Projects, Programs and News

A Facelift for Lava Tree State Park: Lava Tree State Park has suffered from neglect due to under funding and under staffing for many years. The weeds took over, and newcomers thought they belonged there. After a huge albizia branch fell through the pavilion roof the State chopped down the most dangerous trees, killed the weeds and sprayed for coqui frogs. MOP then offered to restore the park by cleaning up the debris and replanting in the species native to the area. So far over 70 trees have been planted. There are too many people, businesses, groups and agencies to thank for work already done, but you know who you are. MAHALO NUI LOA! (click on this for more information}

Wai ‘opae Tidepools Now Protected (click on link for a page on the tidepools)

Under Our Wing: What do the Friends of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Ka‘ohe Homesteads Community & Farm Watch, Big Island Invasive Species Committee and Pahoa Weed & Seed have in common? They are all functioning under MOP's nonprofit status until they can get their own. This process is called "umbrellaing". When a new group starts, they have to raise funds in order to file as a non-profit, but they can't offer donors a tax deduction because they are not yet official. This makes for difficult start-ups unless they have a rich patron. This Catch-22 is your federal government at work. We help cut through the red tape so that these groups can start doing their thing and helping our community. Already our "ducklings" have:

• Given an educational slide show about our native birds
• Created the first annual "Get High On Live" anti-"ice" event
• Helped put on the very successful "Pahoa Springtime Jamm"
• Gotten grants to fund eradication of Miconia and Coqui

Palms Planted at Pahoa Neighborhood Facility: We spent years urging the Department of Parks and Recreation to do proper pruning of the Fern Trees, but they paid no heed to us or to certified arborist Mike Kraus. They continued to "top" them, using non-vertical cuts which increase the trees' susceptibility to insects and diseases. As predicted, the trees sickened and the insects administered the coup de grace. Then the trees were cut down. For six years we kept asking for replacement trees to shade the parking lot. Finally the Department planted only six Manila palms. We felt that wasn't enough and asked permission to plant more, which was granted, our volunteers put Fishtails in the medians between the Manilas. Then the Department found a Royal Poinciana and asked us to plant that too, so we did. It now graces the entrance to the parking lot. We eagerly await the first blooming.

Heavy Metal 2003 and Solid Waste Issues: This year our Heavy Metal clean up once again targeted white goods on Apa‘a St., (the Pahoa "dump road"). Working with Ka‘ohe Homesteads Community & Farm Watch we jammed three tons of metal into a Matson container (mahalo to Matson, who also gave us a $1,000 donation}. We also filled 24 large trash bags with other rubbish, which went to the transfer station. We have also reported abandoned and derelict vehicles on our roadsides and arranged for them to be removed. We provided community service workers to help clean up the debris from the drug houses demolished across from Pahoa Cash & Carry. We have also provided input to the County for the proposed revision of the ordinance which deals with solid waste issues. We have written scripts for TV spots and we are part of a think tank, Coalition for Litter - free Environments And Neighborhoods (CLEAN}, which is looking at proactive and creative ways to address the problem and change bad habits and attitudes. We welcome your ideas.

Uluwehi Native Tree Arboretum: We didn't accomplish as much as we wanted to on this project, due to lack of funding (three different grant proposals were turned down). However, we did what we could to move this forward anyway. We divided the parcel into none one-acre sections, each one representing a phase of work, and did detailed mapping (noting landforms, existing trees, etc.) of the first one-acre phase. Iopa Maunakea (aka Bruddah Kuz), his father Alex, Arboretum Director Mark Franklin and friends surveyed the entire 9 acre parcel, found the pins and our rear boundary. This information is absolutely required by potential funders, and now that we have it we might be more successful in 2004. A really big mahalo to them for an important job we could not otherwise afford. We also destroyed a bunch of junk trees (cecropia, melochia and melastoma). We got a good deal on a Sears 12x8 metal tool shed. A student intern, Talena Adams, came to us for the summer and did some propagating for us. We received donated plants from the DLNR Tree Nursery and the Forest Team class at HCC, Which we will outplant when they get a little bigger. Please volunteer for this fun project.

Caring for Our Land: We are pleased to announce that MOP now has a regular column in the monthly (soon to be bimonthly) Puna News. This is an important major outreach for us because it is a free paper with a broad circulation in our district. We can really get the word out about the environmental issues with which we are involved. We have had 8 articles, the two latest of which are included in this web site. So far we have had a lot of very positive feedback on our articles, including phone calls from folks on the mainland. We intend to continue this successful educational project. If you have any suggestions for future articles, call Rene at the office (954-9254) and talk story, or send an E-mail to contact@malamaopuna.org.

Exceptional Trees: We continue to nominate trees to the Hawai‘i County's "Exceptional Tree Program". Please click here to see our web page on this subject.