Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 10, 1 October 2009 — Wind turbines culturally intrusive [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Wind turbines culturally intrusive

This month's eohunn was written by Moīoka 'i homesteader Aāoīph Heīm, who is aīso a member ofAloha Āina Mo 'omomi Anahaki. The Mo'omomi and Anahaki Homestead lands sit side by side on the northwest corner of the Ho'olehua and Pālā'au district of Moloka'i. Endangered native land and seabirds share this rustic land and coastal landscape with other rare and unique plants and animals. Numerous studies have been conducted along with discoveries that illustrate the area to be rich in historic, culturally significant sites. The largest heiau on west Moloka'i is found in Anahaki. The cultural and natural resources help sustain a subsistence lifestyle integrally intertwined with the homesteaders and Native Hawaiian community. For many generations, homesteaders and Native Hawaiians alike have utilized this area

as a sanctuary to practice their culture, organize camping trips, swim, fish, gather limu and other food that the oeean and land offers. These traditions help to bond the family and make the community we live in stronger. The Mo'omomi Homestead land on whieh I live overlooks this area, unsurpassed in beauty. This special plaee is being threatened by a proposal to construct 20 50-megawatt wind turbines, eaeh 400 feet high. Erecting giant wind turbines in the Hawaiian Home Lands of Mo'omomi and Anahaki is wrong. Mo'omomi and Anahaki are home to over 22 native Hawaiian plant species, four of whieh are globally rare and endangered. The sandy and rocky shoreline is the home and nesting grounds for the endangered green turtle (honu) and wedge-tailed shearwater ('ua'u kani). The Hawaiian owl (pueo), the rare Hawaiian monk seal ('ilioholoikauaua) and seabirds like the Black Noddy (noio) live in and frequent this area also. Tremors and vibration from these mammoth machines could negatively impact the habitat and lives of these unique and rare native species. Huge equipment will be needed to clear and widen roads to transport and mobilize materials, the wind tower area will need to be cleared and excavated for the foundation, construction and installation work. Trenching will be required to connect and integrate the electrical transmission lines. These types of construction activities may cause problems and disturbance to our ancestors' iwi and burial grounds and other historic cultural sites. The list of negative impacts is long and many. Developer First Wind (formerly UPC) has stated they've spent over two years meeting

with different people and organizations in the Molokai community to determine whether the residents would support a large wind farm transmitting power to O'ahu. However Ho'olehua homesteaders who live in close proximity to the proposed wind farm project and depend on this area for cultural and subsistence living were never informed by First Wind or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) of their interest to plant wind turbines in Mo'omomi and Anahaki. Currently, DHHL is allowing First Wind a preliminary approval gratis license agreement to conduct wind-testing studies. Two meteorological towers have sprouted up in this area. The idea of allowing this to occur without consulting area residents and homesteaders is very insensitive and disrespectful. First Wind, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and others in the community have also had discussions on the benefits as well as hnaneial opportunities from leasing Hawaiian Home lands to commercial wind farm developers. Today the need to consider alternative energy is obvious. With concerns of global warming and the world's supply of fossil fuels rapidly diminishing, we must all share in the responsibility of moving ourselves and Hawai'i toward energy self-sufficiency. Yet in our determination to address the energy crisis, massive wind-turbine structures are littering our landscape and in many situations altering and compromising the health and well-being of the environment and the community within. In planning and selecting sites for wind farms in Hawai'i, we must ensure the preservation of our Islands' fragile environment and sen-

sitive ecosystem. We must also respect and protect sensitive areas that have deep cultural ties and significance to the loeal community. The Mo'omomi and Anahaki Homestead lands encompass approximately 1,600 acres and are considered one of the last remaining places in Hawai'i that Hawaiians ean freely access to practice their culture and live sustainably. In an effort to protect this precious area from commercial and industrial type development, concerned homesteaders formed an organization called the Aloha 'Āina Mo'omomi Anahaki (AAMA). With other Moloka'i homesteaders and residents numbering close to 500 people, our main goal is to oppose and stop the proposed wind farm project in Mo'omomi and Anahaki. AAMA is requesting the Department of Hawaiian Homelands to revoke any existing entry permit for wind-speed testing for possible wind farm and construction of wind towers and revoke any preliminary approval of a license agreement to develop a commereial wind-farm project in Mo'omomi and Anahaki. Adopt policies to prevent industrialscale wind turbines and electrical transmission cables in Mo'omomi and Anahaki. In keeping with the department's Island Plan and Prince Kūhiō's vision, this area should be designated in perpetuity off limits to these types of commercial development and put aside for Hawaiians to mālama and live on. The passion and aloha people feel for this plaee is both genuine and unprecedented. In the spirit of laulima and lōkahi, we ask Hawai'i to join us to "aloha 'āina" and stand in solidarity to ho'omaluhia and mālama Mo'omomi and Anahaki. ■

Cūlette Y. Machadū Trustee, Mūlūka'i and Lāna'i