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Environment

News stories regarding Molokai’s outdoor environment

Grant for Local Food Distribution

Friday, February 25th, 2022

Sust’ainable Molokai News Release

Sustʻainable Molokai recently received a $34,375 grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado. This award will support the efforts of Project Hoʻokuʻikahi Aloha Molokai, which distributes locally produced food to Molokai residents through our island’s 22 food pantries.

This project began as a hui of community organizations that rallied together to provide food for our Molokai residents during the outbreak of the pandemic. The name Hoʻokuʻikahi Aloha Molokai means “uniting in love for our people of Molokai.” These and other efforts are covered in this short video, Island in the Pandemic, created by Quazifilms’ Matt Yamashita, which premiered on Oct 16, 2020.…

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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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Larger Planes Still Coming to Mokulele

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

Larger Planes Still Coming to Mokulele

Mokulele’s promised larger aircraft are still on their way to Molokai, just later than planned. The first of two twin turboprop aircraft is currently being repainted by an aircraft maintenance company, said Richard Schuman, executive vice president of Mokulele Hawaii. The 30-seat Saab 340 planes – brought on board by the company specifically to serve Molokai – will more easily accommodate wheelchair-bound residents and passengers of size.

The aircraft’s arrival has been delayed from the originally announced estimate of last fall. More recently, Mokulele said it was coming in January. Now, Schuman estimates it will be flying before the summer but doesn’t want to disappoint again.…

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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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Kupu Summer Programs Open Now

Thursday, January 20th, 2022

Kupu Summer Programs Open Now

Kupu News Release

Kupu, Hawaii’s leading conservation and youth education nonprofit, announced applications are open for the Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps Summer Program, which offers an intensive hands-on experience into the world of conservation. This year Kupu is inviting applicants to apply on Molokai, along with Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island. Application deadline is Feb. 25. 

The program runs for seven weeks, from June 7 to July 22. If selected, participants are partnered within a team of five to seven other like-minded individuals and each week they will get to explore and serve within a different partner site, which holds new adventures, challenges, teachings and opportunities for personal growth.…

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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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Deciding Molokai’s Energy Future

Thursday, January 13th, 2022

Sust’aina ble Molokai News Release

Are you interested in learning about clean energy solutions designed by and for the Molokai community? If so, please join us with your ʻohana on Wednesday, Jan. 19 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for the third Molokai Community Energy Resilience Action Plan (Molokai CERAP) meeting via Zoom. Join us for a Molokai ‘ohana style meeting — community-led, pilina focused, culturally centered — to share your manaʻo on what Molokaiʻs energy future should look like.

Today, Molokai electricity remains dependent on burning thousands of gallons of expensive and environmentally damaging fossil fuels a day. While Molokai residents are the lowest electrical consumers in Hawaii, Molokai continues to have the highest electrical costs in the country.…

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Molokai Monk Seal Shot Dead

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021

A young female seal known as “L11” found dead on Molokai on Sept. 19 is confirmed to have died from a gunshot wound to the head. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the results of its postmortem analyses Tuesday.

“Specifically, we found a bullet fragment in association with evidence of severe, lethal trauma,” NOAA stated. “We are waiting on test results to see if L11 had any diseases, but we do not expect the results to change these conclusions.”

The seal’s death marks the third confirmed intentional killing of a monk seal on Molokai in 2021, with several other seal deaths investigated on the island this year. …

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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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