Ka`u News Briefs June 22, 2012

Green sea turtle basks on the shore of Kamehame near what appears to be an old hawksbill nest. Conservationists
worry  about smoke and ash from the fires between Pahala and The Nature Conservancy coastal preserve.
Photo by Will Olsen, Hawai`i Island Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project 2011.

KAMEHAME PRESERVE is a major concern of firefighters and conservationists still worried about fires that started Monday and are still meandering toward the coast through gulches below Pahala. Managers from the Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project and The Nature Conservancy, which owns the 26-acre property, plan to visit the site to assess smoke and ash conditions at the beach, where hawksbill turtles nest and green sea turtles and monk seals rest.

The Nature Conservancy's Kamehame Preserve Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

      Lauren Kurpita, coordinator of the Turtle Project, said this morning that turtles are nesting there. The fires, which started in ML Macadamia orchards, are considered 50 percent contained as they spread makai into the Ka`u Desert away from the village and farms. 

HOT SPOTS GOT MORE DOUSINGS yesterday as crews cleaned up from the mauka and makai fires around Pahala and owners made damage assessments to agriculture. With more than 5,200 acres burned since Monday, it will take weeks to examine all the macadamia, coffee and eucalyptus trees and months to determine which ones will recover and when they could become productive. Last night, Dayday Hopkins, of the county Department of Research & Development, promised full support in helping coffee and other farmers recover.
      The cost of the fire was not only to the future of agriculture. Fire fueled by wild brush in Pa`au`au Gulch moved mauka and jumped Hwy 11, engulfing Ka`u Hospital in smoke, shutting down its long-term care facility, clinic, emergency room, laboratories and pharmacy - some of them for days. The hospital moved its patients to Na`alehu and required extensive cleaning of ash, removal of smoke and purifying the air, which is ongoing. “The air quality is still not great,” said administrator Merilyn Harris. “The good news is that there was no damage to the facility.” Extra costs include overtime for staff and extra food.

Pa`au`au Gulch makai of Pahala cleared of brush by
wildfire. Photo from Hawai`i County Fire Department

      Other costs were to home and business owners and church groups who suffered smoke and ash in their buildings and to those who left Pahala and rented hotel rooms to get out of the smoke. Some volunteer firefighters took off work to help out. Some employees of area businesses and public agencies were sent home during the fire.
      The volunteer and county Fire Departments are adding up bills for hiring water trucks and bulldozers, the cost of fuel for the fire trucks and support vehicles and the cost of transportation for firefighters coming from around the island to Pahala.
      Regarding the cost of water drops by helicopter, County Council Finance chair Brenda Ford said Chopper One cost the county $1.5 million to purchase in 2010 and that a second helicopter used during the first day of the Pahala fire was contracted from a private owner and pilot.
      Ford said there is not only an expense from fires that spread from gulches but a possible liability. If someone dumps rubbish, agricultural or yard waste into a stream, drainage-way or floodway, causing a fire to burn onto another person’s property, the perpetrator could be held liable for damages. Ford, who also chaired the County Council Public Works Committee, said that county ordinance also requires private landowners to clear obstructions in the waterways and that members of the public can call the Department of Public Works to make a complaint. The county can clean the waterway and charge the landowners, should they not respond to the request to remove obstacles within 30 days. Ford described gulches and waterways as natural firebreaks when kept clean.

BIDS HAVE BEEN OPENED by the county for erecting garages for volunteer fire fighter trucks and equipment in Pahala and Na`alehu. The county estimated the combined cost at $75,000, much lower than all the bids: Central Contracting with $154,740;  Isemoto Contracting Co., Ltd. with $141,141 and Stan's Contracting, Inc. with $133,700.  Low bid came from Site Engineering, Inc., of Honolulu, with $97,300.

REOPENING KULANI PRISON may not happen soon, if at all, according to news reported in a Hawai`i Tribune-Herald story by Tom Callis this morning. The story quoted state Sen. Josh Green as saying Kulani was considered but “too expensive” for now. However, Kulani is included in discussions on long-term planning to save money by bringing prisoners held on the mainland back to Hawai`i for incarceration. Also being considered long-term is building new prisons on Hawaiian Home Lands. 

Kulani Prison is considered "too expensive" to reopen for now.

      Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a package of bills this week that could save money in the prison system by reducing sentences of non-violent offenders. Following recommendations from a 40-member working group for the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, second-time felony drug offenders could have probation, and probation could be reduced to four years for second and third degree felonies. The legislation also adds more staffing to victim services and makes prisoners pay more restitution money to victims through work while incarcerated.
      According to the Tribune-Herald story, housing 1,700 inmates – about a third of its prisoners -- on the mainland costs the state some $45 million annually. Former governor Linda Lingle shut down the 123-bed Kulani in 2009, saying it was too expensive to operate.

REMOVAL OF HIGHLY FLAMMABLE fountain grass from roadsides in Ocean View takes place tomorrow. Volunteers are invited to work with Ocean View Community Association and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park staff from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet at Ocean View Community Center at 9 a.m. For more information, contact ecologist David Benitez at 985-6085 or david_benitez@nps.gov.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER’S monthly BBQ takes place tomorrow at 2 p.m. Normally scheduled on the third Saturday of each month, it was changed from last Saturday to accommodate a previously scheduled graduation party.

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Ka`u News Briefs June, 21, 2012

 Pahala and its farmers woke up this morning to rain washed skies and fires surrounding the village almost
entirely contained.  Photo by Julia Neal

CLEAN AIR GREETED PAHALA residents this morning as rains put a lid on fires fought more than two days across 5,200 acres of wildlands, coffee, eucalyptus and macadamia farms. While rain calmed flames, smoke and ash cleared, and villagers threw open windows to breath fresh air, firefighters and medics took a break last night. Still in their work clothes, some sought solace at a Hawaiian falsetto concert with Kai Ho`opi`i and hula at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

A burned out Pa`a`au Gulch below Ka`u Hospital is
 testimony to the danger of gulches full of dry brush
surrounding Pahala, its coffee farms, macadamia
 orchards, eucalyptus plantings and ranches.
Photo by Julia Neal

     Among the most relieved around Pahala, was Ka`u Coffee grower Berta Miranda who Monday afternoon clutched her Bible, standing by helpless farmers fearing the worst after fleeing wind driven flames. Miranda and her Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative colleagues escaped when fires burned some of their windbreak trees and grass at Pear Tree, but spared most of the coffee.

     Edmund C. Olson, founder of Ka`u Coffee Mill and a major sponsor of the annual Ka`u Coffee Festival, promised to help coffee farmers with funding to prune, replant and rebuild damaged coffee farms. Co-op President Gloria Camba said she will ask the state Department of Agriculture to help assess and plan for recovering damaged farms. She said the co-op’s crop insurance may help some growers.
     Ka`u Hospital brought back long-term residents late yesterday from Na`alehu Community Center where they stayed for two nights, along with their hospital beds. The Ka`u Rural Health Clinic and hospital laboratories reopened this morning. The hospital’s Long’s Pharmacy reopened yesterday, and the Emergency Room reopened Tuesday night.

     Guy Enriques’ youth camp for the Southside Volleyball team going to competition on the mainland resumed practice in the old Pahala Gym after the smoke cleared. The free school lunches for children resumed today after being shut down during the fire emergency.

 Hwy 11 is open but the remnants of the
fires smolder both mauka and makai.
Photo by Julia Neal

     Brush and burned trees still smoldered this morning on mauka and makai sides of Hwy 11 near homes of Lisa and Jimmy Dacalio and Ann Fontes. The blackened Pa`au`au Gulch and singed macadamia trees, just makai of houses and Ka`u Hospital, stood as stark reminders that dry brush around villages and farms pose a real hazard to life and livelihood. 

     Hawai`i Civil Defense and Hawai`i Fire Department yesterday afternoon closed command center operations set up to coordinate the battle against the fires that broke out Monday in a eucalyptus farm along the cane haul road above Pahala and in the macadamia orchards below the town. Operations to kill the fires included water drops from two helicopters, crews from county and volunteer fire departments islandwide, and private and public operations with heavy machinery to build firebreaks around farms, pastures and such installations as diesel tanks used for macadamia machinery. The command center also coordinated road closures along Hwy 11 when the fire jumped the main thoroughfare around the island and at Wood Valley Road when smoke severely diminished air quality.      

     The Fire Department proclaimed the mauka fire as 95 percent contained yesterday afternoon and the makai fires were still burning in hot spots on both sides of the highway this morning.      

 Pahala Volunteer Fire Captain Ron Ebert hopes to upgrade
the volunteer fire truck on loan from the U.S. Forest Service.
 Photo by Julia Neal

     Pahala Volunteer Fire Captain Ron Ebert responded to a front page photo of the unit’s fire truck in Hawai`i Tribune Herald by saying it is “a surplus U.S. Forest Service truck on loan...If we had more and better equipment, less property damage would have occurred.” Ebert also sent out a call for more and younger people to become volunteer fire fighters in Pahala and the other units around the island. He noted that Discovery Harbour, Na`alehu, Pahala, Ocean View and Volcano volunteer firefighters helped with this week’s battle.

THE AXIS DEER LAW is likely to go into effect today. Sen. Gil Kahele said he expects Gov. Neil Abercrombie to sign the bill this morning, making it illegal to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly transfer, transport, and release after transport through interisland movement, any live, wild or feral, deer unless permitted by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources or other state agency. The act will also establish penalties and fines for violators. Kahele introduced SB3001 - Relating to Wildlife - during the 2012 legislative session to address the problem of the invasive axis deer on Hawai`i Island. Kahele, Vice-Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, has been a strong proponent of the swift removal of invasive axis deer. The introduction of axis deer to the Hawaiian Islands, in 1868, has been devastating to Moloka`i and Maui.

DLNR recorded the first official kill of an axis deer in
Ka`u in April.
Photo from Big Island Invasive Species Committee

     Kahele said, "I am extremely pleased that the Governor has decided to sign this important piece of legislation into law. Axis deer have been devastating to our precious environment and our agricultural industry. This law will send a clear message to those that attempt to transport the axis deer to Hawai`i island that this Administration, the Legislature and the residents of our state will not tolerate this conduct. Just this past April the Department of Land and Natural Resources recorded the first official kill of an axis deer in Ka`u. I applaud this effort and will continue my mission to completely eradicate the axis deer from Hawai`i Island. This law reaffirms that message."

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY STROLLS, led by wildlife biologist/photographer Jack Jeffrey, takes place tomorrow at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. from Volcano Art Center Gallery within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The hour-long easy strolls take visitors along the rim of Kilauea caldera as Jeffrey communicates the ecology and geology of the region and offers tips on how to capture it on camera. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis. The strolls are free and donations are appreciated. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org for more.

PUBLIC COMMENTS are due tomorrow for Ka`u Forest Reserve Draft Environmental Assessment. 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. 

An ariel view of the Ka`u Forest Reserve. Photo by Rob Shallenberger

     The plan is to restore and maintain key watersheds within the area 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. 

     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 at Geometrician Associates, PO Box 396, Hilo, HI 96721. Copies should be sent to Tanya Rubenstein at 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. 

Fountain grass, an invasive species in Hawai`i,
increases fire potential. Photo from hawaii.hawaii.edu

IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT DEVASTATING FIRES IN OCEAN VIEW, volunteers are invited to work with Ocean View Community Association and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park staff to remove invasive fountain grass from roadsides in Ocean View Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fountain grass, Pennisetum setaceum, is a highly flammable bunch grass native to North Africa. “This fire-promoting plant spreads quickly, and is one of the few invasive species that can colonize young lava flows that would otherwise serve as natural firebreaks, said HVNP ecologist David Benitez. “It aggressively chokes out native plants and increases fire potential in natural areas.” Volunteers meet at Ocean View Community Center at 9 a.m. Bring lunch, water, a hat and sunscreen. For more information, contact Benitez at 985-6085 or david_benitez@nps.gov.

Art by Patti Pease Johnson.

A BACK TO BASICS YOGA WORKSHOP is offered at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Athena Engelman and Rachelle Castillo teach the fundamentals of basic yoga, including breath control, body awareness and anatomy, proper alignment and injury prevention. The class is $65 for the general public and $59.50 for VAC members. For more, call 967-8222.

FROM THE EARTH, a daily art exhibit at Volcano Art Center Gallery within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park begins Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit displays an exaggeration of natural forms in ceramics, silk, cement, pastel and natural plant materials by Karen Hagen, Patti Pease Johnson and Margaret Lynch. An opening reception will be held that evening, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and an Artist’s Lecture will be held Friday, June 29, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gallery entrance is free and park entrance fees apply. For more, visit volcanoartcenter.org or call 967-7565.

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Ka`u News Briefs June 20, 2012

Large flames engulf pasture lands along Hwy 11 next to the Ann Fontes farm. Photo from Hawai`i County Fire Dept.

FIREFIGHTERS SAVED THE HOMES of Ann Fontes, and Lisa and Jimmy Dacalio and their Ka`u Coffee roadside outlet along Hwy 11 yesterday, as three fires continued to burn around Pahala. The eastern makai fire burned into the Ka`u Desert through gulches and reached the highway, shutting it down between mile markers 46 and 51 around 1 p.m., which disrupted traffic around the island. Through this morning, police escorted one lane of traffic at a time to allow cars to travel between Volcano and Pahala.

Rims and skulls burned by the fire.
Photo by Ralph Gaston

     Ash from the fires reached as far as Ocean View yesterday and air quality remained diminished this morning with heavy particulates, while SO2 from vog remained negligible. Residents and firefighters hoped for rains to clean the air and dampen flames but precipitation failed to relieve Pahala yesterday, while it poured in Ocean View and Na`alehu. A rain reached the village at 8:18 a.m. today. Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative President Gloria Camba said this morning that rain may help the coffee trees recover by giving them much needed moisture and washing the soot off leaves and branches.
     She reported the damage, describing Godofredo Miranda's 5.7 acre farm: One third is good and the rest was in the path of the fire. "Cherries in the burned area are cooked," Camba said.

 Makai fire below Pahala yesterday, seen from coffee farms that were spared.
Photo by Ralph Gaston

     Sixto Asuncion reported 500 trees burned, and Rosita Avenue suffered charred windbreaks and several rows of damaged coffee trees. Melchor Fernandez suffered more than 200 trees damaged. A few trees burned on the farms of Jeffrey Gascon and Efren Abellera. Camba said that about 30 of the trees on the farm that she operates with Bong Aquino suffered heat damage. Camba said the farmers have taken photographs and are working on crop insurance claims.

Sign melts along Hwy
11 near Pahala.
Photo by Ralph Gaston

     ML Macadamia trees could be seen from Hwy 11 this morning, heavily damaged by flames, which burned their trunks as the fire swept through orchards. The county Fire Department estimated that more than 4,000 acres burned through macadamia, grasslands and into the Ka`u desert, running through Pa`au`au, Keaiwa and other gulches covered in grasses and brush. Randy Cabral, Senior Vice President and Orchard Manager for ML Macadamia, said that all of the 800 acres in orchards on makai side of Hwy 11 suffered some damage. Some trees burned to the ground mostly in the lower orchards that have been out of production since the 2000 flood - orchards that ML had been working on to bring back to life.

Firefighters from around the
state help fight the fire along
Hwy 11 near Pahala.
Photo from Hawai`i
County Fire Dept.

     The ML irrigation system inside the orchards sustained severe damage as irrigation lines and pipes melted in the inferno. The wells and diesel tanks protected by firebreaks are fine, said Cabral. "Every place with grass burned," he said. Fire blazed through gulches that connected with grass that torched the firebreaks. Cabral said his crew is making sure today that any hot spots near grassy areas are put out. He said the ML crew did most of the work fighting the fires within the orchards. "They did a bang up job in containing the fire," he proclaimed.
     Cabral said ML is surveying orchards and adding up the damages. When macadamia trees die, the losses go on for years and years as it takes many years for macnut trees to mature and become productive, should they have to be replanted.

Fire burns through lands makai of
 Hwy 11 and Pahala.
Photo from Hawai`i County Fire Dept.

     Eucalyptus farm worker Kirk Derasin from Forest Solutions said that about 230 acres of Kamehameha Schools land burned but that most of the trees should recover.
     At Ka`u Hospital, the Emergency Room reopened last night after being closed since Monday when flames jumped the highway, skipped up Kamani Street and scorched the grass makai of the main building along Hwy 11. This morning, evacuated patients remained with their hospital beds inside Na`alehu Community Center, while health officials hoped for air quality to improve in Pahala so they could move patients back to Ka`u Hospital. Ka`u Hospital Administrator Merilyn Harris said she plans to reopen the Ka`u Rural Health Clinic and the hospital laboratories tomorrow. The crew is cleaning up soot and trying to improve the air quality before patients return.
    She said the air "is really smelling like a barbecue in here." A project to make windows airtight and to install air conditioning and air cleaning is expected to begin at the end of summer. Had the improvements been made before the fire, "we probably would not have evacuated," she said.

Pa`au`au gulch burned and the fire jumped Hwy 11, threatening Ka`u
 Hospital and homes. Photo by John Cross

     The county Fire Department estimated that more than 400 acres burned in eucalyptus, pasture and coffee farms in and around Pear Tree above Pahala. The Fire Department reported that the mauka fire was 80 percent contained this morning. Makai fires were 40 percent contained.
   Yesterday, police limited travel up Wood Valley Road, as smoke filled the land mauka of Pahala through Keaiwa and into the valley. Ka`u Coffee Mill on Wood Valley Road sent some employees home and others to water down its makai lands along Hwy 11.
      The U.S. government’s air quality website Airnow showed particulates in the orange level yesterday and this morning and advised that people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion. Ironically, the SO2 level, which is the usual air quality concern in Pahala, was very low.
     Firefighters traveled from county and volunteer units around the state as well as Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Heavy equipment operators and farmers helped in building firebreaks and watering down dry lands as the fires approached buildings, farms and ranched.

Gov. Abercrombie signs a bill that could help Hawai`i fight against pests
and diseases that impact bee populations around the state.
Photo from Gov. Abercrombie's Flickr account

JUNE 18 MARKED THE BEGINNING OF HAWAI`I POLLINATION WEEK, as proclaimed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie yesterday. The proclamation is part of an effort to raise awareness of a threat within the state’s agricultural economy. The governor also signed into law a measure that could aid Hawai`i’s fight against pests and diseases that impact the state’s bee populations.
     The bill, HB 2100, releases $30,000 to the University of Hawai`i system for beehive research in collaboration with  Hawai`i Department of Agriculture. The bill focuses attentions on four islands: Hawai`i, Maui, O`ahu and Kaua`i. Throughout the state, there has reportedly been significant hive loss attributed to the varroa mite, small hive beetle and other diseases. As bees are necessary to pollinate many crops, loss of beehives threatens the agricultural economy on all islands.

State funding aims at helping bees to recover
from pest and disease.
Photo from Big Island Video News

     UH Hilo will participate in the research, using its 110-acre Panaewa farm to develop more efficient methods for controlling the small hive beetle, which is a major pest of honey beehives on Hawai`i Island.
     “Bees are particularly important as pollinators for our macadamia nut and coffee industries; bee-pollinated crops contribute about $106 million to our local economy,” Abercrombie said. “The University of Hawai`i is leading research to protect many of Hawai`i’s own native pollinators, including seven species of yellow-faced bees that are candidates for the endangered species list.”
     Abercrombie added that, “by marking Hawai`i Pollinator Week in conjunction with National Pollinator Week, our state is helping to create a positive ‘buzz’ around bees and promote bee health as a vital component to healthy food systems and natural ecosystems.”
     UH Hilo has been offering an introductory course on beekeeping for more than 20 years, and now also offers an advanced beekeeping course that allows students to build upon their acquired skills with independent projects that include research and creative activities.

CATCH LIMITS FOR BIGEYE TUNA AND HAWAI`I BOTTOMFISH and authorized take of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles will be discussed through tomorrow in Honolulu at the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council office. The Scientific and Statistical Committee that advises the Council will also discuss the management of other federally managed fisheries in Hawai`i.
     The 2012-13 Main Hawaiian Islands Bottomfish Annual Catch Limit, for the Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 bottomfish, is expected to stay the same as the 2011-12 fishing year, at 346,000 lbs as no new information or stock assessment for this fishery has been provided.
     The US Pacific Territory Bigeye Tuna and Other Highly Migratory Species Catch Limits will also be discussed along with Congressional legislation regarding the management of Highly Migratory Species.

Loggerhead turtles could be accidentally taken in larger
numbers by fishing boats. Photo by Vance Miller

     The National Marine Fisheries Service will provide an update on a rule that, if approved, could increase the number of leatherback sea turtles from 16 to 26 and loggerhead sea turtles from 17 to 34 taken by mistake each season in the Hawai`i shallow-set longline fishery for swordfish. This would implement the Incidental Take Statement in the 2012 Biological Opinion for Hawai`i Shallow-set Longline Fishery. The Council will consider whether the proposed rule is consistent with Amendment 18 to the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan.
     The Council’s Standing Committees will review the recommendations on June 25 at the Council office. Full Council will take action June 26-28 in Honolulu and transmit their recommendations to the US Secretary of Commerce for final approval. For full agendas and more details, visit wpcouncil.org/meetings.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK hosts two musical events today. Kenneth Makuakane shares original songs from his latest albums, The Dash, White Bath Tub, Makuakane and other award-winning composition at 10 a.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center. At 6:30 p.m., Aloha Festivals Hawaiian falsetto contest winner Kai Ho`opi`i shares music of his `ohana at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. The events are free, and park entrance fees apply.

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY STROLLS, led by wildlife biologist/photographer Jack Jeffrey, takes place Friday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. from Volcano Art Center Gallery within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The hour-long easy strolls take visitors along the rim of Kilauea caldera as Jeffrey communicates the ecology and geology of the region and offers tips on how to capture it on camera. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis. The strolls are free and donations are appreciated. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org for more.

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