Malama O Puna Year in Review

OUR 2004 YEAR IN REVIEW (cont)

Advocacy and Watch-dogging 

During 2004 we testified, wrote comment letters, made phone calls or otherwise advocated IN FAVOR OF the following:

  • State Parks needs: Lava Tree, McKenzie, Cape Kumukahi – primarily proper restroom facilities with hand washing capability.
  • Creating signage to protect our Exceptional Trees and to inform the public.
  • Prosecuting SMA violations (such as coastal forest destruction) along the Puna coast.
  • Developing a sort station to handle our recyclables.
  • Developing an accurate Puna Regional Circulation Plan to address our transportation needs without becoming a 14-lane nightmare.
  • Amending the Exceptional Tree Ordinance to remove loopholes and increase penalties.
  • Allowing a land trust to help save the Puna rainforest, the Wao Kele O Puna, from commercial development. This forest of over 27,000 acres is both the lungs of our island and its major watershed.
  • Improvements to the Poho‘iki boat ramp to address safety concerns.
  • Increased monitoring and better signage to protect the honu in the Champagne Ponds.
  • A County amnesty program which would allow removal of abandoned vehicles from private property.

 We advocated AGAINST the following:

  • The Stryker Brigade 
  • Gill Nets
  • Illegal Dumping
  • GMOs
  • More development on Mauna Kea


Events 

SHABU-SHABU : The new owners of Lava Zone offered to do a fundraiser for us in their new restaurant, and it brought in close to $700 for us. (The restaurant has since closed and Ludi’s Filipino Foods moved in). 

PAHOA SPRINGTIME JAMM: This 2nd annual block party was designed to help the Puna economy, by enticing people who usually avoid Pahoa to come to town, have fun, and break the ice. Local craftspeople, food vendors, Pahoa merchants and non profits all had a chance to earn some money. We were in on the organizing, and acted as fiscal agent for the event. There is County funding for the 3rd annual Jamm, which will be on April 9, 2005. Don’t miss it! 

GET HIGH ON LIFE: We had some County funding which helped to put on this anti-“ice” community resource fair, and we partnered with Pahoa Weed and Seed, Pahoa Merchant’s Assn., Brian Jordan and Creative Arts. It was the 2nd annual such event, and we will try to make it better every year. 


Under Our Umbrella 

There are groups that are too small or too young to have their own non-profit status, but do good work for our community, so we help them by acting as a fiscal umbrella: This year we helped the Puna Jr. Lifesaving Program, Pahoa Weed and Seed, the Kokua Pahoa Neighborhood Watch, Ka‘ohe Homesteads Neighborhood Watch, Get High On Life, the Pahoa Springtime Jamm, the Coquí Working Group and Big Island Invasive Species Committee.