Better palila management badly needed
Last week the Honolulu Star Advertiser published an article entitled “Wildland Fire Danger Elevated in Hawaii with Drought in Forecast.” Unfortunately it was not printed in this paper. In addition to a warning from the National Interagency Fire Center, it referenced a study from UH Manoa that focused on Hawaii Island, finding that the risk of wildfire will increase by as much as 375 percent in the future. Of particular concern is the large increase in the “fuel load” of vegetation caused by the recent wet weather. When followed by the forecast of an El Nino with dry, windy conditions, even more serious wildfires are probable. The study suggests that conditions will only worsen in the future due to warming ocean temperatures.
When I participated in a DLNR bird survey on Maunakea in October, I saw firsthand what very few people have seen. The grasses on much of Maunakea are 3 to 5 feet tall and so thick that my dog and I could not walk through much of it. The fuel load on the mountain is enormous. After experiencing the August fire that burned 18,000 acres and barely missed Waikoloa Village, I can envision a large wildfire sweeping down the slopes of Maunakea, driven by strong winds. The August fire had a point source on Mamalahoa Highway; I am not sure if a 2 to 3 mile wide wildfire coming down the mountain can be stopped.
The eradication of sheep on Maunakea by the state is clearly the major cause of this overload of grasses. Required under a 1998 federal court order to protect the mamane trees that are essential to the survival of the endangered palila bird, the unintended consequence of eradicating the grazers is the creation of a huge fire hazard to our communities. I did not see any mamane seedlings in the heavily grassed areas except in man-cleared areas, suggesting that they cannot propagate naturally through the thick grasses. In spite of the state efforts, the palila population has declined by 76 percent since 1998 according to a study published this year by the US Geological Survey and UH Hilo. That study goes on to suggest that the palila population could be halved in 10 years and that they could become extinct in 20 years in spite of decades of efforts to protect the species.
The current strategy for protecting the palila is not working, and is creating conditions that are a danger to our communities and the birds. Biologists that I have talked to have ideas about intensely protecting the palila in critical areas, while allowing a controlled population of grazers to manage the vegetation on the rest of Maunakea. The Ka’ohe and Pu’u Mali Restoration Areas (of native forest) could serve this purpose. We will need, as a community, to let the state administration know our concerns in order to achieve a balanced approach that protects the palila as well as our communities. After all, a major wildfire could destroy our homes as well as the remaining palila population and habitat.
Don Fujimoto
Waikoloa