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Environment

News stories regarding Molokai’s outdoor environment

New Ti Leaf Virus

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

New Ti Leaf Virus

Community Contributed

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

 Ti leaf is an important subsistence and commercial crop in Hawaii with diverse uses. An ornamental crop used for hula skirts, leis, and puolo, a bundle or container, Ti plants are also a central part of the tropical landscape with many new leaf sizes and colors. Leaves are used in the preparation of Hawaiian foods, such as laulau with pork and taro leaf, and lawalu, to wrap fish and other seafood and local starches for baking, and also as greens in floral arrangements. It also has ceremonial and medicinal uses, and Ti roots are also used in the production of liquor, okolehao.…

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Hikiola Goes Solar

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

Hikiola Goes Solar

ProVision Solar News Release

The Hikiola Cooperative in Ho`olehua has installed a 12-kilowatt grid-connected solar array that will provide almost all of the power needed to run the coop.  First organized in 1976 as a farm supply and marketing cooperative, Hikiola shifted to making supplies available to both farmer-members and the greater community.  Paying one of the highest rates for electricity in the nation (52 cents/kilowatt-hour this month), small businesses on Molokai have more than ample incentive to go solar electric.

“We are thrilled with the installation of the PV system,” said the Coop’s long-time manager Tina Tamanaha. “The use of alternative energy is a positive step in our mission to lower the cost of supplies for our agri-business patrons.”…

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Kalaupapa Combats Climate Change

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

Kalaupapa Combats Climate Change

Although scientists cannot predict with absolute certainty the universal severity of climate change nor its impacts, the effects are threatening the country’s National Parks with significant risks and challenges. A recent study by the National Park Service (NPS) shows that any of the 289 National Parks, including Kalaupapa National Historic Park (KNHP) show that temperatures over the last 30 years are warmer now than they were in 1901..

At KNHP, scientists, researchers and organizations are working together to take develop and implement programs to address climate change.

“The Park has the resources to really think about climate change and to act on it,” said KNPS Chief of Natural Resource Management Paul Hosten.…

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Wetland Classroom Goes High-Tech

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

Wetland Classroom Goes High-Tech

Nene O Molokai News Release

The Monsanto Fund has awarded $8,000 to Nene O Molokai for its Wildlife Without Walls environmental educational program at the Koheo wetland. The funding will be used to purchase a laptop computer for field work at the wetland, enabling students to conduct onsite GIS (geographic information system) mapping of the on-going wetland restoration, and download water quality data collected with Pasco Probeware donated by the Center for Advanced Communications and Engineering at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Also included in the award is funding for the site’s operation and propagation supplies for the out-planting of native vegetation utilized culturally and agriculturally, and for endangered waterbird habitat enhancement.…

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Dropping a line in Kalaupapa

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

Community Contributed

By Father Pat Killilea, St. Francis Church, Kalaupapa

I can well remember catching my very first fish. It was on a Sunday afternoon in the summer time of my primary school days. On that glorious, golden day I was ably assisted in my fishing by a girl from my own village who was a couple of years older than myself. While I succeeded in hauling in a beautiful fish that afternoon, that girl got away. She entered the convent as a Sister of Mercy. A few years later, I entered the seminary and became a Brother of the Sacred Hearts.…

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Krazy for Kolea Kontest

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

Krazy for Kolea Kontest

Nene O Molokai News Release

The kolea, Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva), is revered in Hawaiian mythology as Koleamoku, a messenger of high chiefs, and was considered to be the embodiment of the god of healing. On their northern migration, Kolea may have aided ancient navigators with the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. Within a few weeks, the kolea will make a transoceanic southbound migration between breeding grounds in Alaska to wintering locales as far away as Madagascar. Recent research using light level dataloggers have tracked kolea at speeds from 36 to118 miles per hour, and with an average flight between Hawaii and Alaska taking 40 hours.…

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Molokai Resident New Crop Assc. President

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

HCIA News Release

Recent Molokai resident Kirby Kester is the new president of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (HCIA), as well as Dow AgroSciences’ Hawaii R&D Leader.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in the seed industry on Kauai, Kester now resides on Molokai and serves as site Leader for Dow AgroSciences’ R&D Station on Molokai, as well as provides oversight for Kauai’s Seeds and Traits R&D program.

Kirby holds a M.S. of Agriculture degree from Iowa State University and a B.S. in Agronomy from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  He has been a member of HCIA since 1995, and will serve a two-year term as president.…

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4-H Ranchers Put Skills to the Test

Wednesday, July 9th, 2014

4-H Ranchers Put Skills to the Test

Judged on their stance, temperament, muscle mass and ability to follow direction, pigs and steer competed with their owners for top ribbon last weekend. The animals were gathered under white tents at the Kaunakakai Ball Park as eager fans filled the stands ready to cheer on keiki as they showed off their prized animals.

For months, youth in the Molokai 4-H Livestock Club, have been raising, grooming, keeping records and showing their animals in preparation for the annual Molokai 4-H Livestock Expo last weekend. The program promotes agriculture and teaches children responsibility and the business aspect of life, said Event Director Rex Kamakana.…

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Grassroots Concert Raises Money and Awareness

Tuesday, July 8th, 2014

In a world full of fast-food, imported groceries and processed snacks, a Molokai organization is combating the food norm to promote eating local.

The concept of eating and buying local can be daunting but that hasn’t stopped The MOM Hui—and its grassroots network of like-minded advocates, farmers, vendors and ohana—from promoting sustainability, a healthy environment and a conscious lifestyle.

Hundreds of attendees gathered under a star-lit sky last Saturday to promote this vision at Duke Maliu Park for the second annual Grassroots Benefit Concert organized by The MOM Hui.

“I want the community to be conscious of the impact we can have on our environment through the choices we make, the food we eat, the way we decide to grow our food and how we take care of this environment,” said MOM Hui founder Mercy Ritte.…

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Selling Axis Deer By-Products Courses

Tuesday, July 8th, 2014

Selling Axis Deer By-Products Courses

UH Maui College News Release

Now that USDA-inspected Axis Deer meat is for sale on Maui, the rumor of a budding venison industry is becoming a reality.  So what happens to all the other parts of the deer? In New Zealand, Red Deer by-products have proven to be more commercially valuable than the sale of the deer meat itself.

With this in mind, UH-Maui College’s Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) under its U.S. Department of Labor grant to promote job creation in sustainable agriculture, in conjunction with the Sustainable Living Institute of Maui (SLIM) and EdVenture, is offering a three-part course to help interested students explore the feasibility of developing an Axis Deer by-products operation.…

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