Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

Botanist Tim Tunison leads an exploration called Fern-Lovers' Paradise Saturday. Photo from Volcano Art Center

BOOSTING RESOURCES FOR COASTAL COMMUNITIES in Hawai`i is the subject of a bill supported by Sen. Mazie Hirono. Last week, Hirono co-sponsored the Digital Coast Act, which will authorize the next phase in coastal mapping at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Coastal mapping provides current data and training to enable coastal communities to make critical planning decisions and better protect and sustain natural resources.

Light blue lines along the Ka`u Coast show changes that would occur with
a sea-level rise of five feet. Map from NOAA

“Protecting Hawai`i’s coastal areas is critical to our environment and economy,” said Hirono. “The Digital Coast Act will allow NOAA to continue to build on its successful Digital Coast initiative, which focuses on providing the public and private sectors access to a range of important coastal data. Expanding the Digital Coast initiative will allow scientists and community members to access data to plan for long-term coastal resilience including managing water resources, tracking changes along the coastline and combating the threat of global warming.”
Digital Coast has been used in Hawai`i and the Pacific region to perform a wide range of projects – assessing land-based threats to coral reef habitats, assessing vulnerability differences in tsunami evaluation zones, compiling natural resource data for development of watershed strategies and capturing traditional knowledge to inform restoration planning. Digital Coast products are also being used by private sector firms in Hawai`i for their land use planning analysis and documents or reports.
“The Digital Coast provides a user-friendly website that communities can access to find reliable data and other tools to help increase their resilience and be ready for the challenges they face in the future,” said Kim Hum, Marine Program Director for the Nature Conservancy’s Hawai`i Program. “But it’s not just about the data. The project also provides training to help translate all of that data into usable information for decision making.”

Chris Eldridge

For more information, see coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast.
The late Rep. Bob Herkes supported this kind of mapping for Ka`u and beyond. Services for Herkes are Saturday at Dodo Mortuary Chapel in Hilo. Visitation is from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Celebration of Life begins at 11 a.m. Aloha attire is requested.

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`AINA KOA PONA PARTNER Chris Eldridge has sold his American Mattress franchise for the state of Hawai`i and founded a private equity investment firm called Koa Capital Partners, LLC. His partner is Dustin Sellers, formerly president of sales and marketing for Pro Service Hawai`i.
A Pacific Business News story this week said that Eldrige is a “partner in a local biofuel project.” It reports that “Eldridge was the president of America’s Mattress Hawai`i and left in April; he also serves as a partner with biofuels company `Aina Koa Pono.” The story says that the two partners “have known each other since their days at Punahou School, and it was serendipitous that they had both left their companies around the same time.”
The story says that Koa Capital “is looking to invest in companies with a focus on Hawai`i and profits between $500,000 and $5 million, and will invest primarily in majority, control positions.”
AKP sought approval to sell biofuel to Hawaiian Electric Light Co. from a microwave refinery it would have built on the edge of Wood Valley. It was turned down twice by the Public Utilities Commission and opposed by Mayor Billy Kenoi, who said he was concerned it would raise the price of electricity. AKP’s website is www.ainakoapono.com.
See bizjournals.com/pacific.

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Lava flow front headed toward Pahoa has stalled, and a new flow front behind
it is moving to the north. Map from USGS/HVO

THE PATH OF LAVA SLOWLY MOVING TOWARD Hwy 130 is shown on a new USGS map. It clearly illustrates roads, homes and buildings at risk. To prepare for Pahoa and lower Puna possibly being cut off from the rest of the island, state, county and federal officials are preparing to repair and open the old Chain of Craters Road from Kalapana into Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park that was covered by lava some 37 years ago. Other emergency routes are prepared along Railroad and Government Beach roads, but they too could be cut off by lava traveling downhill toward the coast.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists this morning report that surface lava, remains active several hundred yards upslope from the stalled flow front, with a breakout advancing through forest along the north edge of the previously active portion of the flow. Because the flow did not advance over the past few days, HVO is not offering a projection of its future movement at this time.

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SEPT. 30 IS THE DEADLINE to donate through Foodland to the Hawai`i Wildlife Fund which leads beach cleanups and pond restorations along the Ka`u Coast. The donations opportunity is the Give Aloha Campaign through which Foodland allows contributors to double the impact of their gifts. Foodland matches each donation it receives to specific charities up to $300,000 total.
Support Hawai`i Wildlife Fund by using code 78764.

Ka`u Trojans eight-man football team takes to the home
field tomorrow, hosting Kamehameha.
Photo by Taylor's Treasures Photography

The nearest Foodland to Ka`u is in Kea`au. Sack n Save Foods in Hilo and Kona are also raising money for the nonprofit.

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`O KA`U KAKOU IS STILL COMPILING RESULTS from the Ka`u Coffee Trail Run events. “Our race committee used an ‘old’ time recorder. I am terrible sorry for the delay,” the website states. Results will be posted at okaukakou.org when they are available.

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IN SPORTS TOMORROW, the Trojans’ eight-man football team hosts Kamehameha tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., and girls volleyball teams travel to Kohala following their losses at Kamehameha yesterday. Scores 20-25 and 15-25 for junior varsity and 13-25, 10-25, 25-20 and 9-25 for varsity.

GERMAN FOOD, BEER AND MUSIC ARE ON TAP during Oktoberfest at Kilauea Military Camp’s Lava Lounge in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park tomorrow at 4 p.m. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply.
For more information, call 967-8356 or 967-8365.

Drop-off for entries is tomorrow and Saturday

ARTISTS ENTERING KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S Art Show can register tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at CU Hawai`i Na`alehu Branch. Next week, Ka`u residents vote for art to grace the cover of The Directory 2015.

For more information, call Dallas at 516-662-8789.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK waives entry fees to celebrate National Public Lands Day Saturday.

BOTANIST TIM TUNISON LEADS AN EXPLORATION of a pristine, species-rich, old-growth rain forest Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pu`u Maka`ala, a section of the Natural Area Reserve System just outside of Volcano Village, is also known as a fern-lover’s paradise to Tunison. The three-mile, moderate hike includes light field lessons in native plant identification and native rain forest ecology. On the first part of the trail, the plethora of ferns is nurtured by a 2,000-year-old, deep ash soil and sheltered by a canopy of majestic old-growth `ohi`a trees.

Tunison also leads participants on short, inviting side trips to habitats such as a rare Kilauea sedgeland bog. Not only is it a fern lover’s paradise, it is also one that boasts a minimal amount of invasive species intrusion and an abundance of native fauna.
Tuition is $50, and pre-registration is required. Call 967-8222 to sign up.

THE PACIFIC CRAFTS & CERAMIC SALE and yART Sale take place tomorrow from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village.

Volcano Art Center's Pacific Crafts & Ceramic Sale and yART sale takes
place tomorrow and Saturday. Photo from VAC

The event features pottery and handcrafted items from the estate of Kathy Montvel-Cohen. Montvel-Cohen was a professor of Fine Arts at the University of Guam from 1975-90. Primarily a ceramic artist, she and her husband Monty, who was a painter and anthropologist, traveled extensively throughout the Pacific islands, seeking out carvings, baskets, textiles and other fine crafts from New Guinea, Yap, Fiji, Japan, Indonesia and other areas. The family generously donated this collection, as well as many ceramic pieces made or collected by Montvel-Co, to VAC for sale.
Many items have been donated for the companion yART Sale, as well.

STATEWIDE HAWAI`I FARMERS UNION UNITED PRESIDENT Vince Mina will address the Ka`u chapter’s meeting Saturday at Na`alehu Community Center at 5 p.m. Organizer Malian Lahey encourages gardeners and farmers to “bring your home-grown produce for the produce swap table. Drop off something and pick up something yummy that your neighbor is growing!”
Mina will talk about his recent trip to Washington D.C. for the National Farmer’s Union Fly-In event.

Rep. Richard Creagan will also answer questions from attendees.

For more information, email Malian Lahey at malian@kauspecialtycoffee.com.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.