What an interesting month this has been. Only four weeks ago we were wrapping up the Hawaii Conservation Conference (86 presentations now available for free from the iTunes Store, or on line at http://hcc09.blip.tv). At that conference, retired forester Bob Merriam was presented with an award from the Society of American Foresters for being a member of our professional organization for 50 years. Bob, on the other hand, gave me a treasure trove of historic documents relating to forestry in Hawaii.

Right before I left for vacation (on August 20th) I scanned about 2000 pages of these documents and have spent the better portion of my time reading them, cross-checking dates, and teasing out the significant points.

I have been on vacation for the last week, but most of my time has been devoted to absorbing these incredible documents and learning the history of forestry in Hawaii. Here’s an interesting item;

August 26, 1889 (report by J. D. Schuyler and G. F. Allardt to Mr. B. F. Dillingham with respect to possible water supplies for the development of sugar plantations at Honouliuli and Kahuku, Page 18)

“THE ARTESIAN WELL SUPPLY: The discovery of the possibility of obtaining a supply of flowing water by deep artesian borings around the margin of this island (Oahu) has been of incalculable value to all property interests, and has compensated in a measure for the loss occasioned by the perpetual robbery of the waters, that fall so copiously upon the mountains by the porous and thirsty earth, and for the water lost during torrential storms by rapid drainage into the sea. On no other island of the group has Nature provided for such compensation, and even here the geological formation is so different from that of any other region the world over where artesian water is obtained by boring that no scientific man would have risked his reputation by predicting the possibility of securing flowing wells by boring in the volcanic and coral formations of this country before success had demonstrated the fact.”

The discovery of “artesian water” on Oahu changed the course of history for Hawaii. From that point on foresters, geologists and the sugar cane barons worked together to create Hawaii’s Forest Reserves with the goal of recharging the groundwater for all time. -Ron

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.

We are thrilled that LANDFIRE wil be coming to this year’s Hawaii Conservation Conference to present their data and to work with us here to help us intergate these rich datasets into Hawaii’s asessment (SWARS). Without exception, everyone who has worked on this project has been nice, really smart, enthusiastic, interesting and committed . Huge mahalos to everyone on the LANDFIRE and TNC teams. Oh yeah, Jim, Dawn and the rest of the gang have been great too. All good.