Last July, the Board of Land and Natural Resources authorized the transfer of some 80 acres in Kawai Nui marsh from its Parks Division to the Division of Forestry and Wildlife. A portion of this land is slated to be used as a DOFAW-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waterbird habitat project that has been held up for nearly a decade because of jurisdictional disputes between the City and County of Honolulu and the state. According to Dave Smith, a DOFAW manager on O`ahu, the parcel also includes state lands to be restored under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coastal program grant for ecosystem restoration.
While Army Corps funding for the habitat project is in danger of being lost, last year, DOFAW received a National Coastal Wetlands grant of $646,250 from the Fish and Wildlife Service for a Kawai Nui Marsh Westland Restoration and Enhancement project. DOFAW’s partners for this project are the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, the Wildlife Society, Le Jardin Academy, the Kailua Urban Design Task Force, and the City and County of Honolulu. Project costs total $958,750, which includes partner contributions of $262,500 and a state contribution of $50,000.
Under this project, DLNR plans to “restore 20 acres and enhance 60 acres of coastal wetlands and associated uplands at Kawainui Marsh,” a FWS report states. “The project area is part of a wetland complex that was recently added to the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance…”
The life span of that project is ten years, Smith says, adding that a 1994 master plan for the marsh is guiding restoration efforts.
For now, Smith has a only couple of field staff cutting invasive trees and planting native species in the former State Parks area, which is located on the makai side of the section of Pali Highway that separates the bulk of the marsh from Maunawili. While there is a lot more work to be done, Smith is careful not to clear too much too fast.
“If you open areas to the public, it has to be maintained to a certain level,” he says.
Even with only a small portion of the 830-acre marsh under state control, Smith says, “I could probably have three full-time people working in Kawai Nui,” adding that the marsh is just one of many projects he oversees as DOFAW’s O`ahu district manager.
Smith says that Pono Pacific, an environmental consulting firm that has done restoration work in Kawai Nui for the state in the past, is one of the department’s collaborators. Because Pono Pacific also runs the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Youth Conservation Corps and the Americorps student programs, Smith says DOFAW is looking at providing Pono Pacific a rent-free site within Kawai Nui to base those programs in exchange for field work.
A portion of the state area is being grazed by cattle from Diamond K Ranch, which has a revocable permit from the Land Board. In the past, community groups, questioning the propriety of keeping in pasture part of what is supposed to be a wildlife refuge, have clashed with the ranch, but Smith says that while the ranch’s operations may have to be modified as restoration activities increase, it currently provides valuable maintenance and security services to the state.
“We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” he says.
He adds that DOFAW also wants to work with the community groups, such as `Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi, that have long been caring for portions of the marsh. In fact, the division is being required by the Land Board to do so.
When asked whether the ponds to be developed by the Army Corps could ever be used to grow taro, as members of `Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi hope they will, Smith says he is aware of `Ahahui president Chuck Burrows’ desire to grow taro in the ponds. He’s consulted with other taro farmers who believe that it’s not an ideal spot, but says that there is plenty of land in the marsh and if `Ahahui wants to grow taro in the marsh, “They can knock themselves out” trying. However, he adds, the primary purpose of the ponds is to provide habitat for native birds.
— Teresa Dawson
Volume 17, Number 9 March 2007
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