Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 6, 1 June 2010 — Many hands make preserving Honouliuli possible [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Many hands make preserving Honouliuli possible

lnterviewed by Lisa Asato

Lea Hong is the Hawaiian Islands Program Direetor for the Trust for Puhlie Land, whieh on June 2 celebrates the transfer of Honouliuli Forest Reserve to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The event culminates a four-year process of buying the 3,592acre parcel from landowner James Campbell Co. LLC and ultimately transferring it to the state. TPL raised $4.3 million for the 2009 purchase - whieh will protect everything on the eastern slope of 0'ahu's Wai'anae Range, fromMakakilo to Schofield, comprising Mauna Kapu to Pu'u Hāpapa. Funds eame from the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program, $2.7 million; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Land Acquisition Program, $627,809; and the Hawai'i Legacy Land Conservation Fund, $982,956. An endowment has also been created at the Hawai'i Community Foundation to support the state's management of the preserve, with $295,000 donated by The Nature Conservancy and $25,000 eaeh from the Gill 'Ewa Lands LLC and the Edmund C. 01son Trust. Donations may be made to the endowment by calling Hawai'i Community Foundation at 537-6333 or toll-free at 888-731-3863. Besides charitable funders, Hong said, thousands of volunteers and the U.S. Army have worked to maintain the forest reserve and will continue to do so under the state's management. "It's just amazing to think about how many people have touched the area and made the conservation and preservation of the land possible," says Hong, whose invitation to the June celebration reflects the 'ōlelo no'eau, or Hawaiian proverb: "A'ohe hana nui ke alu 'ia - No task is too big when done together by all."

KWO: What does the transfer of Honouliuli Forest Reserve to the state Department of Land and Natural Resource's Division of Forestry and Wildlife mean for the future of the forest reserve? LH: It means that it will be permanently protected and not developed and that the forest reserve watershed will continue to provide drinking water to the Pearl Harbor aquifer, whieh is the largest drinking water aquifer for this island. And that the habitat for over 30 threatened and endangered species will be preserved and many cultural sites will also be protected. KWO: Were there development plans in the works? LH : The land was for sale on the open market for a long time. There was fear that if it fell into private hands (that it would be developed). The topography is difficult, but you could develop a few things, like vacations homes or cabins. It is such an important natural and cultural resource, all the partners really wanted to avoid that. KWO: When it comes to the number and diversity of protected species, how does the site compare to other loeal habitats? LH: There are 35 threatened and endangered

species in the forest reserve, including 16 found nowhere else in the world. So as far as O'ahu goes, besides maybe the summit of Ka'ala, it's probably one of the most biodiverse areas on this island. KWO: Does the area have federal distinction, such as critical habitat? LH : It is critical habitat for the O'ahu 'elepaio and other plants and animals. KWO: The preserve is also home to the so-called kāhuli singing snail, whieh is found nowhere else in the world. Have you seen one up close? LH: Yes. There's actually an area called the Land of a Thousand Snails because there were so many of them there at one time. These endangered snails are very unique, individual and beautiful. I haven't heard one sing though. (Laughs.) KWO: Is it a puhlie space - ean anyone visit the preserve? LH: It will be part of the forest reserve and it will be open to the puhlie onee the State of Hawai'i Division of Forestry and Wildlife ean develop its management plan.

KWO: Was it open before? LH : No, it was owned by the James Campbell Co. LLC. The Nature Conservancy hadleased it for a while, but you needed special permission to go hike it. There are some really niee trails that are pretty wild, with very beautiful views of Diamond Head, Wai'anae and Nānākuli from the ridge. And there are of course numerous areas that lā'au lapa'au practitioners and other cultural practitioners continue to access. There are also some areas that are very sensitive so people need to be very careful. With the help of the U.S. Army, some enclosures have been erected so the native plants ean

recover from pig damage. Some of these very rare native plants are like

iee cream to pigs. (Lauahs.) There

ean be plenty of stuff to eat, but pigs really like these plants, especially when the plants are small and young, and especially the hāpu'u - tree fern.

KWO: What's the

cultural and historical significance of the area?

Ln: tnere naven t eeen a tot of formal archaeological studies done, but we know, for example, that the Pōhākea Pass is there. (According to lore), that's one of the sites that Hi'iaka visited on her journey, where she stood and realized that Pele was destroying Puna. There are some carved rock bowls, sort of like Kūkaniloko, where rocks have been carved or worn down to certain shapes. A part of the forest reserve, the area closer to Kūkaniloko, is in an area historically known as Llhu'e, thought to have been in ancient times a plaee of training for warriors and ali'i. KWO: Do you have any personal eonneetions to the site? LH: I'm from Wahiawa, where that mountainside is visible and so beautiful. You pass by it every day when you drive from Central O'ahu to town or downtown to Central O'ahu. It does have some significance to me personally in that it was something ever present to me as I was growing up. KWO: What is the one thing you want people to know about Honouliuli Forest Reserve that they might not know?

See H0NG on pagE 29

LAND & WATER

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Q&A WIĪH LEA HONG

Continued from page 23 LH: The forest reserve has been proteeted and managed by hundreds of volunteers over many years. Volunteers that invested their sweat equity in the land. They went out and weeded and made sure the trails were maintained. They did that when The Nature Conservancy was there, and they continued to do it even after TNC ended their lease. They all are looking forward to working with the state forest reserve. KWO: What's next for TPL in land acquisition? LH: We have agreements with landowners in three projects. We're working to dedicate 27 acres of ranch land at Sunset Ranch, by the Boy Scout Camp at Pūpūkea on the North Shore, to agriculture in perpetuity so it won't be developed. We're in the process of purchasing some land in Kohala, a 17-acre parcel to add to Lapakahi State Park. That parcel has many cultural sites, including an intact pre-contact coastal village that's been studied by the University of Hawai'i for many decades. The parcel is along the coast and is surrounded on three sides by the park itself - an in-holding that the park always wanted to incorporate. We're also buying 10 acres in Pāo'o, south of Lapakahi, in partnership with Hawai'i County for preservation purposes. That site has many cultural sites, eanoe hālau, fishing shrines. KWO: What's on your wish list of areas to preserve? LH: I would like to figure out a way to conserve the agricultural land at Galbraith Estate outside Wahiawā. Galbraith is my dream because, as I said, I'm from Wahiawā. When you drive to the North Shore you always breathe a sigh of relief when you hit that part (of the island). It's so niee. You don't want to see more houses and subdivisions. I don't think any of us wants to see Kapolei II over there. ■

HONG