Hawi's Kauhola Lighthouse to be Demolished

Tuesday October 26, 2009 after years of consultation with State of Hawaii historic preservation officials, the U.S. Coast Guard issued a press release informing the public of its decision to demolish the Kauhola Lighthouse. See Press Release.

The Kauhola Lighthouse, which is no longer operational, sits on a 3.5-acre federal government property north of Hawi in the Kohala area of the Big Island and is in danger of falling down a steep cliff face if no action is taken.

In 1933, the lighthouse was approximately 85 feet away from the edge of the cliff; today it is a mere 20 feet. Between 2003 and 2007, the cliff retreated approximately 15 feet, partly exacerbated by an October 2006 earthquake, when an additional six feet sheered off of the cliff face.

A petition circulated in Kohala asked that the lighthouse be moved 200 feet inland. But the Coast Guard said the move would be too costly and that the ground is not stable enough to conduct that type of work. Estimated costs to relocate the lighthouse were not disclosed. See Star Bulletin article.

The Coast Guard has an official agreement with the State Historical Preservation Office to maintain Kauhola Point's sister lighthouses at Barber's Point and Nawiliwili Harbor to preserve the historical examples of lighthouse construction of that era.

Said Steven Tanaka, who made periodic checks of the lighthouse for the past 15 years, "It's going to be sad to see it go down." Star Bulletin article.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard, 14th District

Proposed Sale of Hamakua Land Remains Unresolved

On October 22nd the Hawaii County Council Finance Committee voted 4-4 to hold a full hearing on Bill 132 which has been dubbed the “Transparency bill” sponsored by Hamakua Councilman Dominic Yagong. See West Hawaii Today. Scheduling the bill for full hearing spared the bill from defeat as a 4-4 vote would have resulted in defeat, while only 3 votes were needed to set the matter for hearing.

Bill 132 was sponsored in response to the Mayor’s proposal to sell Former Hamakua Sugar lands acquired by the County for back taxes owed which have sat unused for 15 years. The Mayor proposes to sell portion of the Hamakua lands in an effort to address the economic crisis the County is facing in the form of an approximately $8.2M deficit. See Hawaii County News Office of the Mayor. The Hawaii County Council agreed with this proposal in June voting 8-1 for a budget that included revenue from a Hamakua land sale.

Bill 132 would require the mayor to bring any potential county land sale greater than 10 acres or $500,000 back to the council, so council members and the public can learn who is buying it and what their intentions are for the land. See West Hawaii Today. Bill 132 has found strong, grassroots support, mostly amongst those who do not wish to see the Hamakua lands sold, as well as those who push for greater transparency in government, however it has resulted in a division in the Council and resulting in turbulence for the Mayor’s Office has he seeks to address the County’s economic problems without huge tax hikes and minimal impacts on public services and County jobs. http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2009/10october/20091015malamahonua.htm


The Mayor argues “[t]his is bad and unnecessary legislation because the buyer, price and potential land uses in any public land sale are already public record by law,” Mayor Kenoi said. “The council already authorizes county land sales by resolution before the land is put on the market. The council is well aware of all possible uses of the lands under existing zoning, and the council has complete control over any rezoning that might be proposed in the future. This ensures the Hamakua lands will remain zoned for agriculture and will be used for agricultural activities in the future. The public has had ample opportunity to provide testimony through the budget hearing process. Appropriate safeguards are already in place to protect the public interest.” See Hawaii County News Office of the Mayor. “The proposed ordinance is an unnecessary and bureaucratic add-on to an open and transparent process. It will jeopardize the county budget and finances,” Mayor Kenoi said. “This administration’s commitment is to reduce the size and barriers in government, not to erect them as Bill 132 does.” See Hawaii County News Office of the Mayor.

One thing is clear all sides are passionate and appear to have admirable goals – a budget that can fund essential public services and preservation of agricultural land, a form of land use near and dear to the Big Island. As the community discussions of the issues continue creative proposals are being suggested. For instance one community blogger has suggested “a covenant to be put in any deed that the land shall remain in agriculture for some 20 plus years and prohibit the use of GMO on the land.”

International Day of Climate Action - Hilo's Blue Line

October 24th is the International Day of Climate Action

Folks in Hilo are organizing a community event Hilo's Blue Line

24 October 2009 - 11:00am - 1:00pm

Draw the Blue Line of expected sea-level rise in Downtown Hilo! Here's how you can help:

- Help make signs on Monday the 19th (at Kahuina Gallery in Hilo) from 9:30 - 11:30 (or till pau)Kahuina Gallery is at 128 Kilauea Ave. in Hilo (Ph: 935-4420)

- Join the pre-event informational on Wednesday the 21st at 10 AM (45 min. long) at the Hawaii Community College (Manono street campus), Hale Aloha Building's Conference Room (1st floor), adjacent to the cafeteria

- Kokua in drawing the BLUE LINE at 11 am, check-in at 10:30 at Bayfront Beach Park (near Suisan) see map below

*Please wear BLUE on the 24th! All creativity welcome!

PRIZES for the most creative line and for the first 10 groups to arrive on the 24th. Bring your club, community organization, class and your family - contact Erika by using the event organizer link below.

Download the action announcement, poster & map on this page for more information.

*Mahalo to the Sierra Club, 350.org, Kokua Foundation, Hawaii Interfaith Power and Light, Blue Planet Foundation and the Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resources Center & Kahuina Gallery for making Hilo's Blue Line possible.


Location Information
Bayfront Beach Park off Kamehameha Ave. Downtown Hilo
Hilo, HI, 96720
United States
Event Organizer
H. Erika P

Army seeks license to possess depleted uranium on Big Island's Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA)

By letters dated November 6, 2008, and July 8, 2009, the U.S. Army Installation Command submitted a Source Material License application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), for the Schofield Barracks and Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) sites in Oahu and the Island of Hawaii, Hawaii.

This license application is for possession of depleted uranium (DU) due to the potential for residual DU to be at various Army Installations where testing of the M101 Spotting Round has occurred. See Notice of License Application Request of U.S. Army Installation Command for Schofield Barracks, Oahu, HI, and Pohakuloa Training Area, Island of Hawaii, HI; and Notice of Opportunity for Hearing published in the Federal Register.

The license would be an after-the-fact permit to allow the army to “legally” possess depleted uranium that was unleashed into Hawaii’s environment over 40 years ago.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held what they referred to as “informal” public meetings on August 26th in Kona and August 27th in Hilo. See New Pacific Voice for links to the public comments.

The deadline for submitting public comments and requesting a hearing is Oct. 13, 2009. Members of the public may e-mail comments to the NRC project manager, John J. Hayes, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, John.Hayes@nrc.gov.

Mauna Kea Summit subject of Citizen suit

On October 1, 2009 Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, and Clarence Ching (Appellants) filed an agency appeal in the Third Circuit Court appealing two agency orders:
(1) the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR)’s approval of the (UH)’s Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) prior to making a decision on the Appellants request for a contested case, and
(2) BLNR’s denial of the Appellants request for a contested case hearing regarding the proposed CMP
Colin Yost of Cruise & Yost LLLC is the attorney of record for the Appellants. The issues on appeal include: Denial of due process and improper notice. The appellants base their allegation on several grounds which includes that the hearings held on the matter were held on Oahu not the Big Island which is the location of the project resulting in a violation of H.A.R. 13-5-40(4)(b) requiring all hearings relating to Conservation Districts be held in the county in which the land is located. Violation of procedure for contested cases.
See also Kehea website.

The Waikoloa Dry Forest Recovery Project Seeks Comment on draft EA

Today the OEQC issued its Environmental Notice which contained notice of 30 day public comment period to the Draft EA of the proposed Waikoloa Dry Forest Recovery Project. See: OEQC Environmental Notice

The Waikoloa Dry Forest Recovery project seeks to restore and protect a native lowland dry forest habitat over 275 acres of open space south of the community of Waikoloa Village which included the installation of a proposed fence to exclude ungulates (wild cattle and goats) from the area. See: Draft Environmental Assessment For Construction of a 275 acre Fence Enclosure South of Waikoloa Village dated September 2009.


The Waikoloa Village Chapter of the Outdoor Circle with the assistance from the Hawaii Forest Stewardship Program will manage this native dry forest restoration project that contains a native lowland wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicense) forest with endangered uhiuhi (Caesalpinia kavaiensis) trees.

The 10-year project aims to restore native forest around a remnant patch of lowland wiliwili forest habitat, and establish new populations of 9 endangered plant species. The remnant forest patch lies ½ mile south of Waikoloa Village at approximately 1000 ft. elevation on the northwest flank of the island of Hawaii

The draft EA sets forth that the first step to controlling the large number of ungulates that roam throughout the project site is to erect a fence around the 275 acre boundaries. Without a properly constructed fence the remaining native vegetation has no future. The use of large scale fencing is now a common method for excluding ungulates and facilitates the recovery of degraded habitats even in a very short time period. The EA notes other successful fenced and researched dry forest areas such as the exclosure in Ka‘upulehu. This area was fenced in 1956 in recognition of its rich diversity of native species (Cabin et al. 2000). Other fence units exist at Pu‘u Wa‘a Wa‘a, West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery, Kipuka Owe Owe, Palamanui, the Koaia reserve, and Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) (Yvonne Yarber Carter, personal communication).

The Waikoloa Dry Forest Recovery project site is home to 10 endangered uhiuhi and approximately 80 living wiliwili trees. The surrounding area harbors at least 3 more uhiuhi trees and approximately another 100-120 wiliwili trees. A noticeable attribute, when walking through the area, is the vast number of wiliwili snags; over half of the trees in the area are dead.

The EA concludes no significant negative impacts are anticipated under this project, but numerous positive benefits are expected, including additional fire protection for the Waikoloa Village community; restoration of open space; native, threatened and endangered species habitat improvement; and control of weedy and invasive species.

Comments can be made to either:

Waikoloa Village Outdoor Circle, P.O. Box 38-4721, Waikoloa, HI 96738. Dave Faucette, 883-3362 (the consultant)

or

Dept of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325, Honolulu, HI 96813 (the proposing and approving agency)