Volcanoes National Park to grow by 50 percent
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i and the National Park Service have completed the purchase of 116,000 acres of Kahuku Ranch on the southern slopes of Mauna Loa, creating a half-million-acre swath of land dedicated to conservation.
The $22 million purchase from the Samuel Mills Damon Estate — the largest land conservation purchase in Hawai'i history — will ultimately be joined to the 217,000-acre Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, which it borders.
"It's the conservation jewel for Hawai'i," said conservancy director Suzanne Case. "You can do conservation in bits and pieces — and we have — but the way to really accomplish native forest protection is to use huge areas. This is an entire landscape with multiple kinds of forests and natural areas in one transaction."
Congress has appropriated $16 million toward the purchase, and the Nature Conservancy put up $6 million to complete the deal. When the federal government pays that $6 million back to the conservancy, the park will take sole title to the land.
The ranch lands, running mauka from South Point and Na'alehu, are adjacent to the Nature Conservancy's Honomalino and Kapua properties and to forest lands managed by Kamehameha Schools, the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. Together, they make up a chunk of the Big Island equivalent in size to Kaua'i.
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park superintendent Jim Martin said the property is a stunning addition to the park, from an environmental perspective, but also for recreation and Hawaiian cultural reasons.
"Kahuku Ranch has world-class qualities—tremendous resources, tremendous beauty and tremendous value to global biodiversity," he said.
"The park boundaries where established in 1916 to reflect the volcanic features of the area, before we really understood the importance of conservation of the forests. We've added sections over time, but we haven't really been getting the best. Kahuku has an extremely intact variety of native ecosystems. With our neighbors, we will be able to conserve a continuous canopy of forest," he said.
The acreage, with elevations from 2,000 to 13,000 feet, has alpine regions, koa and 'ohi'a-dominated upland forest, dry forest and shrubland.
Ranch forests are habitat for several species of rare or endangered plants; three endangered and five rare forest birds, plus the Hawaiian hawk and goose; the Hawaiian bat; and the Hawaiian petrel, or 'ua'u, a mountain-nesting sea bird. It is a possible site for reintroduction of the Hawaiian crow or 'alala.
Martin said the purchase also adds a major recreational component to the park. Several park trails are near ranch roads, which should be readily integrated into the park's system of hiking paths, he said.
Community meetings could start as early as this year to begin working on the visitor use features of the ranch.
Kahuku Ranch has extensive Hawaiian archaeological remains, including platforms dating back 1,400 years, walled caves, Hawaiian trail systems and other features. Native Hawaiian groups have expressed interest in gaining access for cultural observances to the region, which has been closed to them for much of the ranch's history, Martin said.
The land also has problems from a conservation perspective. There are nonnative animals like wild cattle, pigs and sheep; grassland and shrublands susceptible to fire; invading weedy plants; and vast pasturelands that would quickly go to weeds if not controlled.
Damon Estate chief executive officer Tim Johns said the estate will continue to run cattle on parts of the land to keep weeds down until the park service develops alternative plans. He said combining cattle ranching and conservation will not be new on the ranch, which has worked over the years with conservation agencies on behalf of the Ka'u silversword and the nene, or Hawaiian goose, and for the control of mouflon sheep and pigs.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
