Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 5, 1 May 2006 — KAHO ʻOLAWE NOW [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

KAHO ʻOLAWE NOW

Thirty years after the struggle for Kaho'olawe began, and more than two years after the Navy formally returned control of the island to the state, Kaho'olawe lsland Reserve Commission Executive DirectorSol Kaho'ohalahala reflects on the island's past, present and future.

Interview by Sterling Kini Weng Publicatinns Editnr Ohirty years ago, activists began a series of oeeupations on Kaho'olawe in an attempt to stop the U.S. Navy from using the 45-square-mile island as a bombing range, whieh it had done since World War II. The oeeupations led to arrests, litigation and the eventual loss of two lives, George Hehn and Kimo Mitchell, who disappeared after reaching the island in March 1977. The Kaho'olawe struggle also helped touch off a renewed interest among Native Hawaiians in their culture and history. Since then, the Navy ceased its training on Kaho'olawe, conducted a 10-year, $400-million (but still incomplete) eleanup of the island and transferred control of it to the state. Today, the state's Kaho'olawe Island Reserve

Conunission (KIRC) manages the island. In March, KWO sat down to talk with Sol Kaho 'ohalahala, who in January 2005 left his newly won seat in the state House of Representatives to heeome the executive director of the commission. Born and raised on Lāna'i, Kaho'ohalahala has been involved with both Kaho'olawe and the voyaging eanoe Hōkūle'a for 30 years. Whal does Kaho 'olawe represent toyou? For me personally, there are two real symbols of the Hawaiian renaissance: Hōkūle'a and Kaho'olawe. If we didn't have these movements, I don't know if we'd be as far ahead as we are today as Hawaiians. The struggle for Kaho 'olawe

has such an emoūonal history. What effect does that have on plans to move forward with the island's future? Because we as Hawaiians accept the fact that part of our forward movement is our history, we always try to step back to regain a sense of that foundation. When we talk about Kaho'olawe, we still have to reiterate that history. But by the time we're done with the history, we spend very little time talking about the future. I would like to steer people towards that discussion, whieh needs to happen, not only at the commission level, but also at the community level. Whal is the present focus of KIRC's restoration effort? Because the island has been devastated by ranching and the Navy's use of it as a bombing

range, one of the things we're doing is re-establishing the summit forest at Moa'ulanui, whieh would stabilize the watershed and condense some of the moisture coming off the oeean. It's going to be a long-tenn project, but it's an opportunity to sustain and restore the island. The actual daily planting is very critical, so we constantly encourage our volunteers to give us a hand, because we gotta kanu. Right now we ean only rely on natural rainfall for our restoration efforts. We have a one-acre catchment system that has kept our water tanks full with sufficient rain over the last two years. But if we eome into a period of drought, that water supply is only going to allow us to irrigate for up to a month and a half. We must plan now for more water storage to help us through the dry years. And

the dry years are going to eome. Doesn't heavy rain also cause detrimental erosion? Any rainfall that comes to Kaho'olawe is a blessing. But we do have a lot of exposed areas, and heavy, torrential rain just washes everything out. Two of our recent projects, though, have focused on addressing restoration and erosion. First was the Moa'ulanui Watershed project, whieh helped stabilize the ground with plants. The second is the Clean Water project, whieh will help us monitor and measure erosion in the watershed. Our hope is that the planting and restoration work that we have done will slow down or eliminate the current erosion of the island. And that will help to keep our marine environment and resources as pristine as possible.

— MĀLAMA 'ĀINA • CARING FDR ĪHE LANŪ

What's the current procedure for dealing with the military ordnanee still left on the island? The Navy is physically gone from the island, but they're still responsible for any "newly discovered, not previously detected" ordnance. Every time we get a rain event on Kaho'olawe, it changes the landscape, and ordnance is revealed. So when we do discover them, we iimnediately notify the Navy. Their responsibility is to eome back to the island and take care of disposing it. There are places on the island that have never been and will probably never be totally cleared of ordnance. Those are kapu areas, and we cannot be ignorant of the fact that they're dangerous. The restoration work needed to begin somewhere, however. The commission identified areas where we wanted to do restoration work, and the Navy cleared those areas, surface and some sub-surface. So

we concentrate on those areas. KIRC's 2004-2008 strategic plan pointed out that its then $35-million trust fund needed to he increased. How do you plan to accomplish that? Our budget in the 2005 fiscal year was a little over $2 million. This year's current budget is about $5.5 million. The budget covers the costs to manage the reserve, our current operations on Maui and Kaho'olawe, all of our programs, our 26 staff members, contracts for transportation to the island, fuel and maintenance. If you do the math, it is clear that our trust funds will only extend out for about five years. Therefore, we have continued to find other ways to supplement our trust fund with grants that give us additional funds for restoration. We're also looking at cutting expenses through more efficient ways of managing and maintain-

ing our operations. Ultimately, to sustain the island and our work, we're going to have to look at other long-tenn sources of funding for Kaho'olawe. Whal about seeking dedicated funding from the state Legislature? I think the state has to be one of the areas of support that we should pursue. I'm trying to prepare the commission to look into it. Whal are some of the future changes that you foresee for KIRC? We need to find a reliable and safe way to transport our staff, contract workers, volunteers and supplies to Kaho'olawe. I don't think that means we're going to be flying over; it's probably going to be by sea. But the problem with sea transportation is that the island doesn't have a harbor or a pier.

Energy is another area that will need to change. The coimnission inherited a lot of the island's infrastructure from the Navy, and the facilities operate on fossil fuels. Currently, we pay ahnost $8 a gallon for diesel, whieh includes the cost to fly the fuel to the island. So just based on cost alone, fossil fuels are not part of our long-term vision. We've been taking a long look at renewables. Maybe we could use some solar voltaics or small wind generators. This year, the state Legislature and the administration have supported programs and projects that move toward energy efficiencies

and renewables. So I say, 'right on.' Kaho'olawe is the perfect candidate to help demonstrate renewable energy. Overall, how are you feeling about where things stand today? We have eome a long way - the island is the greenest I've ever seen it in 30 years. But we still have a lot yet to do, and that kind of challenge for me is exciting. I believe we have the history, we have the cultural practice and we have innovation. That's the dynamics of our people: to be able to combine those to make the best of what we ean. E3

MĀLAMA 'ĀINA • CARING FDR ĪHE LANŪ —

Clockwise from bottom left: Volunteers plaee a coconut liner over an eroded gully to prevent further sediment run-off. 'lokepa Nae'ole drills a hole for planting. A bail made of rolled pili grass is laid across certain areas as an erosion control measure. KIRC Executive Director Sol Kaho'ohalahala. Photos: courtesy of KIPC; Kaho'ohalahala portralt hy Derek Penai Opposite page: One of 92,000 pieces of ordnance removed during the Kaho'olawe eleanup is detonated near the former Navy eamp at Honokanai'a. Photo: U.S. Navy.