Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 5, 1 May 2010 — Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission Year in Review [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission Year in Review

This month's eolumn features an update from the Kaho 'oīawe Isīand Reserve Commission 's Restoration Program, provided by their pubīications stajf. The Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) has published its annual Year in Review for Fiscal Year 2009. Miehael K. Naho'opi'i, Executive Director for the state agency that oversees the management and use of Kaho'olawe, introduced the annual report with the following statement: "Our Year in Review for FY 2009 encapsulates just a fraction of the work accomplished by our dedicated eom-

mission, staff, volunteers and stewardship partners. Due to the island's remote location and laek of infrastructure, the work is extremely challenging; however, it is also extremely rewarding to see the results of our labors literally blossom before our eyes. "Not only do we work to restore and protect Kaho'olawe's land and seas, we also work to heal the people that venture here. The transformative power of Kaho'olawe is felt by all that touch its shores, explore its pristine reefs, venture up its slopes and feel the island's pain. "During this first year of implementing our new strategic plan, we have seen significant changes in our operation, morale and working relationships with eaeh other and other organizations. A eommon theme woven throughout this report and in all of our programs is "doing more with less" in this challenging fiscal elimate. Through innovative partnerships and dedicated volunteers, we are able to more effectively accomplish our goals and keep on the path to healing the island." The Year in Review, and those that will follow, provides the agency with a snapshot of its work on Kaho'olawe, allowing KIRC to regularly mark and measure progress in its historically and culturally critical endeavors. The report features comprehensive summaries of eaeh of the KIRC's programs and key goals for the upcoming year, and highlights significant aeeomplishments, including the following three projects undertaken by KIRC's Restoration Program. First, a wetland restoration project funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service will restore wetland habitats found at Keālialalo and Kaukaukāpapa. During the rainy winter See MACHAD0 on page 21

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

HAOHAPO Continued from page 17

season, open bodies of water ean be found at these locations and they persist for months after the winter storms. To extend their duration, water-hungry alien trees are being removed, native wetland vegetation is being planted and water tanks have been installed for irrigation during the dry summer. Second, a comprehensive series of native plantings and erosion control efforts in the Kaulana and Hakioawa watersheds have helped to retain valuable topsoil and thereby reduce surface water runoff, soil erosion and siltation in upland watersheds and along the coastline. Funded by the federal Clean Water Act, through the state Department of Heahh, this project is recognized as a "success story" on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web site. The third project area focuses on the faunal restoration of Kaho'olawe's native seabirds. With iniīial funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and in partnership with Island Conservation and others, preliminary field surveys have begun in an effort to protect and expand seabird habitats from the coastal cliffs to the main parts of Kaho'olawe through eradication of predator animals, miee and rats. Success with this project could establish Kaho'olawe as a refuge for endangered, threatened and native bird species whose long-term survival is threatened by global warming and rising sea levels. KIRC is proud of these and other aeeomplishments for Fiscal Year 2009 and is already working toward achieving its goals for Fiscal Year 2010. KIRC's Year in Review for FY 2009 and other information about Kaho'olawe ean be found on KIRC's web site at kahoolawe.hawaii.gov. ■