED CASE AND MAZIE HIRONO are tied in the race for the U.S. Senate seat that would represent Ka`u. A Civil Beat poll released today shows each with 46 percent, from a survey of 731 voters taken statewide between June 5 and June 7. Both Case and Hirono have provided support to the decade-long effort to preserve the Ka`u Coast, resulting in federal funding during both their terms in Congress. Hirono also supports the idea of a biofuel plantation and refinery in Ka`u to provide alternative energy production for the rest of the state, according to her letter posted on the website of the creators of the project, `Aina Koa Pono. Her letter says, “I am excited that `Aina Koa Pono is leading the way to making this goal a reality for the islands.”

THE COST OF SHIPPING GOODS to Hawai`i will drop slightly for customers of Matson container vessels. The company announced yesterday that it will reduce its fuel surcharge from 45.5 percent to 42 percent on June 17 due to the drop in the cost of bunker oil. The reduction is 3.5 percent, but follows a five percent hike in February.
      Surcharge changes are allowed by the state Public Utilities Commission to reflect the ups and downs in fuel prices. Separate from the fuel surcharge, Matson also won a price increase in January of $225 per shipping container, further increasing the cost of shipping goods between the mainland and Hawai`i. A written statement from Matson says that “escalating energy costs have impacted all businesses, as well as consumers this year, with transportation companies especially hard hit.”

Terry Lee, Brandy, Kassie, Tiare-Lee, Dane Boy and Dane Shibuya in
Honolulu for the Miss Hawai`i Pageant.

BRANDY SHIBUYA and her  family are back from Honolulu after Brandy won the Children’s Miracle Network competition last weekend in the Miss Hawai`i Pageant. Said Brandy, “We went as a family from Ka`u, deeply rooted in our culture, values and community to compete for the Miss Hawai`i title, and we came home as a family from Ka`u.” She placed in the top ten in the Miss Hawai`i Pageant, the precursor to the Miss America Pageant, and continues her reign as Miss Aloha Hawai`i. “Winning the Children’s Miracle Network award was the most heartfelt moment because it was presented by Cody, our Champion child, and his father,” said Brandy. “I really devoted my time toward contributing to the foundation to help our sick and injured children here in Hawai`i. I made miracles happen, and so can you! It’s the best feeling in the world.” She thanked the Ka`u Coffee Pageant committee for hosting the event where she became Miss Ka`u Coffee, the committee for the Kona Coffee Pageant where she won Miss Aloha Hawai`i and the team from the Miss Hawai`i Pageant, as well as many sponsors including the Edmund C. Olson Trust II. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the support from my family, friends and community. Thank you Hawai`i, Big Island and Ka`u for believing in me!”

Graecin Beebe, of South Point, shows her handmade clay finger puppets.
Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS hosted its free Summer Creations event at Pahala Plantation House yesterday. Participants received guidance from local artists in macramé, batik, jewelry making, clay miniatures, acrylics and more. 

      KSA has ongoing opportunities to participate in the arts, with the Ka`u `Ohana Band and Ka`u Community Chorus rehearsing weekly. Visit kauarts.org or call 929-7544 for more information.

A HALF-MILE OF SHORELINE at Manuka Natural Area Reserve offered up 500 pounds of marine debris, including 200 pounds of derelict fishing nets at the latest Hawai`i Wildlife Fund Cleanup. Nineteen volunteers combed the shoreline around `Awili and Humuhumu Points. Jenn Randall and the NARs crew joined in this third annual cleanup. Volunteers were from Hawai`i Island and as far away as South Africa and Thailand.
      Megan Lamson of Hawai`i Wildlife Fund also reports that the removal of “heaps of non-native plant species and sediment from in and around the Ho`onoua anchialine pools during the past six months. The small volunteer groups are nearly done with the sediment removal in the largest pool and will be shifting gears to sediment removal in the second pond during July. “If you’d like to help with the ‘muck sucking’” or Seashore paspalum pulling, sign up in advance for the Ho`onoua Anchialine Pools Workday on Wednesdays, July 11 and July 25. RSVP to meg.hwf@gmail.com for more information. Space is limited.
      Hawai`i Wildlife Fund volunteers from Ka`u are helping the Surfrider Foundation in Hilo this weekend for their International Surfing Day cleanup event. See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Surfrider-Foundation-Hilo-Chapter/213691888646842 or contact James Kuriyama at jkuriyama@hawaii.edu.

      The next Ka`u beach cleanup will be Saturday, July 14. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. with sturdy footwear, sun/wind protection, bag lunch, snacks, refillable water bottle, “and a smile,” said Lamson. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are needed. Sign up with Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

KA`U FARMERS MARKET begins its second week at Shaka Restaurant in Na`alehu tomorrow at 8 a.m. Shaka general manager Rory Koi offered the grounds after the market was shut down without notice from Ace Hardware following a customer falling on the grounds there.

KEOKI KAHUMOKU teaches free `ukulele and slack key guitar classes tomorrow and every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Olson Trust Building in Pahala. He also offers the classes on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Na`alehu United Methodist Church. Call 935-0463.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.