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Environment

News stories regarding Molokai’s outdoor environment

Beautiful and Dangerous

Wednesday, August 20th, 2014

Beautiful and Dangerous

Some plants growing in your garden may be beautiful, but as invasive species, threaten native vegetation and could potentially lead to damage of native forests. Such is the case for Kahili Ginger, a species of decorative plant that local experts say is coveted for its large flowers but in fact is highly invasive.

“If it gets out of control [in a garden] and into the natives forests, we can lose thousands of acres of forests [as seen on other islands],” said Lance De Silva, forest management supervisor for the Division of Forestry and Wildlife on Maui, who regularly comes to Molokai to assist with invasive species control.…

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Molokai Unscathed by Double Header Storm

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014

As two hurricanes headed for Hawaii last week in a historic double threat, Molokai residents joined the state in launching into preparation mode. Schools and businesses closed, Red Cross shelters opened and families scrambled to stock up with food and water. While Molokai escaped relatively unscathed, other parts of the state were not so protected. Hawaii Island, where tropical cyclone Iselle made landfall Thursday night, as well as Maui, received significant damages.

At its strongest, Iselle was a Category Four hurricane clocking 140 miles per hour sustained winds across the Pacific. By the time it hit Hawaii Island late Thursday, it had downgraded to a tropical storm.…

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Hazmat Training Brings Home Local Boy

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Hazmat Training Brings Home Local Boy

Community Contributed

By David Lichtenstein

For Kimo Puailihau, giving back to Molokai means helping his home island better prepare for a potential hazardous materials emergency.

Puailihau — a 2001 Molokai High School graduate — has returned annually to Molokai for the past five years as a training coordinator with the 93rd Civil Support Team (CST) of the Hawaii National Guard. His team helps Molokai’s first responders get ready for the worst-case “what if” scenarios involving hazardous materials.

Whether the threat is chemical, biological or radiological, Puailihau and his team are ready to respond. When a strange chemical or other unknown material is found, first responders on Molokai will call the Hazmat 10 Team on Maui.…

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Electric Co. Proposes Demand Response Program

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Hawaiian Electric News Release

The Hawaiian Electric Companies are proposing a portfolio of programs to provide customers more options for saving on their electric bills while supporting the adoption of more clean energy, reducing the use of more expensive fossil-fueled generation and relieving stress on the electric grid.

The programs are outlined in the utilities’ Integrated Demand Response Portfolio Plan filed with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recently.

The plan lays out new and enhanced “demand response” programs for residential, commercial, industrial and water pumping customers. Under the programs, customers receive financial incentives for shifting energy use to certain times of the day or voluntarily allowing the output of certain appliances or equipment to be adjusted if necessary to help maintain reliable service for our island grids.…

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Like a Grasshopper

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

Community Contributed

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

In the popular television show, “Kung Fu,” Master Po refers to his student as “Grasshopper,” a term of endearment for one who is young, has a lot to learn, and whose mind jumps around “like a grasshopper.”

We probably have to more to learn from the grasshopper than he can learn from us. Few other insects have caused greater direct loss to crops worldwide than have grasshoppers. From ancient times to now, grasshoppers have caused the death through famine of millions of human beings. Damage is worse in areas with low rainfall when food is sparse.…

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Teatime in the Garden

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

Community Contributed

By Simon Mendes

This past school year as a Food Corp service member at Sust`ainable Molokai, I visited weekly with Kumu Teddy Sotello’s second grade class at Maunaloa Elementary. On a typical class day, I led students outside to their small, designer 4-by-4-foot “tea garden” bed—constructed at the beginning of the year—where we’d harvest a couple of pieces of mint and lemongrass. We often discussed how herbs like mint and lemongrass can be used in different kinds of teas, similar to how raspberry leaf tea is appreciated for its unique flavor and health benefits. I collected the harvest, poured over hot water, and we’d wait for tea to brew.…

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From Ranch to Table

Wednesday, July 30th, 2014

Molokai Ranch is beefing up their operation, and with more than 1000 cattle grazing on 30,000 acres of pasture, the company has started accepting orders for grass-fed beef, available on Molokai and Oahu in September.

“It’s a big deal for us,” said Molokai Ranch CEO Clay Rumbaoa. “The previous Ranch operation was ‘cow/calf,’ meaning none on the cattle was finished [and] processed on Molokai, but rather shipped to the mainland to be grain finished and processed,. Our model is to raise, finish, process, quality Molokai Ranch Angus beef that is 100 percent grass fed and hormone-free for consumers to enjoy.”

Molokai Ranch’s website touts that its environmentally-friendly beef, having lived on a diet of native grass, has a higher nutrition value with lower fat and higher omega-3s and minerals than the grain-fed alternative.…

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A Slice of Sweet Harvest

Wednesday, July 30th, 2014

A Slice of Sweet Harvest

The summer sun beats down on the Davis family watermelon stand on Kamehameha Highway by Rawlins’ Chevron gas station every Saturday. With a pickup truck pilled sky-high with about 500 fresh, colossal, 20-pound watermelons ripened to perfection in Ho`olehua’s heat, Jared Davis sells his all-natural watermelons at his roadside stand in the summertime on Molokai.

For Davis, a third generation farmer who is keeping farming alive in his family and on Molokai, watermelons are a vital crop and livelihood for his ohana, he said.

“When I was younger there were a lot of farmers around here that planted watermelon,” Davis said.…

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Molokai Gold a Buzzing Business

Wednesday, July 30th, 2014

Molokai Gold a Buzzing Business

The lure of creamy, golden honey from a local business is giving people across the islands bees on the brain. If you haven’t heard the buzz, Molokai is home to the best honey in Hawaii—that’s according to judges at the 2013 Hawaiian Natural Honey Challenge.

Molokai Gold, a year-old honey company run by beekeepers Micah Buchanan and Marshall Joy, is whipping up raw, unfiltered and natural honey.

“It was my honor and privilege to receive your beautiful honeys and prepare them for the Formal Judging and Public Tasting,” registrar of the Honey Challenge Pattie Rechtman said of Molokai Gold in a letter to Joy.…

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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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