It’s been a while since I last posted. Been devoting pretty much all of my time to this project, but now that we are entering the review phase of producing our SWARS, looks like I’ll be posting more often.

Today we have a Technical Advisory Committee (a committee of the Natural Resources Conservation Service) via PeaceSat so that all of the Pacific Islands can participate.

Here is the Outline and Issues for Hawaii’s Assessment of Forest Conditions and Trends. The Strategy document will mirror this structure, and will address the items in the Issues section.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message From the Chair     9
Hawaii State Motto     10
Introduction and Objectives for this Assessment     11
Methodology     17
Scope     17
Data     17
Process     17
Stakeholder Groups Consulted     17
Priority Landscape Areas (where and why)     18
Hawaii’s Themes     18
Hawaii’s Forests: Historical Context     20
The Aina (working title)     33
The Ahupuaa Paradigm and Ecosystem-Based Management     33
Land Use and Zoning in Hawaii     35
Conservation zone     37
Agriculture zone     40
Urban Zone     41
Coastal Zone     46
Near Shore Zone     48
Issue-Based Themes     49
Watershed Management     49

1. Benefits     53
2. Threats     54
3. Trends     54
4. Present Condition     54
5. Priority Landscapes     54
6. Data Gaps     54

Conservation of Biodiversity     55

1. Benefits     55
2. Threats     55
3. Trends     55
4. Present Condition     55
5. Priority Landscapes     55
6. Data Gaps     55

Forest Products     55

1. Benefits     59
2. Threats     59
3. Trends     60
4. Present Condition     60
5. Priority Landscapes     60
6. Data Gaps     60

Forest Health: Invasive Plants, Insects, and Diseases     60

1. Benefits     62
2. Threats     62
3. Trends     62
4. Present Condition     65
5. Priority Landscapes     65
6. Data Gaps     65

Wildfire     66

1. DOFAW’s Fire Management Program     66
2. Fire History     67
3. Collaboration     67
4. Planning     67
5. Harmful Effects of Wildfires in Hawaii     67
6. Threats and Trends     68
7. Impacts on Watersheds and Groundwater     68
8. Soil erosion and coral reef impacts     68
9. Threats to Native Biodiversity     68
10. Threats in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)     72
11. Wildfire and Fuel Loading Cycle     72
12. Present Condition     72
13. Fire Response Zones     72
14. Funding     73
15. Establishment of a Land Fire Protection Law     73
16. Wildland Urban Interface     74
17. Community Wildfire Protection Plana 74
18. Priority Landscapes     74
19. Firewise Hawaii Program     74
20. Data Used     76
21. Hawaii Fire Danger Rating System (HFDRS)     76
22. Hawaii Fuel Models     76

Climate Change/Sea Level Rise     79

1. Threats     79
2. Trends     79
3. Present Condition     79
4. Priority Landscapes     79
5. Data Gaps     79

Coastal Issues     79

1. Benefits     79
2. Threats     79
3. Trends     79
4. Present Condition     79
5. Priority Landscapes     79
6. Data Gaps     79

Recreation & Tourism     80

1. Benefits     80
2. Threats     80
3. Trends     80
4. Present Condition     80
5. Priority Landscapes     80
6. Data Gaps     80

Health of Our Urban Forests     80

1. Benefits     80
2. Threats     84
3. Trends     84
4. Present Condition     84
5. Priority Landscapes     84
6. Data Gaps     85

Multi-State and Regional Issues     86

1. Benefits     87
2. Threats     87

• Movement of Invasive Species
• Impacts of Climate Change/Sea Level Rise on the Pacific Islands Region

1. Trends     87

• Access to Various on-line resources documenting trends of climate change/sea level rise
• Education and Capacity Building

1. Present Condition     89
2. Priority Landscapes     89
3. Data Gaps     89

Graphics for Document (Temp)     90
Appendix A: Timeline of Forest Management in Hawaii     91
Appendix B: Plans Considered     105
Resource Land Acquisition Plans and Priorities in the State of Hawaii     106
County Plans & Priorities     106
County of Hawaii     106
County of Maui     106
County of Kauai     107
State Plans & Priorities (organized by agency)     108
Department of Land and Natural Resources     108
Department of Agriculture     110
Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism     110
The University of Hawaii     111
Other Plans & Priorities (within Hawaii, but not State or county)     112
Appendix C: Stakeholder Involvement     113
City & County of Honolulu Watershed Partners and Projects     113
Appendix D: Orthography and Language     117
Appendix E: Acronyms     119
Appendix F: Glossary and Place Names     121
Appendix G: 2008 Farm Bill Summary of Forestry Title VIII     125
Bibliography     141

Way to go, Northeastern Area Association State Foresters (NAASF)! (Oddly enough, the NAASF doesn’t really seem to have a home page, or I would have included the link here.)

But wow, what a team you have in your NAASF Forest Resource Planning Committee (FRPC). The mission statement of that committee is “to encourage and support forest resource planning and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies; to develop and maintain a working relationship with NAASF, the USDA Forest Service, and other appropriate organizations; and to advise and provide technical support to NAASF”.

If you visit the homepage of the FRPC, there is a treasure trove of information about SWARS planning and project guidelines for their region. Many great presentations, links to data sources, detailed information on exactly what is to be included in their SWARSs.

I just discovered this website because I have set up a “Google Alert” so that I get an email any time the words “forestry assessment” pop up on the internet. This morning’s email lead me to this presentation July 2009 Presentation on State Assess. & Strategies for NAASF.

That most informative presentation is in Powerpoint so you may need that Powerpoint or another program to view the presentation. But it includes a couple of slides that really cought my attention. I quote:

“USFS Funds to Support Assessments & Strategies
NAASF share = $481,525
$45,000 reserved to support travel
likely some will be left over
$143,000—habitat classification project
$293,525—split equally among requesting states
$15,449 available for each
16 states have submitted application
Status report due in Sept.”

What? Hawaii was told that there was no funding specifically earmarked for supporting SWARS. Our regional forestry liaison agency was supposed to hire a coordinator to assist the Western States (and Pacific Islands) but last thing I heard before I left for this vacation is that they were unable to hire anyone. “Sorry bout that”.

Today is August 21, 2009; our SWARS is due on June 18, 2010. We had a scant two years to do these plans. And now, we learn that there were indeed funds to support this planning effort, other regions have established regional committees to provide coordination and support to their member states, they are exchanging information, providing useful input.

But frankly, Hawaii has been left out there to pretty much go it alone. We have stepped up, and made significant progress. Our partnerships are strong and growing, we have great data, lots of institutional planning capacity, we have demonstrated and documented our our stakeholder involvement, and through our own research (reading the Farm Bill and Federal Register Notices) we have fortunately jumped through all of the hoops so far.

But to my colleagues in the Western and Pacific Islands region; take a look at what we should be getting. Take a look at where we should collectively be at this point.

Take a look at http://www.northeasternforests.org/FRPC/

OK Hawaii team. Read up. Pure gold.

Great work, FRPC!

Playing catch-up here. The flu knocked me back pretty hard in the middle of last week’s SWARS GIS-a-thon. I did want to post these links to Hawaii SWARS session presentations at this year’s Hawaii Conservation Conference.

Bear in mind that this session was moved to “Open House Day” and as such, the presentations were geared to a general audience. The session was well attended, and generated a great deal of interest in the project.

Ronald Cannarella – Introduction to Statewide Assessment of Forest Conditions and State-wide Resource Strategy (SWARS)

Kimberly Burnett – Sustainability Science for Watershed Management:A Systems Approach to Efficient Conservation
Teresa Truman-Madriaga  – Statewide Assessment and Resource Strategy (SWARS) —Urban and Community Forestry Perspective

Darren Johnson - Application of LANDFIRE Spatial Data in Hawai’i Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

Dawn Greenlee -State-wide Assessment and Resource Strategies: Minimizing Wildland Fire Impacts to Hawaii’s Natural Resources

Did you miss the 2009 Hawaii Conservation Conference? Have you heard the latest information on climate change, cultural practices, invasive species, the economic crisis, and where Hawai`i is heading? Do you want to hear from islanders from Hawaii and Micronesia in their own words? Would you like to hear for yourself Dr. Stephen Schneider, Nobel Peace Prize winning climatologist on what can be done to mitigate the effects of climate change and sea level rise. Do you care about these Hawaiian Islands; our people, our biodiversity, our culture, the awesome power of our oceans, volcanoes, coral reefs and traditions?

Then you should check out the HCC presentations. They’re online. And free.

The link for the conference index is http://hawaiiconservation.org/2009hcc_presentations.asp

Or you can get one or all of the podcasts on your itunes. Make sure that you are connected to the internet and that itunes can access the itunes store. In itunes, choose Advanced – then Subscribe to Podcast  and then copy and paste this URL into the dialogue box:

http://hcc09.blip.tv/rss/itunes

The podcast directory will load, and you can download one or more of the presentations complete with abstract (in the lyrics section of the podcast).

Enjoy

Hawaii Conservation Conference

Survey Results

Urban & Community Forestry

An integral component of the Statewide Assessment & Resource Strategy, SWARS, is to solicit public input on the critical issues in our forests. The Urban and Community Forestry Team created a simple six question form for distribution to participants at the Hawaii Conservation Conference – SWARS session on July 29, 2009. Our goals were two-fold: to gain input and validation on the critical issues in the urban forest of Hawai’i and to trial the survey format and questions.Soon, a modified version  will be available via the web –we’ll let you know when it is up and running so that you can cast your vote.

Summary of Survey Results

The SWARS session drew a crowd of nearly 175 representatives from the conservation community. We handed out 62 questionnaires, of these 37 were returned. While the data set is small the surveys yielded rich information and are representative of the professional conservation community in Hawai’i.

Background.

Regarding background we wanted to know where participants live as well as their affiliation. Knowing where respondents live is of great importance in the Hawaiian Islands as the geography, rainfall, economic and other conditions vary widely across the state. We found that the majority of the participants live on Oahu, most in Honolulu and Kaneohe with a small representation from the Big Island. The majority of the respondents are forestry professionals or representatives from the conservation sector. This is a professional group with in-depth knowledge of the Hawaii Conservation issues.

Content.

Questions focused on critical issues in the urban fores, For example: Q3. Thinking in terms of where you live, what is the most important urban forestry-related issue that needs to be addressed? This question was taken from the Oklahoma SWARS process, which we are using as a model for the Hawai’i SWARS. Responses were grouped into general categories that emerged from the data, and then weighted by frequency. Emerging categories in order from most frequent to least are:

(1) Urban Forestry Management

(2) Tree Plantings (Focus on Native Species)

(3) Invasives

(4) Education

(5) Water

(6) Coastal Issues

(7) Other

Respondents commented most frequently on Urban Forest Management as a priority in the urban forest. Urban Forest management includes items such as: urban health and large tree replacement planning; green space management and biodiversity of urban forestry. While urban forestry management was the most frequent response, tree plantings with a focus on native species and removing invasives were ranked a close second and third.

Q4. Thinking in terms of Hawaii as a whole, what are the top three forestry issues that need to be addressed? This question is also modified from the Oklahoma example. It yields information on forestry as a whole in Hawaii linking urban with other natural resource issues in the state.

Invasives and Habitat outranked other responses. In order from greatest frequency to least:

(1) Invasives (2) Habitat (3) Urban (4) Water (5) Policy & Planning (6) Fire & Education (same ranking) (7) Coastal Areas (8) Other.

Q5. Participants were asked to rank these issues according to priority (1 being the highest).

This question pertains to critical issues selected and validated by the Kaulunani Council as priorities in the urban forest. Watershed was selected as the top priority: next in order are: (2) Sustainability (3) Coastal Issues (4) Cultural Issues (5) Urban Forestry

Q6. What method do you think offers the best strategy for creating positive change?

Of the four choices: education, research, best management practices and policy & planning–Education was the top choice, Policy & Planning second.

Next steps.

This is a small sample giving us some insights into what conservation and forestry professionals see as important issues in the urban forest in Hawai’i. The survey is being modified for internet use so that even more interested residents, professionals, educators and urban forestry practitioners can participate. We’ll keep you posted with further details via this website.

Society of American Foresters honor Bob Merriam for 50 years as an SAF member.

This years Hawaii Conservation Conference ”Hawaii in a Changing Climate” was a big success. Mahalo to everyone who helped put this together.

This conference, now in its 17th year, has grown to three intense days plus a Friday field-trip day, four or five concurrent sessions per day, an Open Public Day, an amazing array of posters, lots of great interaction, and the latest news on research, management, and climate change issues relevant to Hawai`i.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Stephen Schneider, a world renound climatologist from Stanford who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore and several others for their work in identifying climate change, and for advocating a coordinated response to the impending impacts due to changes in weather, rainfall, and sea level.

Hawaii SWARS had a two-hour session on Public Information Day that was very well attended. Ron (your author) gave the general overview of SWARS; Dr, Kimberly Bennett (University of Hawaii Economist) gave a presentation on the economics of water and complex systems; Teresa Truman-Madriaga presented on the Urban Perspective of SWARS, Darren Johnson; a fire ecologist who assisted with the Hawaii LANDFIRE project presented this brand-new dataset, Dawn Greenlee (US Fish & Wildlife Service) and Glenn Shishido (DOFAW) presented on the latest fire data and how it will be used in Hawaii SWARS.

At the conclusion of our talk, we presented Bob Merriam a placque on behalf of the Society of American Foresters for celebrating his 50th year as an active SAF member.

We got a lot of great feedback and make some powerful new connections with our partners.

And, since Aaron Lowe (DOFAW’s Na Ala Hele program manager for the island of Oahu) and his hot-shot team of multimedia techs were managing the hundred twenty plus powerpoint presentations, we decided to record all of the presentations using Camtasia Studio. Several speakers did not want to be recorded, and a few presentations were not successfully recorded due to technical issues, but we did manage to produce nearly 90 of the conference presentations.

Many of these presentations are of direct relevance to Hawaii SWARS. Not only our own session, but others as well. For example, NOAA is in the process of producing a similar type of plan to SWARS, but specifically geared to the response to climate change in Hawaii. We too, must address this in Hawaii SWARS. So, they held a two hour planning workshop, all of which was recorded.

I have done virtually all of the post production, and it has been quite a learning experience. As soon as the whole conference is up on the web, checked, and an index is created, we will announce the results and you can see for yourself the most current information that we have on research, science, cultural practices, and management of Hawaii’s unique environment and culture.

PIC logo

Well, we survived the 2009 Annual meeting of the Pacific Islands Committee (PIC) , which was held this year in the Republic of Palau. One of the main topics of this year’s meeting was of course, SWARS. The PIC is a committee of the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition (WFLC), which is in turn, a subgroup of the National Association of State Foresters (NASF). In these recent economic hard times, many WFLC committees have gone by the wayside, and PIC is the only committee still standing, which demonstrates how important this meeting is to WFLC.

US Affiliated Islands in the Pacific

This annual meeting is the most important event for the foresters working in the Pacific US States (Hawaii), Territories (Guam, American Samoa and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands – OK the fine points of the status of each can be clarified if there is interest) and the Freely Associated States (formerly Trust Territories of the Pacific), and now comprising the Federated States of Micronesia (Kosrae, Phonpei, Chuuk and Yap), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (too many atolls to mention), and the Republic of Palau.

Basically, at a PIC meeting, 50 forestry-related people get together to talk about common issues, discuss administrivia (exactly HOW do you fill out a Federal f310-a form to get reimbursed under grant C2009g699hs(a7). But more important than that, relationships between individuals, nations, islands and programs are strengthened. Problems are solved (especially the tricky people problems). Information, technology and data are shared.

Conferences are exhausting, no way around it. You awake at 6 AM, go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, but breakfast is a pre-meeting since inevitably, several other colleagues will be there. Then you go to the venue, meet, strategize, tear through the tear sheets, compile, synthesize, break-out, strategize some more over dinner, and then retire to your room to prepare for the next day.

My four take-away points from this meeting:

1. Everyone is behind schedule on their SWARS
2. Every data set, Federal program, every agency and every ecotome (i.e., forest, mangrove, shoreline, reef) has their own language, jargon, data structure – and for SWARS we must learn them all
3. This being the first time for every State/Territory/Freely Associated State, nobody quite knows what to do, and nobody quite knows what their exact role is.
4. I cannot live without being in email contact at least once a week. 12 days without internet was like turning off the electricity at home, and coming back to dead plants, a dead aquarium, a flooded bathroom, and a fridge full of rotten food. Never again!

But one thing is for sure. Palau is THE most spectactularly beautiful place I have ever been (and I have been a few places)

-Ron

Well, this has been quite a busy month. So much so that I have not been diligent in reporting on what has been going on behind the scenes.

So, here is a quick run down on what we have been doing lately.

Kelly Hartman, our GIS intern has been hard at work developing a GIS layer for Hawaii’s Non-Industrial Private Forest (NIPF). That new data layer is being reviewed by our staff and cooperators and should be available by April 30, 2009.

We are in the final stages of completing several grants to support this project. The check isn’t in the mail yet, but it will be soon. This is very encouraging.

The Urban and Community Forestry working group met on March 18, 2009 at the Waikiki Aquarium and they are up and running.

We have engaged three student interns from the University of Hawaii English Department and they are writing an updated “History of Forest Management in Hawaii” that will serve as the first chapter in our State Assessment.

I attended and provided technical support for a meeting of Malama Moanalua, an organization set up to coordinate activities for the Moanalua Local Area Strategy (LAS), under the Coral Reef Initiative. All of the Powerpoint presentations for the meeting were recorded and will be available on their website very soon.

The LANDFIRE team was back in town working on their models. They are on track for delivering all of their products by July 15, 2009, just in time for the Hawaii Conservation Conference.

Been doing a lot of work on the website, getting the mailing and calendar functions working correctly. Almost there.

The next few months will be devoted to creating working documents detailing the methodology, and on procurement of goods and services.