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Environment & Ecology

NOAA Seeks Community Monk Seal Feedback

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

With only a little more than 1,000 left in the world, the Hawaiian monk seal is one of the rarest marine mammals. Studies have shown that there are approximately 200 seals living on or around the Main Hawaiian Islands, with about 40 on Molokai. Even though their numbers are dwindling, their presence has caused conflict with divers and fishermen near shore, some of whom believe the seals are competing with them for fish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries aims to not only protect endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal, but also to conduct research in hopes of furthering understanding in communities in which they live.…

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Caring for Koheo

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Caring for Koheo

Wetland serves as learning grounds for community

At the end of Seaside Place in Kaunakakai, tucked behind a string of houses along Molokai’s southern shoreline, is what might appear to be a large, vacant lot. For years, this site was used as a dump, but through the efforts of Nene O Molokai, a nonprofit organization led by wildlife biologist Arleone Dibben-Young, the area has been cleaned up over the past 10 years and restored to what it is today –the Koheo Wetland. It is now home to dozens of species of native shorebirds, including one of the rarest shorebirds in the world and Kaunakakai’s official bird, the kioea, also known as the bristle-thighed curlew.…

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Monsanto Fund Donates $20,000 for Molokai Watershed Protection

Sunday, October 14th, 2012

Monsanto Molokai News Release

The Monsanto Fund awarded a $20,000 grant to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of Hawaii for watershed protection at Kamakou Preserve on Molokai. Since 2006, the Monsanto Fund has contributed a total of $130,000 to TNC’s protection and restoration efforts of critical watershed and fragile ecosystems on Molokai.

Located high in the mountains of East Molokai, the 2,774-acre Kamakou Preserve is a rainforest like no other on the planet. This magnificent natural treasure not only shelters hundreds of native plants and animals, but also serves as an important source of water for the island and its people.

TNC’s work at Kamakou Preserve, in collaboration with the public and private landowners of the East Molokai Watershed Partnership, is focused on invasive animal and weed control.…

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Now Is the Time to Tell Government What You Want

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

I Aloha Molokai News Release

From now until Oct. 9, Hawaii residents have a unique chance to tell the federal government what kind of energy projects we want on our islands. This is the Hawaii Clean Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, or PEIS. In plain English, this means the feds are writing guidelines based on input from all of us. The more questions we ask, the more comments we make, the more our state will have to plan ahead, protect our resources and scenery, and pick projects we might be able to afford.

This is our chance to discuss the potential impact of giant wind turbines on the island’s west end.…

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Biodiesel: A Viable Option

Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

Biodiesel: A Viable Option

Molokai farmers explore renewable energy alternatives

Kukui nuts have long been used by Hawaiians for food and medicinal purposes, but it may soon be also used for fuel –specifically, biodiesel fuel. Wayde Lee, who created the Molokai Sustainable Farming Project (MSFP) last year, has been exploring biodiesel initiatives that he said may lead to economic stability and energy security for Molokai farmers. Recently, they’ve been working with Maui-based company Pacific Biodiesel (PBD) to discuss the possibility of eventually developing a crushing and processing plant on-island that would produce biodiesel fuel for Molokai from crops farmed on Molokai.

According to Wescott Lee, Wayde’s brother and MSFP’s project facilitator, over 2.5 million gallons of diesel are imported to Molokai every year, most of which goes towards powering the Maui Electric Company Molokai electric plant.…

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Protecting Public Lands

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

Residents testify against the PLDC at public hearing

“It is dangerous to put public lands in private hands,” said Molokai resident Kauhane Adams. Yet it seems that this is exactly what legislature created the Public Land Development Corporation (PLDC) to do when they passed senate bill Act 55 in 2011 that established the corporation.

The PLDC’s intent to “generate additional revenues for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) by developing under-utilized or unused public land,” according to a written statement circulated by the PLDC.

Homesteader Adolph Helm claimed that the PLDC would allow “fast-track boondoggle projects that benefit the private developer and the pockets of the well-connected [while] stripping Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of trust lands.”

Sentiments against the advancement of the PLDC have echoed throughout the state at similar meetings hosted by the PLDC last month on Hawaii Island, Maui, Oahu and Kauai.…

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Editorial: Mo`omomi Needs All of Us

Friday, August 31st, 2012

By Todd Yamashita, Molokai Dispatch Publisher

I can remember the days when my family got the key to visit Mo`omomi. Driving down the bumpy, dusty road watching the ocean shimmer in the distance, my anticipation would grow as we neared the shoreline. Although I was just a kid, I remember feeling really lucky. It was a privilege to be there and I was grateful.

Since then, Mo`omomi has seen many changes – the latest being the reintroduction of a gate which has made many upset. Gates can be controversial because they are meant to keep people out. But if you look deeper, past the gate, this is really an issue of conservation.…

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Bio-Logical Capital Agrees to Buy Hana Ranch on Maui

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

Hana Ranch Partners signed a sale agreement last week to pass ownership of its cattle ranch on Maui to Bio-Logical Capital, the land development company that teamed up with Pattern Energy last year and formed joint venture Molokai Renewables to study the feasibility of developing a 200-megawatt wind farm on Molokai.

Guy Kaulukukui, Bio-Logical Capital’s senior vice president, said the company plans to preserve and possibly expand Hana Ranch’s cattle operations.

“We are truly humbled to take on the kuleana of this remarkable ranch,” said Kaulukukui in a news release. “It is at once a privilege and a great responsibility… [Hana has] the potential to become a model for sustainable ranching and farming practices in the state.”

The Ranch started in 1944 with only 1,400 acres of land and a herd of cattle brought over from Molokai, according to The Maui News.…

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Big Wind Environmental Impact Statement Meeting

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

Dept. of Energy News Release

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Hawaii have established a long-term partnership to transform the way in which renewable energy and energy efficiency resources are planned and used in the state. In 2010, DOE announced its intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) with the state as a joint lead for wind energy development under the Hawaii Interisland Renewable Energy Program (HIREP). In response to public comments, as well as regulatory and policy developments, DOE has broadened the scope of the PEIS to now include energy efficiency, distributed renewables, utility-scale renewables, alternative transportation fuels and modes, and electrical transmission and distribution.…

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Why Save Seeds?

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

Why Save Seeds?

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR

A recent flood in Thailand passed through people’s minds and then it was gone, an insignificant event in the eyes of residents in Hawaii. Tie this to the recent lei shortage during graduation, where common leis were selling for $20 each, and you start to see how these events over 4000 miles away affect us. This is truly a global economy. Other collateral damage from the Thai floods were crop failures of vegetable seeds, vital to the production of food in many parts of the world. Centralizing seed production has its challenges, and when they get wiped out, they really get wiped out.…

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