Post by diane9247 on Jun 15, 2015 6:18:36 GMT
This folder was originally posted by me on 3/22/09. See an October 2014 article in Honolulu Civil Beat for updated information and beautiful photos of this island project.
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Kahoolawe Island.kmz (1.95 KB)
The former Target Island
For 50 years, this small island SW of Maui was used for bombing practice by the US Navy, turning it into a wasteland of eroding soil and blowing red dust. After decades without vegetation and with rapidly disappearing topsoil, natural reseeding of Kaho'olawe by plants from neighboring islands would have been unlikely. Kaho'olawe is the windiest and one of the driest of all the Hawaiian islands.
"Operation 'Sailor Hat', 1965. The detonation of the 500-ton TNT explosive charge for test shot "Bravo", first of a series of three test explosions on the southwestern tip of Kahoolawe Island, Hawaii, February 6, 1965." Public Domain, US Navy image, Wikipedia.
Planning for restoration began in the late 1980s. A contract was finally awarded by the Navy in 1997. Cleanup included the removal of unexploded ordinance, scrap metal and military equipment left all over the island. It had been a dangerous place to visit and off limits to casual visitors. In November of 2003 the Navy transferred control of Kaho'olawe to the State of Hawaii and ordinance removal and some soil rehab was completed in 2004. Replanting, soil restoration and maintenance is ongoing by the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC), but some have doubts about it ever being completed.
Funds get reduced as expenses increase and even though a good portion of the workforce is volunteer, land restoration is an expensive proposition.
Placemarks include the location of the plant nursery at Pu'u Moa'ulanui, where a rainwater collection system has also been built; a campsite on the NE shore at the boat landing, where a hale, a traditional thatched roof house, was built by volunteers for Native Hawaiian ceremonial purposes. This can be seen on GE among the trees near the landing; the Base Camp at Honokanai'a Bay, west side of the island.
Abandoned Navy trucks and an example of the original vegetation vs. the bombed areas.
Native Hawaiians celebrating ordinance removal and restoration plans.
(Photo from the now-defunct Kaho'olawe Island Blog, 2004.)
Aalii, a native shrub that is being propagated at the nursery.
Except where noted, the above shots are from Honolulu Advertiser, 2003.
A short drive through the hot and dusty base camp.
New funding
Kaho'lawe, which belongs to Maui County, will benefit from new funding from Washington, DC, according to a March 12, 2009, article in Maui News. President Obama's stimulus package will filter down to the island in the form of "$106,000 to help increase native plant seed deliveries to Kahoolawe, with the goal of building a 20-acre nursery on the island" and "an undecided amount to study the feasibility of a Kahoolawe small-boat harbor..." Expansion of facilities and the island's replanting project will, of course, provide new jobs and further assure the rehabilitation of Kaho'olawe.
Humpback whales
The sea between Maui and Kaho'olawe island is prime humback whale territory during their yearly migration. Of an estimated 18,000 north Pacific population of humpbacks, up to 60% come to Hawaii every year. Most of these are in waters off the coasts of Maui, Kaho'olawe, Moloka'i and Lana'i. This year's [2009] Great Whale Count in February logged 1,010 sightings off of Maui. In the photo below, taken on Maui, you can see Kaho'olawe in the far left distance. Right of that is the uninhabited "crater-island," Molokini.
Above photo is from the Honolulu Advertiser, 2009, but the link is broken.
See 2014 article in Honolulu Civil Beat for updated information and beautiful photos.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kahoolawe Island.kmz (1.95 KB)
The former Target Island
For 50 years, this small island SW of Maui was used for bombing practice by the US Navy, turning it into a wasteland of eroding soil and blowing red dust. After decades without vegetation and with rapidly disappearing topsoil, natural reseeding of Kaho'olawe by plants from neighboring islands would have been unlikely. Kaho'olawe is the windiest and one of the driest of all the Hawaiian islands.
During World War II, Kahoʻolawe was used as a training ground and bombing range by the Armed Forces of the United States. After decades of protests, the U.S. Navy ended live-fire training exercises on Kahoolawe in 1990... [source]
"Operation 'Sailor Hat', 1965. The detonation of the 500-ton TNT explosive charge for test shot "Bravo", first of a series of three test explosions on the southwestern tip of Kahoolawe Island, Hawaii, February 6, 1965." Public Domain, US Navy image, Wikipedia.
Planning for restoration began in the late 1980s. A contract was finally awarded by the Navy in 1997. Cleanup included the removal of unexploded ordinance, scrap metal and military equipment left all over the island. It had been a dangerous place to visit and off limits to casual visitors. In November of 2003 the Navy transferred control of Kaho'olawe to the State of Hawaii and ordinance removal and some soil rehab was completed in 2004. Replanting, soil restoration and maintenance is ongoing by the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC), but some have doubts about it ever being completed.
Funds get reduced as expenses increase and even though a good portion of the workforce is volunteer, land restoration is an expensive proposition.
Placemarks include the location of the plant nursery at Pu'u Moa'ulanui, where a rainwater collection system has also been built; a campsite on the NE shore at the boat landing, where a hale, a traditional thatched roof house, was built by volunteers for Native Hawaiian ceremonial purposes. This can be seen on GE among the trees near the landing; the Base Camp at Honokanai'a Bay, west side of the island.
Abandoned Navy trucks and an example of the original vegetation vs. the bombed areas.
Native Hawaiians celebrating ordinance removal and restoration plans.
(Photo from the now-defunct Kaho'olawe Island Blog, 2004.)
Aalii, a native shrub that is being propagated at the nursery.
Except where noted, the above shots are from Honolulu Advertiser, 2003.
A short drive through the hot and dusty base camp.
New funding
Kaho'lawe, which belongs to Maui County, will benefit from new funding from Washington, DC, according to a March 12, 2009, article in Maui News. President Obama's stimulus package will filter down to the island in the form of "$106,000 to help increase native plant seed deliveries to Kahoolawe, with the goal of building a 20-acre nursery on the island" and "an undecided amount to study the feasibility of a Kahoolawe small-boat harbor..." Expansion of facilities and the island's replanting project will, of course, provide new jobs and further assure the rehabilitation of Kaho'olawe.
Humpback whales
The sea between Maui and Kaho'olawe island is prime humback whale territory during their yearly migration. Of an estimated 18,000 north Pacific population of humpbacks, up to 60% come to Hawaii every year. Most of these are in waters off the coasts of Maui, Kaho'olawe, Moloka'i and Lana'i. This year's [2009] Great Whale Count in February logged 1,010 sightings off of Maui. In the photo below, taken on Maui, you can see Kaho'olawe in the far left distance. Right of that is the uninhabited "crater-island," Molokini.
Above photo is from the Honolulu Advertiser, 2009, but the link is broken.
See 2014 article in Honolulu Civil Beat for updated information and beautiful photos.
