The economy remains in the forefront of everyone’s thoughts right now. Every day we read about budgets cuts and growing unemployment. What leaders both in Washington, D.C., and Honolulu need to keep in mind is that a healthy economy depends on a healthy environment, and vice versa. Here in Hawai‘i, you cannot have one without the other. Hawai‘i's forested watersheds provide the perfect example of this interdependence. We all depend on the clean water that our native forests produce for drinking, agriculture, cultural practices, recreation, and healthy, productive coral reefs. In turn, our stewardship of these forests – incorporating both traditional Hawaiian and Western knowledge systems – sustains the native plants and animals that define Hawai‘i.

To kick off the week of events, on Sunday, July 26^th, are the Bishop Museum’s Family Sunday featuring “Backyard Monsters…Bugs!” with reduced admission for kamaʻāina and military, and the free Short-Attention-Span Environmental Film Festival at the UH Manoa Auditorium.

To wrap the week up on August 1st is the Hawai‘i Conservation Fair, at ING Direct Café, with special guest speaker Leilani Münter, presentations by Jeff Mikulina of the Blue Planet Foundation and Ben Namakin and Kimo Carvalho of Pacific Islands Climate Revolution, games and educational activities, live music, and door prizes. Free valet parking makes attending this Waikiki event easy and convenient. There is also another chance to attend the Short-Attention-Span Environmental Film Festival at the UH Mānoa Auditorium that evening.

Mahalo nui to our Conservation Week and Conference sponsors: Hawaiian Electric Company, ING Direct, Sunetric, Climate Test Bed of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Honolulu Weekly, The Nature Conservancy Hawai‘i, Hagadone Printing Company, and the National Wildlife Society - Hawai‘i Chapter.

 

“My Hawai‘i” Story Project Winners Published

 

The HCA, HCAF, and the Pacific Writers’ Connection sponsored the third annual “My Hawai‘i” Story Project this year, an education outreach endeavor for middle and intermediate schools statewide. We invited all sixth through eighth grade students from all public and private schools across the State to express in either an essay or poem their thoughts and feelings about Hawai‘i’s natural environment. The resulting “My Hawai‘i” anthology, a compilation of the 25 best literary works from the writing contest, covers topics ranging from vanishing native songbirds to a family day at the beach. The 25 winners are invited to attend an awards ceremony in their honor during the morning session on July 30th at the Hawai‘i Conservation Conference, at which time the anthology will be made available to the public. Special thanks to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Hawai‘i Office of Planning, Coastal Zone Management Program/NOAA for their support of this project.

 

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 Young Scientists Honored by HCA

 

The HCA participated again this year in the annual Hawai‘i State Science and Engineering Fair, April 6-8. HCA gave cash awards totaling $950 to four students and one teacher.

 

Senior Awards

Terah T. Summer and Serena S.N. Perry, Baldwin High School

Barbara Huntley (teacher), Baldwin High School

Amelia L.K. Harvey, Kamehameha School-Kapalama

 

Junior Awards

Zoe Sims, Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy

Mathew R. Beattie-Callahan, Hawaii Technology Academy

 

The winning projects covered a range of topics: an examination of impacts on a coral reef ecosystem on Maui, a native fern conservation project, an experiment to reduce ocean acidification for the benefit of coral reefs, and an examination of alternative removal methods for the coqui frog. The two senior co-awardees, Terah T. Summer and Serena S.N. Perry of Baldwin High School, will be presenting their project Three Fish, Two Fish, One Fish, No Fish! at the poster session on Tuesday, July 28, at the 2009 Hawai‘i Conservation Conference. Congratulations!

 

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Pacific-Hawai’i Exchange Program

 

The HCA is looking forward to hosting this year’s Pacific-Hawai’i Conservation Exchange Program awardee, Penny Fisher. Penny is the Research Leader, Pest Control Technologies Team, of Landcare Research. The origin of the Exchange began when HCA and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research in New Zealand established an program to enhance communication of approaches, techniques, and philosophies relevant to their common conservation management issues. While here in Hawai‘i, will be communicating findings from recent New Zealand research and monitoring regarding the use of anticoagulant poisons for management of rodent pests and discuss their relevance with agencies involved with rodent control. Penny will be presenting on this topic at the HCC and then traveling to neighbor islands to meet with researchers and managers working on rodent control in Hawai‘i. E komo mai!

 

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HCA Unveils Updated Online Plant Restoration Database

 

The Pacific Island Plant Restoration database is an interactive, web-based plant key designed to assist managers of Pacific Island restoration projects in selecting plants appropriate for their project outplanting sites. The database covers Palau, Guam, The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia, American Samoa and the Hawaiian Islands. The database was developed with guidance from engineers, hydrologists, botanists, soil scientists, and conservation biologists throughout the Pacific Islands. This current version of the key was developed by Laura M. Crago and Christopher F. Puttock, based on earlier versions developed by the Bishop Museum. Funding for Pacific Island Plant Restoration Version 2.0 was provided by Tropical Technology Consortium of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Hawai'i Community Foundation's Virginia and Colin Lennox Botanical Fund.

 

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Partner Profile: Larry Yamamoto, Director
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pacific Islands Area

 

Growing up on O‘ahu, Larry Yamamoto never imaged he would end up as the Director of the Pacific Islands Area for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). “I grew up on a ranch, so I thought agriculture might be a good career path,” said Larry as we chatted in his Honolulu office overlooking the harbor. He grew up in an area now part of Pearl City, a landscape that during his childhood was not defined by high-rises and freeways but by sugar cane fields. “I was not an ambitious high school student,” he added. “One reason I went to [the University of Hawai‘i at] Hilo was its size.” The small classes and rural setting were highly attractive to Larry, who graduated as Class Valedictorian from the College of Agriculture in 1981.

 

After college, Larry entered the Air National Guard, which took him to far and sundry places around the world. When he came back home, it was time to figure out what he wanted to do to earn a living. “When I went to college, didn’t really want to be a farmer, but I discovered this agency and really wanted to work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. I had a chance to work at the naval shipyard and other opportunities, but I could buy into the underlying philosophy [of the NRCS].”

 

Starting out as a field hand doing data collection, Larry then progressed into a technical consultant position helping farmers by designing irrigation and erosion control systems, among other tasks. Before long he was in charge of an NRCS field office, then responsible for the technology program, then several offices, and then finally the entire Pacific Islands Area. Larry said the key to his professional growth was the stepwise progression. “It’s all small steps, but you shouldn’t be afraid of the end product.” With a gleam in his eye he adds, “The elephant is eaten one bite of a time.”

 

Larry’s career with the NRCS has taken him to every community on all of the main Hawaiian Islands, and because of this work he has lived on every island except Lana’i. “Growing up, I was from Hawai‘i, not American. Now, NRCS is part of a national organization, but still I’m island born. I’m able to relate to Micronesia and other island nations because of this perspective.” This perspective is important for a Director of the NRCS Pacific Islands Area because the agency’s jurisdiction covers not only Hawai‘i but also American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

   

How the NRCS Helps to Conserve Hawai‘i

 

“Our work is helping people help the land,” Larry explained. “Helping people do what they want to do – conserve soil, water, endangered species habitat – all the good things that people should want to do.” The NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to private landowners, land users (such as farmers and ranchers), and communities across the Pacific Islands. The agency works directly with individuals and through partnerships with local governments, non-government organizations, and others through a variety of programs that has contributed well over $14 Million in financial assistance to the agricultural communities throughout Hawai‘i and the Pacific Islands region.

Larry points out that there’s a largely untapped conservation potential in working with private-land users and helping them to understand their role in conserving that land. “Everyone has to come to grips with the concept that the land isn’t theirs, they’re just using it. The challenge is to make [conservation] accessible, easy, affordable, but still effective.” In an island system, that challenge can be significant. “Just getting to all the people is hard enough – all the farming is spread out everywhere, so you need to go everywhere and you can’t concentrate your efforts.” Many of the farmers that could benefit the most from NRCS programs are difficult to identify and track because they don’t own the land they’re working and they move frequently. “So you often have to start from scratch” when a farmer moves into a community and begins a new endeavor.

Once such NRCS program is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides financial assistance to farmers who are willing to implement conservation measures to address natural resource concerns on their land, including forestry, organic farming, and energy conservation. A new offering of this program is the 2009 Organic Initiative, a nationwide special initiative to provide financial assistance to National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic producers as well as producers in the process of transitioning to organic production. The program requires farmers and other land users to utilize “core conservation practices” including cover crop, pest management, and other practices.

Parting Thoughts

 

The NRCS has been a longstanding HCA Partner, even though the agency is a bit unique compared to the other members of the partnership who focus more on managing natural resources and conserving endangered species. Larry points out that while most HCA Partners work with conservation lands and marine resources, the NRCS works “with the working lands.” He adds: “We’re working right on that edge – healing that edge is a key to healing past habitat losses. It’s a constant struggle to get folks to understand their responsibility, but I don’t know of another job I’d rather be doing.”

The biggest responsibility is to pass on the knowledge of how working lands in Hawai‘i and the Pacific Region were conserved over generations in the past, and how they can be conserved now and into the future. Larry counts as one of his greatest leadership successes “helping people in D.C. understand that this is not Nebraska and they shouldn’t treat it that way.” Under his leadership, the main office in Washington, D.C., has progressed from having zero employees from Hawai‘i to now having almost ten employees from the archipelago. As Larry talked about “the success we’ve had of telling Hawai‘i’s story in D.C. and helping people move into those positions,” his pride at being born and raised in Hawai‘i shone forth.

“I still view myself as a conservationist, even though I’m a government guy that doesn’t do much of the work anymore,” Larry said with a wry grin. “Helping others to do that work is satisfying.” In a more serious vein, he concluded: “There’s that Marianne Williamson quote about your greatest fear –

     ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
     Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.’

It’s not that you’re insignificant, but that you’re significant and not doing something about it. Other people lose if you don’t exercise those intents and knowledge. It’s a humbling thing for me to think that other people [can learn from me].”

 

For more information about the NRCS Pacific Islands Area, visit the agency’s Web site.

 

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Pest Alert!

 

The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture has identified a new pest established in Hawai‘i that attacks naio (Myoporum sandwicense). The pest is known as the myoporum thrips (Klambothrips myopori). Based on DOA surveys, the thrips is well established in the south Kohala and north Kona districts on the Big Island, found primarily on landscape plantings of naio papa but also seen on the tree-form of naio. DOA data shows that the thrips has been spread on landscape plants but is also moving freely on its own. They are not strong fliers but are very efficient wind dispersers. To date, the pest has been found only on the Big Island.

 

If you discover thrips on any other island, call the pest hotline at 643-PEST. If detected early enough, there may be a chance to prevent its establishment.

 

Thrips-damaged plant

Adult thrips

 

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Upcoming Outreach Events

 

Visit the HCA booth at upcoming Conservation Week events, including the Bishop Museum’s Family Sunday (July 26^th) and the Hawai‘i Conservation Fair in Waikiki (August 1^st). Play our interactive games highlighting Hawai‘i’s native critters and win fun prizes. View the online Conservation Week Calendar for event details.

 

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 Volunteer Opportunities

 

The HCA and HCAF are seeking enthusiastic volunteers to assist with expanding our Web site’s social networking capabilities, develop short web videos and slideshows about the HCA, and to assist with fundraising. Please email us at hcastaff@hawaii.edu if you’re interested in volunteering.

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