Seven sign Kohala watershed pact
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
Seven landowners with properties covering 30,000 acres in the Big Island's Kohala Mountains have signed an agreement to work together to protect the watershed.
It is the eighth watershed partnership in the state, and brings together landowners Parker Ranch, Kahua Ranch, Ponoholo Ranch, Kamehameha Schools, the Queen Emma Foundation, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The mountains at the northern end of the Big Island feed streams in the Hamakua Coast, North Kohala, South Kohala and Waimea. Those streams are diverted to provide water for domestic water use, cattle and agriculture.
One-third of the area is within the state's Pu'u O 'Umi Natural Area Reserve and two-thirds is state land. The watershed area ranges from 2,000 feet in elevation to the Kohala Mountains summit at about 5,500 feet. Most is wet 'ohi'a forest.
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i, while it does not have land in the area, is also a member of the partnership because it is involved in most of the state's other watershed partnerships. Rob Shallenberger, the conservancy's Hawai'i Island program director, said one of the first tasks will be development of a management plan for the area.
Those plans frequently include provisions for the control of invasive weeds, removal of non-native animals, construction of fences and other means to keep the watershed forests healthy. Through the partnership agreement, managers are able to take actions across ownership boundaries and to join forces to improve watershed protection.
"With ownership of Hawai'i's 1.5 million acres of forested lands almost evenly split between public and private landowners, effective conservation cannot be achieved without the cooperation of both," said Michael Buck, head of the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
The state's other watershed partnerships include three on Maui, and one each on East Moloka'i, the Ko'olau Mountains of O'ahu, Lana'i and Kaua'i.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
