By ERIN MILLER
By ERIN MILLER
Stephens Media
A state Department of Land and Natural Resources plan would enclose 12,000 acres of Ka‘u forest, allow for the reintroduction of the Hawaiian crow and find ways to add more public access to the area, according to a draft environmental assessment released Wednesday.
DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife is preparing the draft environmental assessment for a proposed management plan for the Ka‘u Forest Reserve, 61,641-acre reserve, located 2,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level, adjacent to land owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kamehameha Schools. The fencing project will cost roughly $10.4 million, according to the draft assessment.
DLNR officials said they anticipated a finding of no significant impact for the management plan.
“DOFAW seeks to balance providing public hunting opportunities in the reserve with the protection of native ecosystems and watersheds, and the plan includes actions to substantially facilitate public hunting in the reserve,” the assessment said. “Fences would include walkovers and gates to ensure public access into management units. Other actions include weed monitoring and control, trail and access improvements for hunters and hikers, outplanting of rare plant species, cooperation with water source users, and actions to foster reintroduction and survival of the alala (Hawaiian crow). Impacts to pig hunting, which is considered by many to be a cultural practice, would occur but be less than significant because of the proposed locations of management areas.”
The Board of Land and Natural Resources must ultimately approve the plan, while DOFAW has management responsibility for the reserve.
DLNR cited several needs the management plan will meet, including ways to maintain and restore “key watershed,” as well as ways to preserve “a unique ecosystem with critically endangered plants and animals.”
Endangered birds that may rely on the reserve include the akiapolaau, Hawaii creeper and Hawaii akepa. The reserve also provides habitat for other rare organisms, such as loulu, or Hawaiian palm; io, or Hawaiian Hawk; opeapea, or the Hawaiian hoary bat; and pinao, or Hawaiian damselfly. DLNR officials also noted the importance of the natural resources to Hawaiian culture and traditional practices.
“The reserve contains resources that are vital for maintaining Hawaiian culture and practices,” the draft document said. “Hawaiians considered native plants and animals as family and have a strong spiritual connection to the mountain landscape and the forest itself. Gathering plants such as ferns, maile, flowers, fruits and other lei-making materials cannot be perpetuated into the future unless the forest ecosystem remains relatively pristine.”
Another goal is to enhance public access through development and maintenance of public access roads, trails, camp sites and cabins. The public now has limited access to the area.
Email Erin Miller at
emiller@westhawaiitoday.com.