NOAA News Release
Due to the rapid decrease in the Hawaiian monk seal population, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Fisheries Service has proposed to revise the critical habitat area for monk seals, and is inviting public comment.
The proposed revision includes expanding the 1988 critical habitat designation in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and adding new areas throughout the main Hawaiian Islands.
More than a thousand nonprofits around the state have lost their tax-exempt status this year, and a handful of those are Molokai organizations, according to a list recently published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Most tax-exempt organizations, other than churches, must file a yearly tax return with the IRS. If an organization fails to do this for three consecutive years, it automatically loses its tax-exempt status.
“Loss of exempt status means an organization must file income tax returns and pay income tax, and its contributors will not be able to deduct their donations,” according to the IRS website.
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Preserving, protecting and sharing Kalaupapa is a delicate process – a balance between government agencies, the settlement’s history of both Native Hawaiians and Hansen’s disease patients, and family members and tourists who want to learn all they can about Kalaupapa. The National Park Service (NPS) has been collecting mana`o and ideas from all spectrums for the Kalaupapa General Management Plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The General Management Plan (GMP) process officially began in 2009 with several public scoping sessions. NPS staff planners then came up with four alternatives, incorporating four different ways the park could be managed for the next 15-20 years.
Last week, NPS held another public session, open house style at the Mitchell Pauole Center. They presented four potential plans as they stand now, and asking for more opinion to ensure all opinions are heard.
“[We want] to really connect with the community, to make sure we’re not missing things along the way,” said Steve Prokop, NPS superintendent for Kalaupapa.
Everyone’s experience with Kalaupapa should be “hands on,” said Boogie Kahilihiwa, a patient living in Kalaupapa who attended the topside open house. Kahilihiwa said any plan should ensure the entire history of the peninsula is included. “[We’re] not the only ones telling the story, but [the visitor] is there [feeling it].”.jpg)
Other comments included residents’ requests for more local access to the area, and more agricultural and cultural perpetuation. Karen Holt, executive director of the Molokai Community Service Council, suggested involving resource management from topside organizations.
“Kalaupapa will forever serve as a place of knowledge,” Waros added.
Moving Forward
Comments will continue to be taken until July 16, and NPS offers a variety of ways to get involved. The public can complete the electronic comment card at parkplanning.nps.gov/kala (the preferred method); email to KALA_GMP@nps.gov; send a letter to Superintendent Prokop (Kalaupapa National Historical Park, P.O. Box 2222, Kalaupapa, HI 96742); or call 567-6802 ex. 1103.
The GMP and draft EIS are due for public review eight months to a year from now, according to Prokop, and the final review will be done in 2013. NPS expects implantation of the approved plan and subsequent statements (EIS, Cultural Impact Statement, etc.) to begin in 2013.
Maui Economic Development Board News Release
Middle and high school students interested in the latest Digital Media and GIS technologies are encouraged to sign up for two exciting summer software camps scheduled at the Maui Research and Technology park this June.
Sponsored by the Maui Economic Development Board’s Women in Technology (WIT) project, the Digital Media Camp will be held on June 13 -17 followed by the GIS Software Camp, June 23-24.
Designed to help students experience cutting-edge technology used to benefit major community projects, the Geographic Information System or GIS workshop will be taught by Diana Papini-Warren.
Hello veterans, old Jesse here with all the veterans’ news and upcoming events. I have some news for all our Marines out there. The current sergeant major of the Marine Corps, Carlton Kent, is retiring during a ceremony at the Marine Barracks in Washington D.C. on June 9. General Jim Amos, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, announced on April 11, 2011 in Washington D.C. that Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett will become the 17th Sergeant Major, stepping in after Kent’s retirement. Sgt. Maj. Barrett is a 30-year veteran of the Corps, having enlisted at age 17 in 1981. I know that all Marines present and past will join me in wishing Sgt. Maj. Barrett well in his new position.
Community Contributed by Chik Hirayama
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Community Contributed
By Diane Abraham
Molokai is an island full of talented young people. On May 15, 2011, Star Poets, which is a project of Windward Community College, the Hawaii Council for the Humanities, and the Hawaii Writing Project, had its 11th annual awards ceremony. Molokai, for the first time involving elementary students, produced two winning poets.
Alia-Marie Gomes Madela, a fourth grader at Kualapu`u School, along with Kahawai Tancayo, a fifth-grader in Kula Kaiapuni O Kualapu`u, wrote winning poems. Winning students received cash prizes and shared their poems at the ceremony at the beautiful Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College. The poems are judged anonymously; that is, the students’ names and schools are removed prior to being judged, so the officials have no idea whether they are reading a poem from a student at Iolani, Punahou or a school on Molokai. With over 2,100 entries, congratulations are due to these two young ladies on their writing skills and the depth of the content of their poems.
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Pattern Energy News Release
In March of this year, Pattern Energy was introduced as the preferred developer for a potential 200 megawatt (MW) wind project on Molokai Properties Ltd. (MPL) lands. Since that time, Pattern Energy has formed Molokai Renewables LLC and is working with Bio-Logical Capital to explore the project. We believe that a wind project on Molokai has the potential to help provide a wide range of benefits to the Molokai community and to generate clean energy for Hawaii.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service News Release
A rare plant, found only in the wet forests of eastern Molokai, was designated an endangered species in 2009. A draft Recovery Plan for the plant, called Phyllostegia hispida, is available for public comment, with the addition of a recent addendum. The draft plan is published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Phyllostegia hispida, known only by its scientific name, is a nonaromatic member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). It is a loosely spreading, many-branched vine that often forms large tangled masses, and is known only from the wet forests of eastern Molokai at elevations between 3,650 and 4,200 feet.
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Community Contributed
By Diane Pike, Molokai Marine Mammal Response Team Coordinator
Two visiting scientists joined NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) researchers on Molokai last week to study the diet and feeding behavior of the Hawaiian monk seal.
The team collected scat (seal poop) samples and tagged animals. Researchers caught seals to deploy cellphone tags that collect detailed information on animal movements and diving behavior. This allows researchers to identify important feeding locations for the seals.
Dr. Charles Littnan, the lead scientist for NOAA’s Monk Seal Research Program, described the findings to date, “We have learned that a lot of monk seals from Molokai feed along Penguin Bank and the west coast of the island from shallow waters down to 350 feet or deeper.”
The research this week was building upon over four years of work on resident seals.
Dr. Alex Karamanlidis, a Greek researcher working on the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, has come to Hawaii to share experiences between the two seal programs in a hope to recover both species. The two types of seals separated some 12-15 million years ago but find themselves in the same dangerous position of near extinction today.
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