A CHESTNUT BELLIED GROUSE GRACES HAWAI'I'S NEW GAME BIRD STAMP and an endangered Kāhuli Land Snail graces the new Wildlife Conservation Stamp for 2023-2024. State Department of Land & Natural Resources's Division of Forestry & Wildlife made the announcement.
Conservation stamp winning artist is Alvin Galvez who also won DOFAW’s game bird stamp contest in 2018. Land snails were selected for this year’s conservation stamp contest as part of the celebration for Year of the Kāhuli, proclaimed by Governor Josh Green, M.D., for 2023.
Game Bird stamp winning artist is Lauren Trangmar. Her winning submission features the chestnut-bellied sandgrouse, a popular game bird native to Africa and Asia brought to Hawaiʻi in the 1960s.
The conservation stamp is required on the Hawai‘i state hunting license, and the game bird stamp is required for those intending to hunt game birds. Funds from sales of these stamps go into the State Wildlife Revolving Fund to support wildlife populations and habitats, and to manage hunting programs in Hawaiʻi.![]()
The resolution also notes that in eradicating some 25,000 sheep, about 60 percent were left to rot or to be eaten by feral cats and mongoose, which are themselves a threat to the palila population. It also points out that "thousands of residents have lost access to an important source of subsistence hunting on Mauna Kea."
UNLIKE PALILA, ʻĀKEPA NUMBERS ARE ON THE RISE and a presentation will be given this Saturday, April 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
WOOD ARTISTS AND WOODWORKERS ARE INVITED to apply to enter The Volcano Wood Show. Volcano Art Center announced its biennial juried wood show on Wednesday and will accept online submission applications through Sunday, April 30.![]()
The Volcano Wood Show exhibition is open to experienced, novice and student woodworkers. Participants are encouraged to use woods from Hawaiʻi grown trees. Endangered woods are not permitted. For the complete prospectus visit www.volcanoartcenter.org/gallery/call-to-artist/.
The Volcano Wood Show will open to the public on Saturday, May 20th through June 10 on Wednesday through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Volcano Art Center Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. The exhibit will also be featured online at www.volcanoartcenter.org.
The three-week event aims to feature the various wood artists in this community who produce individual one-of-a-kind works using indigenous Hawaiian and exotic woods. Held in the Dietrich Varez Hall at VAC's Niaulani Campus, the exhibition presents a wide range of wood items including furniture, sculptures, and bowls. Funds generated from the show will contribute to the development of Volcano Art Center's future classroom and wood shop facilities.
This year's biennial exhibition will be juried by members of the Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association.
Volcano Art Center is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization created in 1974 whose mission is to promote, develop and perpetuate the artistic, cultural and environmental heritage of Hawaiʻi through arts and education.More information about VAC and the exhibition can be found at www.volcanoartcenter.org.
Contact Emily C. Weiss by calling (808) 967-8222 or email info@volcanoartcenter.org
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These new stamps for the 2023-24 hunting season will be available on July 1, 2023. Stamp collectors who would like an original stamp can call (808) 587-0166 or visit the Division of Forestry & Wildlife office at 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325, Honolulu, HI 96813.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
THE ENDANGERED PALILA BIRD is getting attention at the Hawai'i Legislature, with resolutions from the House and Senate headed toward approval, urging investigation of this Hawaiian honeycreeper's decline in the wild, despite expensive efforts in fencing, restoring native māmane forest, and removing
wild sheep and goats from its habitat.
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| The estimated remaining palila population dropped from 1432 in 2019 to 678 in 2021. DLNR photo |
According to state Department of Land & Natural Resource, the critically endangered palila. Loxioides bailleui once inhabited the slopes of Mauna Loa, Hualalai, and Mauna Kea as well as the saddle area between the volcanoes. Today, palila live on a very small part of Mauna Kea's southwest slope where there has been great effort to take out wild sheep that destroy their habitat of native māmane trees where palila nest and feed on the pods of māmane.
One resolution brings up complex challenges in species preservation. It notes that there is a plan to build a fuelbreak on Mauna Kea to take out 35 acres of māmane trees to reduce the chances of forest fires that have already taken out 250 acres of palila critical habitat.
The resolution also points out that the extensive reduction in sheep has resulted in more vegetation, with vegetative fuel loads making wildfires the most significant danger to palila and their habitat.
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| Artist Kathleen Kam painted a palila mural at the downtown KTA in Hilo in 2014. Her mural with native birds and history of the sugar plantation and emergence of the coffee industry in Kaʻū can be seen at Kaʻū Coffee Mill. Photo from DLNR |
The DLNR's palila habitat restoration plan was mandated by an order from U.S. District Court, which required the removal of the sheep and goats under the Endangered Species Act.
The resolution asks for DLNR to "investigate factors resulting in the decline of palila for purposes of recommending updated strategies to preserve this species and updating the United States District Court's sheep and goat eradication mandate. The report would be due at the end of 2023.
DLNR testified at the legislature that the palila populations were estimated to be 1,432 in 2019, 1,312 in 2020 and 678 in 2021, the lowest since annual surveys began in 1998.
DLNR reported that it continues to plant more māmane and fence palila habitat and is seeking funding for more research and that it suspects such predators as cats for contributing to the palila decline. The report also notes that "three to four aerial shooting operations are conducted annually by the Department to remove the remaining sheep within Palila Critical Habitat. Approximately 25 'Judas' sheep with radio transmitters are used to locate and target the remaining sheep herds. In 2022, 267 sheep were removed via four aerial shoots. There are around 4,000 acres of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands within the Palila Critical Habitat fence that the Department is unable to access to complete animal control."
See more on palila at https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/restoremaunakea/palila/
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
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| Coffee Talk this Saturday at Kahuku features Avian Ecologist Seth Judge on the ʻĀkepa. NPS photo |
Seth Judge, Avian Ecologist for the National Park Service Pacific Island Inventory and Monitoring Network, will share his knowledge of the ʻĀkepa, the endangered Hawaiian Honeycreeper, with one of its largest populations living within the Kahuku Unit.
The Coffee Talk sessions are free. Kaʻū Coffee will be available for purchase. Entrance to Kahuku is just south of the 70.5 mile marker on the mauka side of Hwy 11.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
The Volcano Wood Show will open to the public on Saturday, May 20th through June 10 on Wednesday through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Volcano Art Center Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. The exhibit will also be featured online at www.volcanoartcenter.org.
The three-week event aims to feature the various wood artists in this community who produce individual one-of-a-kind works using indigenous Hawaiian and exotic woods. Held in the Dietrich Varez Hall at VAC's Niaulani Campus, the exhibition presents a wide range of wood items including furniture, sculptures, and bowls. Funds generated from the show will contribute to the development of Volcano Art Center's future classroom and wood shop facilities.
This year's biennial exhibition will be juried by members of the Hawaiʻi Forest Industry Association.
Volcano Art Center is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization created in 1974 whose mission is to promote, develop and perpetuate the artistic, cultural and environmental heritage of Hawaiʻi through arts and education.More information about VAC and the exhibition can be found at www.volcanoartcenter.org.
Contact Emily C. Weiss by calling (808) 967-8222 or email info@volcanoartcenter.org
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
HULA KAHIKO AT VOLCANO ART CENTER THIS SATURDAY, May 13 features a presentation by Nā Wai Iwi Ola under the direction of Kumu Hula Keala Ching. The performance begins at 10:30am at the pā hula in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Although, the event is free, Park entrance fees apply.
Nā Wai Iwi Ola Foundation is based in Kailua-Kona, and was founded to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture
and practices through hula protocol and ceremonies, the use and study of the Hawaiian language and by embracing the stories of our kūpuna past, present and future.
The hula kahiko presentation will be presented authentically in an outdoor setting, rain or shine without electronic amplification. Audience members are encouraged to bring sun/rain gear and sitting mats. In the case of extreme weather, there is a possibility that the performance will be moved indoors to the Kīlauea Visitors Center Auditorium where seating is limited. These free events are supported by donations from members of the Volcano Art Center. Donations are welcome to continue future programs.
The Volcano Art Center is a non-profit educational organization created in 1974 to promote, develop, and perpetuate the artistic and cultural heritage of Hawai'i's people and environment through activities in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Visit www.volcanoartcenter.org or call 967-8222 for more information.
Nā Wai Iwi Ola Foundation is based in Kailua-Kona, and was founded to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture
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| Nā Wai Iwi Ola with Kumu Hula Keala Ching performs this Saturday a the pā hula in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Photo by Kristy Kawaiola Johnson |
The hula kahiko presentation will be presented authentically in an outdoor setting, rain or shine without electronic amplification. Audience members are encouraged to bring sun/rain gear and sitting mats. In the case of extreme weather, there is a possibility that the performance will be moved indoors to the Kīlauea Visitors Center Auditorium where seating is limited. These free events are supported by donations from members of the Volcano Art Center. Donations are welcome to continue future programs.
The Volcano Art Center is a non-profit educational organization created in 1974 to promote, develop, and perpetuate the artistic and cultural heritage of Hawai'i's people and environment through activities in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Visit www.volcanoartcenter.org or call 967-8222 for more information.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
UPCOMING TROJAN SPORTS for Track & Field, Boys Baseball, Girls Softball and Boys Volleyball, under Athletic Director Jaime Guerpo:![]()
In Boys Varsity Volleyball, under Coach Josh Ortega, Kaʻū hosts Lapahoehoe on Thursday, April 13 at 5 p.m.. Trojans host Ka Umeke on Monday, April 17 at 5 p.m. On April 21 through April 26 are playoffs and championship games.
In Girls Softball, under Coach Donovan Emmsley, Kaʻū travels to Pāhoa on Thursday, April 13 at 3 p.m. On Saturday, April 15, Kaʻū hosts Kohala at 1 p.m.. BIIF playoffs for Girls Softball start Monday, April 17 with finals ending on April 29.
In Boys Baseball, under coach Rolland Alcoran, on April 15, Kaʻū hosts Kohala 11 a.m. BIIF playoffs for Boys Baseball start April 17 with finals ending on April 28.
In Track, under Coach Tolu Rasmussen, Trojans head to Kealakehe for islandwide competition on Saturday, April 15 at 2 p.m.. The Freshman-Sophomore Invitational is on Saturday, April 22 at 9 a.m. at Kea'au. BIIF Trials are Friday, April 28 at 2 p.m. at Kea'au, followed by Finals on Saturday, April 29 at 3 p.m. Kea'au.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at kaucalendar.com, in the mail and on stands.
Volcano Thursday Market, Cooper Center, Volcano Village, Thursdays, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with live music, artisan crafts, ono grinds, and fresh produce. See Volcano Evening Market facebook.
Volcano Swap Meet, fourth Saturday of the month from 8 a.m. to noon. Large variety of vendors with numerous products. Tools, clothes, books, toys, local made healing extract and creams, antiques, jewelry, gemstones, crystals, food, music, plants, fruits, and vegetables. Also offered are cakes, coffee, and shave ice. Live music.
Volcano Farmers Market, Cooper Center, Volcano Village on Sundays, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., with local produce, baked goods, food to go, island beef and Ka'ū Coffee. EBT is used for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly Food Stamps. Call 808-967-7800.
O Ka'ū Kākou Market, Nā'ālehu, Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact Nadine Ebert at 808-938-5124 or June Domondon 808-938-4875. See facebook.com/OKauKakouMarket.
Ocean View Community Market, Saturdays and Wednesdays, 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., corner Kona Dr. Drive and Hwy 11, near Thai Grindz. Masks mandatory. 100-person limit, social distancing required. Gate unlocked for vendors at 5:30 a.m., $15 dollars, no rez needed. Parking in the upper lot. Vendors must provide their own sanitizer. Food vendor permits required. Carpooling is encouraged.
