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Environment & Ecology

More Bovine TB Prompts Island-wide Animal Quarantine

Wednesday, April 13th, 2022

More Bovine TB Prompts Island-wide Animal Quarantine

By Catherine Cluett Pactol | Editor

Recent detections of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) on Molokai has prompted the state Dept. of Agriculture to issue an immediate, island-wide quarantine order restricting the movement of all ungulate animals except horses to prevent further spread of the disease. Effective last Friday, the length of the quarantine order will depend on the success of eradication or control of bTB on the island, the HDOA said. The department stated additional detections of bTB in central and the west end of Molokai in the past few months, following more cases over the past year.  

Between June 2021 and March 2022, the HDOA issued quarantine orders on six infected herds in the areas of central and west Molokai.…

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Climate Change Workshops

Thursday, April 7th, 2022

Sust’ainable Molokai News Release

Please join us as Sustʻainable Molokai hosts Molokai Climate Change Workshops round two across the island – starting in Mana’e on April 7. The workshops are part of Molokai Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise Adaptation and Resiliency Plan (CCSLAR) and will include three in-person meetings and one virtual meeting.

Where will our shoreline be in 2100? The Molokai CCSLAR Plan focuses on climate change issues; particularly, how sea level rise will affect Molokai, our lifestyle and our community. The main goal is for the community to identify five to 10 most important areas, whether it be infrastructure, buildings, and/or roadways that either need to be relocated, rebuilt, or adjusted to adapt to sea-level rise.…

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Kilohana Native Garden

Thursday, March 31st, 2022

Kilohana Native Garden

By Catherine Cluett Pactol | Editor

With fingers caked in dirt, members of Kilohana’s fifth grade class patted native plants into the ground, learning their names, their growing habits and cultural uses. The school now has a native plant garden thanks to their efforts and the support of several local organizations. 

It’s a dream at least 10 years in the making, said fifth grade teacher Tammy Castor. She said the school previously planted a native garden area behind the campus but it fell prey to deer and wild pigs, along with not being cared for over summer vacations. A new garden took shape earlier this month in a courtyard plot at the heart of the school, where it will be sheltered from predators, watered by timed irrigation over the summer, and can be easily accessible and frequently admired by the entire school. …

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Drought Sets in Before Summer

Thursday, March 31st, 2022

By Catherine Cluett Pactol | Editor

As the rainy season comes to a close with a dry finish, weather forecasters are predicting drought conditions to continue on Molokai. 

“The October through April Hawaiian Islands wet season is the time of year where most of the leeward areas get the bulk of their rainfall,” said Kevin Kodama, senior service hydrologist at NOAA’s Honolulu Forecast Office. “After having a rather wet December, Molokai has been quite dry since early January. As a result, severe drought has quickly returned to the island. To make matters worse, we are quickly running out of days with a reasonable expectation for relief in these areas.”…

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Partner in the Spotlight: Diane Pike

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022

Partner in the Spotlight: Diane Pike

NOAA News Release

Molokai’s Diane Pike stumbled into the Hawaiian monk seal world in 2008 when she volunteered to help locate a mom and pup pair that were spotted on Molokai during a NOAA aerial survey. Little did she know where that road would lead her! At that time, finding reproductive females giving birth across the main Hawaiian Islands was still a relative novelty.

Diane’s involvement in monk seal conservation expanded alongside these promising signs of recovery in the species itself. Later that year, she facilitated NOAA’s efforts to tag that pup, and in observing the process and learning about the important work happening in her backyard, she was hooked.…

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Discuss Molokai Water Use and Demand

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

Townscape News Release

Learn about Preliminary Water Use and Demand for Molokai’s water systems. At two meetings open to Molokai residents, we will be presenting water use information for public and private water systems on the island, our methodology for projecting future water demand, and sharing our preliminary water demand projections. The Molokai Water Use and Development Plan is being updated by a collaboration between Townscape, Inc., an environmental and community planning company, and the County of Maui Department of Water Supply, Water Resources and Planning Division.

We will offer this presentation at two different meeting times. Our presentation will be the same at each meeting, and open discussion time will follow the presentation.…

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Moli Checks Out Molokai

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

Moli Checks Out Molokai

Last month, Molokai Land Trust’s Anapuka site had a special visitor: a Moli, or Layson Albatross, that landed several times in the area. It’s the first documented landing of the species at the Molokai site since 2017 – and it’s viewed as an auspicious sign that the Moli may be making a home at Anapuka in the next few years.

The Moli landed at the organization’s “social attraction site,” which features decoy Moli in an effort to attract the real birds to the area. The decoys have now showed success, along with Molokai Land Trust’s work to restore the Anapuka dune ecosystem, remove invasive species, repopulate native plants and install predator-proof fencing to create a safe haven for Moli and other ground-nesting seabirds, according to MLT Executive Director Butch Haase.…

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Deer Overpopulation, Rainfall Impact Molokai’s Landscapes

Wednesday, January 26th, 2022

Deer Overpopulation, Rainfall Impact Molokai’s Landscapes

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

It’s no surprise to many Molokai residents that the island is overrun with axis deer. Recent footage from a helicopter during an aerial survey of Molokai by Dept. of Land and Natural Resources staff captured massive herds of deer moving across the land like tiny ants, confirming the environmental damage being done by overpopulation of the nonnative species. 

“Cattle ranchers have been the hardest hit,” Molokai’s James Espaniola, a Forestry and Wildlife Technician with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) said, as he pointed out the helicopter at barren ground. “They do their part in rotating the use of pasture lands to prevent overgrazing by moving their cows around.…

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He’e and Mahina Malama the Ocean in New Book

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

He’e and Mahina Malama the Ocean in New Book

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

A new children’s book written on Molokai uses poignant rhymes, beautiful illustrations, Hawaiian culture and a little bit of magic to help keiki find a solution to marine debris and plastic pollution. “No More Plastic in the Ocean!” written by Lavinia Currier, steward and one of the family owners of Pu’u O Hoku Ranch, was inspired by spending many mornings on Halawa Beach with her grandson, picking up trash washed up on the shoreline. 

“As Many people on Molokai noticed, the amount of plastic washing up on the beach was increasing about 10 years ago… we started seeing a lot of industrial and fishing plastics,” said Currier.…

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Inspiring Eco-Champions

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021

Inspiring Eco-Champions

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Over the last year, students from Kualapu’u and Kaunakakai schools in grades four through six showcased coastal ecosystems, climate change, stewardship suggestions and a strong sense of place through digital storytelling. Participating in a program called Champions of Coastal Resilience (CCR), the students learned virtually about Molokai’s coastline areas, creating short video snapshots of a place that’s important to them and their ‘ohana. CCR was funded as part of the 21st Century afterschool program and since COVID, students worked independently to produce their educational videos. Last week, families, students and supporters of the program gathered for the first in-person CCR Film Festival held at Lanikeha to view the students’ work, which was also livestreamed on Zoom. …

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