Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, March 16, 2017

   Two spokespersons for Townscape, Gabrielle Sham and Angela Fa’anunu, chaired the meeting. They spent most of the session explaining some of the recommendations contained in the Draft Kāwā Resources Management Plan. Sham told The Ka`u Calendar that she thought the meeting went well, and that people had offered comments, which Townscape will have to work through. “We had a lot of new people who contributed ideas, so that was great.”

      Sham began the meeting with the question, “How do we protect Kāwā before it is too late?” She and Fa’anunu said that Townscape, hired by the County to produce the 136-page report, interviewed about 40 people, including kūpuna, lineal descendants, fishermen, surfers and many others connected to Kāwā and "the ‘Āina."
     Townscape’s plan recommends controlling animal predators that could threaten native species, managing the vegetation and human activities, recognizing the cultural resources, nominating Kāwā as a historic district, designating Kāwā as an area for subsistence fishing, banning bulldozing, and maintaining “the sense of place” at Kāwā for education and entertainment. 

      The plan also recommends amending the County Charter so that stewardship grants could cover the cost of labor and the cost of educational programs. Townscape’s draft plan was reported to have cost $225,000 and took almost two years to complete. The report was a condition of one of the grants enabling the County to acquire the land.

      Sham and Fa’anunu emphasized that it would take a collective effort to reach a common goal to protect and steward Kāwā for the community. They asked for comments from members of the audience, many of whom came from Ka’u places ranging from Wood Valley and Pahala to Wai`ohinu and Ocean View. Sham and Fa’anunu often paraphrased community suggestions on large sheets of paper. 

     The first topic for community discussion was the County’s Stewardship Grant fund. Ka’u residents questioned why, with so much in the fund, so few grants have been made.
     The Stewardship Grants are funded by the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission (PONC). In 2012 Hawai’i County voters approved a “Quarter Percent Fund” to maintain properties acquired through the “Two Percent Fund.” Non-profit organizations must apply to the Department of Parks and Recreation (P&R) for “PONC Stewardship Grants” to conserve and manage the County’s open spaces. As of December 1, 2016 the PONC Maintenance Fund had a balance of $1,882,099. Four applications for funds to steward Kāwā are making their way through the system.

     Shelley Mahi-Hanai was among the more vocal members of the audience, often raising involved legal objections to the county’s ownership of the land. Sham repeatedly invited Mahi-Hanai to conference after the meeting. Mahi-Hanai has supported Abel Lui in his hard-fought battle to prove his ownership of Kāwā. Lui was evicted from the land by the County in 2012 after living there for many years.

    The question of easy access for kūpuna and the handicapped was raised.
     A young Ka’u resident replied that although he is fit now, he realized that one day he may be handicapped. He asked the meeting to understand that Kāwā is a sacred place, and not every sacred place should be made accessible to everyone. He admitted that this was “unfortunate” for some, but “no Hawaiian would want a road dozed into this.” Many in the meeting voiced their agreement. “Back in the days, no vehicle came in here,” asserted a resident, to which some in the audience replied “Amen!” One person opined that the community should accept the ‘Āina as it is, and “not change it for our convenience”.
     A young man raised the issue of climate change and suggested that the plan take into account the anticipated higher sea levels, and the higher storm surge, which scientists predict for the coming decades. 

    The 100-acre strip of privately owned land in the middle of the county-owned lands along the coast was pointed out as a potential threat to the plan, if the private owners are not supportive of its goals. According to county records, there are 31 owners are on the deed, two of them deceased. The owners have addresses in a plethora of towns on the Big Island and O`ahu, as well as the mainland. The property is zoned “conservation”. The “flag lot” extends from Highway 11 to the coast at Pu’uo Point, and lies to the north of Kāwā Bay.
    Sham and Fa’anunu stated that all the private owners are “on board” with the plan. They also pointed out that the state owns 2.13 acres encompassing the Kāwā pond, and 1.147 acres that was a school grant. Other privately owned inholdings are a .65-acre lot and a quarter-acre lot.
     Clarissa Pua wanted to know why the pond is "no longer flowing," saying “we depend on that”. Other residents claimed that the invasives in the pond had been holding the sand, but that by removing the vegetation, the sand partly filled the pond and blocked the fresh water inlet. A resident told the meeting, “we used to dive in the pond, but now it is all filled in. Hilea Iki, the stream, is clogged. I see the kūpuna cry when they see how it is now.”
   After the meeting, Clarissa Pua and her husband, Duane Pua, shared their thoughts with The Ka’u Calendar. Clarissa said that Duane is descended from King Kamehameha and his ‘ohana grew up in the area. His nephew used to clean out the ponds. Duane agreed that removing foliage let the sand in. “Its going to be hard to remove the sand. The feeder into the pond has been closed since August.”
   The Puas said that Townscape and the County should have had “a meeting with all the families and get all the views. Forty people is not enough. There are grand-children and great-grand-children who are connected to the ‘Āina and should be included,” said Duane who added “I don’t mind walking in to Kāwā – I walk in from Punalu’u."
     Vice-President of Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, Megan Lamson, who organizes Ka`u Coast Clean-ups, has brought volunteers to clear invasive grasses from the estuary and fishpond since 2014. In a grant application, Lamson (not in attendance at the meeting) wrote: “Hawai`i Wildlife Fund hopes that this restoration work will allow the native reeds (nanaku) and other native coastal vegetation … to repopulate and fill in the streambed and intertidal zones, thereby increasing the available dissolved oxygen in the estuary for aquatic organisms.”
     Mahi-Hanai told The Ka’u Calendar that she is concerned about the lack of enforcement of the rights of the heirs, quoting legislation and terms such as “deliberate indifference.”  She said she has researched old laws, including those connected with Prince Kuhio in 1919, and has a large binder of printed material. She said she hopes that the County will honor laws dating back to the Hawaiian monarchs.

      The County and Townscape have been gathering information and preferences to plan the future of Kāwā through meetings and interviews. The land was purchased in 2008 and 2011. The 785 acres stretch for two thirds of a mile along the coast between Punalu`u and Honu`apu, near mile marker 57.    With Honu`apo also in public hands, the county and community partners are managing about 1,000 acres makai of Hwy 11, all lands along the Ka`u Coast that were formerly on the real estate market and formerly up for sale for development. See more on the plan in the Tuesday, March 14 Ka`u News Briefs.

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Ka`u Rural Health Community Association's 19th Annual rural Health Conference is Friday, Mar 17, 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. 928-0101. Free to the community.

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Buffet, Fri, Mar 17, 5 – 8 p.m., Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Corned beef & cabbage, lamb stew, shepherd’s pie & more. $19 adults; $10 children 6 – 11 years. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. 967-8356.